The eighth edition of Chiang Mai Design Week, a nine-day cultural festival that wrapped up last week, was a manifesto of the melting pot that is this northern province. At an out-of-use warehouse in Chang Moi, a group of local artists who took part in a homecoming project exhibited objects from their neighbourhoods in the style of Renaissance curiosity. Here, Achariyar Rojanapirom and Ratthee Phaisanchotsiri curated personal items from their cupboard, including a bowl of stir-fried salted chilli from a nam ngiao shop in the old town, to show how they remain contemporary.
For Chakrit Pichyangkul, executive director of the Creative Economy Agency (CEA), Chiang Mai Design Week was not a conservation of local heritage, but "a platform for innovating cultural assets for commercial viability". Last year, the event attracted more than 130,000 visitors, generating around 485 million baht. However, it was not cultural commodification. In fact, its decentralising effort has gone from strength to strength and has become a celebration of local artists breaking new ground.
Held under the theme of "Local 'Rise'ation", the eighth chapter of Chiang Mai Design Week saw over 200 creative enterprises from home and abroad take part. It featured more than 200 activities covering key venues like the Three Kings Monument, Chang Moi, Lam Chang, San Kamphaeng and Hang Dong.
There were clusters of notable works. In a deserted warehouse, local designers envisioned the possibility of the use of eco-friendly substances in the Anthropocene Epoch. Vases made of naturally degradable materials, such as thread, sawdust and eggshell, were displayed. Viewers were encouraged to learn how to produce them from handbooks. Inspired by the concept of ephemerality, Monthon Pararoon used unburned soil, not paper, to create an environmentally-friendly architectural model. These examples presented an alternative to long-lasting mass-produced materials.
At the Chiang Mai Museum of Art and Culture, some work ventured into the digital frontier. A physical and virtual exhibition featured award-winning pieces throughout four decades including Morning Time (2006) by Manit Gowhrhit; Dreaming Field (2009) by Boonnum Sasud; and Memory (2014) by Thittiprom Onpieam. Produced by artists who left their villages for the city, they convey the rural experience to an urban audience. Using digital technology to represent them overcame time and space constraints and widened public access.
Nearby, a showcase of NFT art highlighted how local artists can transcend national borders. For those who are unfamiliar with NFTs, it is a form of artwork that a user tokenises or transforms into an item on the blockchain. Curated by Sarisa Kojima -- most NFT art is anonymous -- the pieces featured fantasy characters in otherworldly settings. Her own collection involving a girl and wild creatures dealt with the idea of sacrifice for immortality. With the advent of the digital world, some works including Curiosity by Crypto Duuudes and Your Virtual You Is Your Perfect You by Choen Lee explored our complex identities.
In a dark chamber were fluorescent artworks that wrestled with the passage of time. Wutthiphat Yospanya used computer graphics to create a continuum of giants to convey Thai society in transition. For instance, the giant's head multiplied to show that Thai culture is constantly reinvented.
Another installation by Digital Boyz dealt with the idea of waiting. In the centre of the room, a sensor projected visitors onto the screen to transport them via a time machine. However, a slight delay in moving images apparently encouraged us to be fully aware of the present moment. A display of iPhones with future dates of historic events -- from the expected decommissioning of the Chernobyl nuclear plant in 2065 to the premiere of the film 100 Years in 2115 -- reduced human visitors into specks of dust in the universe.
At the De Siam Showroom in Hang Dong, the region's largest antique empire not far from the city, local artists reinterpreted rarefied religious beliefs for everyday experience. Upon arrival, visitors were struck by faceless Buddha statues in the garden. Produced by Pongpan Runghiranrak, his sculpture brought religion closer to the public.
Nearby, national artist Inson Wongsam surrounded a water jar with small chairs. Borne out of his lifelong passion for art, the ritual of libation was a symbolic act of dedication to work. Paintings of leaves with smiling faces by Saksit Jeraphaphirot recalled the memory of his grandparents whose death was a return to nature.
Due to the expanse of the site, many pieces disappointingly faded into the lush landscape. Only a handful of large works stood out. Lost Identity by Sundusit Kittinopakun depicted figures swimming in a river. Nearby, there were politically-engaged works by Chinese artists including Cheng Guang Feng.
On the opposite side, Ubatsat rearranged his puzzle-like work Burmica, a parody of Pablo Picasso's Guernica (1937). Yet some small works won out. Torlarp Larpjaroensook, the owner of Gallery Seescape, displayed his weather-inspired paintings and collages where the East and West envisioned different kinds of space travel. Unlike an advanced spaceship, his Chinese dragon undertook a spiritual journey.
Inspired by a flea market and an antique shop, curators presented a treasure trove of contemporary works in the stuffy warehouse. Parodies of Pablo Picasso and an extraterrestrial by Luck Maisalee carried an upfront dictum "make art for money". There were many nude paintings and photos. Sophirat Muangkum displayed her social experiment that questioned the taboo of female nudity. It was a vintage photo collection of half-naked women wearing sarongs. She said many viewers who once praised their beauty found them unacceptable when they knew that they were recently photographed.
Many installations, performances and programmes were outside the box. In Lam Chang, a behemoth elephant made of rainbow plastic bags stood astride the bridge over the old moat (khu muang), inviting visitors to go through the sacred animal's belly for good luck.
Buskers jazzed up every nook and cranny to change public attitude towards street performance. A local temple became a popular venue for exhibiting hand-painted posters and screening international films at night.
Manit Worachat, the founder of the Outdoor Cinema Museum in Lampang, deftly provided voiceovers for every human and animal character in the silent film Chang: A Drama Of The Wilderness (1927). At the Little Shelter Hotel, Karn Hongthong delivered a captivating solo performance that combined personal stories with fairy tales.
The eighth edition of Chiang Mai Design Week was a testament to the city's creative juice. But the reality is that many regulations hamstring creative businesses. For example, the TCDC regional headquarter held an exhibition of local alcohol and non-alcohol drinks. Under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, award-winning homegrown spirits were unfortunately covered up to avoid displaying their logos. From a broader perspective, draft laws challenging monopoly -- the progressive liquor bill and the charter amendment proposal seeking to decentralise state power -- were voted down in parliament. When all is said and done, it raises the question of how far local communities will rise?
