Thai Art

Thai silver and nielloware display exquisite craftsmanship and design to rival better-known genres of silver from Asia. However, there has to date been little written about this fascinating subject. Examining the history and scope of specified Thai silver and nielloware production dating from the early 19th century to the present, as well as the various forms and designs utilised, this book provides a single reference source on the subject matter for both newcomers and seasoned collectors alike. 

This volume focuses on the various artefacts broadly termed “utensils” and “vessels”, produced for utilitarian purposes, that can still be found for sale in the domestic marketplace, while rarer artefacts, collectibles and commemorative items made for the royal court are also examined: such items were typically of the highest quality made by top artisans. The author considers the role of religious and devotional silver objects in Thailand, as these too have become popular collectibles. Although dating of Asian silverware generally remains problematic, the author provides dating indicators and the first published compilation of Chinese and other marks on silverware found in Thailand.

232 pages, 320 photographs and 2 maps

บทความนี้มุ่งวิเคราะห์ภาพจิตรกรรมฝาผนังสีปูนแห้งแสดงฉากพระราชกรณียกิจการเลิกทาสของพระบาทสมเด็จพระจุลจอมเกล้าเจ้าอยู่หัว (รัชกาลที่ 5) ภายในพระที่นั่งอนันตสมาคม ในฐานะของการเป็นภาพแทนเหตุการณ์ทางประวัติศาสตร์ดังกล่าวที่อยู่ในความทรงจำร่วมของคนไทย ภาพสีปูนแห้งแสดงฉากพระราชกรณียกิจเลิกทาสจากเดิมที่เคยเป็นภาพเฉลิมพระเกียรติราชวงศ์จักรีตกแต่งเพดานโค้งครึ่งวงกลมภายในพระที่นั่งอนันตสมาคม ซึ่งเกือบจะเป็นสถานที่ปิด แทบไม่เปิดให้สาธารณชนได้เข้าชม ได้ถูกผลิตซ้ำในรูปแบบที่กระจายทั่วถึงและเข้าถึงได้ง่าย เช่น ธนบัตร และสแตมป์ เป็นกลวิธีที่ทั้งเป็นผลกระทบจากความทรงจำร่วมในสังคมไทย และต่อยอดหรือตอกย้ำให้ความทรงจำร่วมรวมทั้งการผลิตซ้ำยังคงมีต่อไป ในประเด็นหลังนี้ บทความได้มองภาพเลิกทาสในฐานะผลผลิตของประวัติศาสตร์นิพนธ์อันมีศูนย์กลางอยู่ที่ราชสำนักหรือราชวงศ์จักรี ความสำคัญของผู้สร้างคือรัชกาลที่ 5 ทำให้ภาพมีความหมายเชิงสัญลักษณ์ตั้งแต่กระบวนการสร้างในบริบทของการหยิบยืมประติมานวิทยาแบบจักรวรรดินิยมจากตะวันตกเพื่อนำมาเสริมสร้างพระเกียรติยศ พระราชอำนาจและหน้าที่ของการเป็นพระมหากษัตริย์ไทยในยุคต้นสมัยใหม่ที่มีแรงบันดาลใจจากตะวันตกเป็นแรงขับเคลื่อนของการเปลี่ยนแปลงและพัฒนา และการเป็นภาพสัญลักษณ์ของการเป็นผู้มอบอิสรภาพให้กับประชาชนอันเป็นหนึ่งในพระมหากรุณาธิคุณที่สังคมไทยในปัจจุบันเทิดทูนต่อรัชกาลที่ 5
The fresco depicting the scene of King Chulalongkorn’s abolition of slavery which decorates the south transept’s apse of the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall is a visual representation of Thailand’s abolition of slavery. Initially the fresco was rarely seen by the public due to its location as the throne hall. However when the 100th anniversary of the abolition of slavery occurred in 2005, the fresco was reproduced in a form of a motif on 100 baht banknote and 3 baht postage stamp. This reproduction of the mostly unseen fresco strongly reflects a symbolic importance of the image to which this paper aims to discuss at length. Collective memory of the Thais toward King Chulalongkorn undeniably plays a crucial role in the way in which the fresco is perceived. There are two main issues that need to be explored. Firstly, as King Chulalongkorn’s western aspiration is clear in his development programs as well as his personal taste, hence this painting is inherently a product of yet another King Chulalongkorn’s westernization. The paper specifically proposes the fresco was executed by way of imperial iconography appropriation. By creating symbolic meaning in political realm, the abolition of slavery fresco has thus become a commemoration of the event and of the King which led to the second purpose of this paper. In answering the question as to why this particular image is politically significant, this paper aims to investigate the fresco as a product of collective memory as part of a machination of commemorative practice within a wider scale of national history.

[By Lisa McQuail; Preface/Acknowledgments by P.M. Taylor. This full book is uploaded here while the Smithsonian website, where it was published online, is being revised.] This study documents for the first time a group of artifacts whose meaning and significance have, until now, been inadequately understood by scholars, and sometimes even misunderstood by the recipients of the gifts themselves---the presidents and people of the United States. Yet for both Thais and Americans these gifts truly are historic, artistic, and scientific treasures, through which the Kings of Thailand represented their nation, and its alliances with America through time. Nearly all sets of gifts, from the courtly nielloware, silks, musical instruments and weapons to the everyday basketry, tools, agricultural samples and fish traps, were accompanied by a Royal Letter listing the contents of the gift (in Thai and English), and explaining its significance. This catalog introduces those Royal Letters and their lists, for the first time, into the interpretation of the gifts. This book will interest art-, social-, and diplomatic historians; anthropologists, linguists, and ethnomusicologists; students of Thai theater and culture; and all those who will appreciate the aesthetic quality of the gift objects or the very good stories those objects were meant to tell.

The aim of this thesis is to study the role and significance of Silpa Bhirasri in the construction of Thai national arts between 1932-1962 A.D. The focus is to analyze the significance of the work of Silpa Bhirasri within Thai social and political contexts. Also, it will focus on his influence on the art and culture of the nation. His works contributed greatly to strengthen and cultivate the values system for Thai citizens and the Thai mentality.

Even though the politics and the ideologies changed several times, Silpa managed to transform the meaning of art and work to serve each new regime. His influence was also associated with the transfer of the knowledge on the arts to his disciples and the public.

The career of Silpa Bhirasri in Siam started during the period of absolute monarchy. However, it was after the 1932 revolution that he gained leadership in developing the arts. During that time, his focus was on realistic arts that aimed to shift away from the traditional Thai arts. Because the latter predominantly emphasized status and hierarchy, Silpa Bhirasri created a new art form emphasizing the post-1932 ideology of equality. On the other hand, in accordance with the political atmosphere of the time, his art styles aimed to influence and shape a new mindset for Thai people in order to accept the authority of the leader, and the readiness to fight for the country’s independence and greatness of the nation. It also encouraged the arts to become “the property of all citizens”. These gave momentum to the influence of the government on the sentiment of ordinary Thai people.

During the 1950s, Silpa Bhirasri changed his styles once again. He now, attempted to introduce to Thai people the appreciation of beauty through a combination of "the old and the new". The ultimate aim of this new style was to prevent Thai society from any “unwelcome” changes which could be triggered by the Communist Party. Doubtlessly, this new style was in line with the government's conservative ideology.

In the 1960s, Silpa Bhirasri helped construct the “return” to the extremely “old” artistic knowledge or traditional arts. The focus of this style of art was to build the foundation of national culture which emphasized status and hierarchy. Thus, Silpa Bhirasri played a part in sustaining the hierarchical social structure and the centralized political regime of the period.

The works and the knowledge of the arts of Slipa Bhirasri were heavily linked up with the meaning of “Thainess”. Thainess is the ideology that has been amplified by many mainstream intellectuals. As such, Slipa Bhirasri’s contribution to the arts in Thailand has become the characteristic “national arts” that continues into the present

***Previously published as 'The Photographic Conditions of Contemporary Thai Art', in the Taipei Fine Arts Museum Journal, no. 34, 2017.***
This paper takes as a point of departure, Rosalind Krauss’ essay ‘The Photographic Conditions of Surrealism’, in which she describes the relationship between photography’s indexical function and its position as the example par excellence of Surrealist artistic practice. In the same way, this paper examines changing attitudes in Thailand towards photography’s artistic status and presumed indexicality as paradigmatic examples of a transformation from the modern to the contemporary. Photography’s crucial role in this shift is located in key alterations to the medium’s functions and perceptions of its artistic legitimacy. On the one hand, the acceptance of photography as an art form reflects developments in imbricated networks of legitimation, occurring with the rise of international education and exhibition opportunities in the post-Cold War period. On the other hand, the conditions of photography itself, or rather its ontology, produce a conceptualisation of the contemporary as manifested in a desire for proximity with difference. In examining works by a number of contemporary Thai artists, I argue that photography’s visualisation of the ‘optical unconscious’  allows one to fulfil this desire for contemporaneity, while also pointing to the limits of representation as a means of asserting coevality.

2015. Australian National University, 'Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific', Issue 38, August 2015
Contextualisation and analysis of practices of Truong Tan, Dinh Q. Le, Bui Cong Khanh of Vietnam, of Michael Shaowanasai, Jakkai Siributr, Maitree Siriboon of Thailand, arguing artists have broad critical interests beyond a queer agenda.

This article describes a unique grouping of seventy-one artworks, and examples of tools used for their production, collectively termed "Theatrical Images" when presented as royal gifts from King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) for display at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The US Navy prepared and printed copies of an English translation of the original (now lost) Thai list of over 900 objects for the Exposition, grouped into various categories (including that of "Theatrical Images"). This grouping has not previously been studied or considered as an apparently authentic Thai category of royal gift. Some items were photographed for the first time for this publication, and several new discoveries about these artworks are presented here.
= = = = =
See publisher's website for information on purchasing full journal:
https://www.artsofasianet.com/back_issues/back_issue.php?issue_code=2018_may_jun

[Note: This paper is written in traditional Chinese]
In the corridor of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha in the Grand Palace in Bangkok is the murals of Ramakien, which is the Thai version of Ramayana. The stories of Rama that Ramayana or Ramakien tells have gained tremendous popularity since its introduction to Thailand. Few people in Thailand would suspect why the images of this Hindu mythology occupy the entire corridor of a Buddhist temple. Besides the Ramakien Murals decorating the entire corridor, there are other visual elements of Ramakien in the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Therefore, the Rama stories that belong to Hinduism must be significant in this royal Thai Buddhist temple, and its significance is worth further investigation.
Kingship and religions are closely related in Southeast Asia. Temples often occupy the prominent places in palaces. Very often these temples contain the images of Ramayana. The Ramayana relief in Angkor Wat is a well-known example. Thailand was once within the territory of the Khmer (Angkor) Empire and the culture of the former was much influenced by the latter. Angkorian architectural heritage can be seen in the palace structures of Sukhothai and Ayutthaya. Ramayana stone relieves appear in these Angkor-influenced architectural remains. When it came to the late 18th century, Rama I established the Chakri Dynasty, compiled Ramakien, and commissioned the Ramakien Murals in the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Although the elements of Ramayana have long embedded in Thai culture, for the Chakri Dynasty, making Ramakien stand out in the Temple of the Emerald Buddha might suggest strengthening kingship.
The Ramakien Murals have been repaired or repainted many times. Although the extant work may not be original, its artistic heritages can still be traced by analyzing it in current condition. By observing the Ramakien murals, one can easily see the influence from the West. This article suggests that the Western style and technique in the murals might come from 19th century British landscape painting. Besides Western influence, Thai domestic painting traditions are in the murals. Meanwhile, this article also suggests that Chinese influence is in the murals. Therefore, the Ramakien murals present a pluralistic cultural heritage in the inheritance of domestic artistic traditions and the exchanges with China and the West.
摘要
圍繞泰國曼谷大皇宮玉佛寺的迴廊上繪有拉瑪堅壁畫。《拉瑪堅》也就是泰國版的《羅摩衍那》，其主人翁羅摩的故事在泰國家喻戶曉，鮮少有人懷疑此印度教神話故事圖像為何充滿一間佛教寺院的迴廊。除了拉瑪堅壁畫裝飾整個迴廊之外，玉佛寺內還有其他《拉瑪堅》的視覺元素，可見屬於印度教的《拉瑪堅》故事在此一皇家佛教寺院具有重要地位，值得深入探究。
東南亞的王權與宗教緊密結合，神廟常是皇宮內最重要的建築。東南亞的印度教神廟時常可見羅摩衍那故事的圖像，柬埔寨吳哥寺的羅摩衍那浮雕是一著名的例子。泰國曾為高棉（吳哥）王朝之勢力範圍，文化深受其影響，素可泰與大城王朝之王城建築均可見吳哥建築傳統，許多受吳哥影響的建築遺跡中也可見羅摩衍那浮雕。18世紀晚期拉瑪一世建立卻克里王朝；編修泰國版羅摩衍那《拉瑪堅》；並且於整個玉佛寺迴廊呈現《拉瑪堅》故事的壁畫。僅管羅摩衍那的元素早已深入泰國文化，卻克里王朝在玉佛寺中突顯《拉瑪堅》，或許與鞏固王權有關。
拉瑪堅壁畫經過多次的整修與重繪，雖然已經不是原始的遺跡，但仍可從現存的樣貌推敲其藝術的源流。觀察拉瑪堅壁畫，很容易看到西方的影響，本文認為壁畫上的西方風格與技法可能來自19世紀英國風景畫。除了明顯的西方影響之外，此壁畫仍可見泰國自身的繪畫傳統，同時，本文也認為此壁畫存在中國繪畫的影響。拉瑪堅壁畫可說見證了曼谷在藝術上對傳統的傳承以及與中國、西方之間的藝術交流，呈現了多元的文化傳統。

This article explores the works of Piriya Krairiksh on Thai art history from the 1970s to the 2000s. The main focus of this article is on how Krairiksh’s experiences - both in the West and later in Thai society - influences his methodology and research. Initially, Krairiksh has a strong “Truth” on his approach to Thai art history. He tends to exercise his freedom on his study even though a mainstream Thai art history academia may go against his argument in several occasions. A resistance from the mainstream academia cannot stop Krairiksh to find the truth buried in the past. This strong commitment leads to the exceptional and innovative way of conducting
research through his life.

Particularly, his methodology mainly focuses on a concept of Iconography. All Histoical evidences have to be carefully examined and analyzed through the concept of Iconography. New evidences and data discovered by him on each decades of his works paves the way to the new explanations. For instance, in the late 1970s his works focus on an ethnography and local identity associated with Thai arts. In the 2000s to the present, he shifts the focus to the influences of doctrine, belief, and religion to Thai arts. In short, Krairiksh’s works focus on a diversity of ethnics and cultures in Thai society which associated with a history of Thai art. He believes that the diversity in Thai society leads to what we come to understand as “Thai art”. Also, he claims that an origin of “Thai art” has a root in Buddhism and Hinduism.

[Note, June 6, 2018:] Only the Preface and introductory essay by P.M. Taylor are uploaded here. The entire 1997 book, long out of print, is now available online for free viewing or download [normally at]:
http://www.achp.si.edu/Treasures-of-Two-Nations_FULL-BOOK.pdf [but temporarily with "books" below, while some Smithsonian websites are being re-designed].

    This important survey of Thai Royal Gifts to the United States is in strong demand now as a substantive study of the history, symbolism, and significance of those gifts. A revised and expanded edition is currently in preparation by a team of Thai and American scholars, for publication in 2020.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

[1997:]
Preface and Acknowledgements. [Pp. 9-11 in: "Treasures of Two Nations: Thai Royal Gifts to the United States of America", by Lisa McQuail. Washington, D.C.: Asian Cultural History Program,
Smithsonian Institution.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

    The Thai Royal Gifts so admirably researched and illustrated in this volume are deeply symbolic of the long and evolving friendship between Thailand (formerly called Siam) and the United States of America. This study documents for the first time a group of artifacts whose meaning and significance have, until now, been inadequately understood by scholars, and sometimes even misunderstood by the recipients of the gifts themselves-the presidents and people of the United States. Yet for both Thais and Americans these gifts truly are historic, artistic, and scientific treasures, through which the Kings of Thailand represented their nation, and its alliances with America through time. Nearly all sets of gifts, from the courtly nielloware, silks, musical instruments and weapons to the everyday basketry, tools, agricultural samples and fish traps, were accompanied by a Royal Letter listing the contents of the gift (in Thai and English), and explaining its significance. This catalog introduces those Royal Letters and their lists, for the first time, into the interpretation of the gifts. This book will interest art-, social-, and diplomatic historians; anthropologists, linguists, and ethnomusicologists; students of Thai theater and culture; and all those who will appreciate the aesthetic quality of the gift objects or the very good stories those objects were meant to tell.

https://moa.ubc.ca/exhibition/traces-of-words/

The exhibition: Traces of Words: Art and Calligraphy from Asia
Dates: May 11 – October 9, 2017
Venue: The Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia
Curated by Fuyubi Nakamura

The visual and physical presence of words has a special significance across Asia, which has the greatest diversity of languages in the world. Writing, especially calligraphy, has been revered as an aesthetic form and has played an important social and political role in Asian traditions ranging from religious texts in Sanskrit to Islamic and Chinese calligraphy. The significance of words, both as text and as image, has continued to inspire contemporary artists.

Produced in various materials and styles— from calligraphy and painting to digital and mixed media—the words presented in the exhibition, "Traces of Words: Art and Calligraphy from Asia" are physical traces of time and space, embodying what is ephemeral and also what is eternal in our life. We leave traces of ourselves throughout life, be they visible or invisible. Words, whether spoken, written, imagined, or visualized, are traces unique to humans. Some words disappear while others remain only in memory or leave physical traces as writing or text. These traces are the theme of the exhibition.

The exhibition showcases varied forms of expression associated with writing and words throughout Asia from different periods: from Sumerian cuneiform inscriptions, Qur’anic manuscripts, Southeast Asian palm leaf manuscripts, and Chinese calligraphy to graffiti art from Afghanistan and contemporary artworks using Japanese calligraphy and Tibetan and Thai scripts. Different media for writing—paper, silk, clay, woodblock, or projected screen—evoke different responses to the words. By treating words themselves as material culture, not merely as text, the exhibition invites us to consider the cultural significance and artistic representations of Asian words and writing.

A full-colour publication, "Traces of Words: Art and Calligraphy from Asia" edited by Fuyubi Nakamura, featuring essays by leading scholars in the field, and illustrated with the exhibited works, will accompany the exhibition.

A brief hommage to Chaiwat Wannanond / Varnananda (1946-....), a Thai Buddhist painter who is described here as a "a link between the craftsmen of the past and the artists of the future". For a biography, see: https://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/ไชยวัฒน์_วรรณานนท์ - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Artist/อชัยวัฒน์-วรรณานนท์-357248771308335/

After the destruction of the capital, Ayuthya, in 1767, it is necessary to push back the Burmese, to reunify the country, to rebuild an administration, to restore to the people a feeling of unity and national identity. This work started by Taksin in Thonburi is continued by Rama1er and his successors who rebuild the country politically and culturally. When Rama I decid to found Bangkok, he undertake major sanitation works, including construction of the Royal Palace and restorations of ancient temples. Thanks to the proactive policy of the first three Cakri rulers, artistic renaissance can take place. They have restored the former grandeur of the ancient capital Ayuthya, which in the minds of the survivors and those of their descendants symbolizes golden age , and even surpassed it. The Ramakian (th),the glory of Rāma, will be the instrument par excellence of this artistic renaissance.

The author pursues her 2011 proposition that media and materials are conceptual cues of Southeast Asian contemporary art serving socially-loaded critical conversations. This paper argues the watercolour medium's critical co-opting in Tawan's practice.

Written by Rathsaran Sireekan and published by Jorn Middelborg, this is a monograph of the Thai painter Jirapat Tatsanasomboon. He is a prominent Thai artist who often explores the cultures and interactions between East and West. He is the only Thai artist who is included in the book "100 Painters of Tomorrow" published by Thames & Hudson.

This paper aims to investigate the change of methodology and body of knowledge in Thai art history during the 2000s to 2010s. The study found that the body of knowledge on mainstream Thai art history, the methodology and the cultural framework of art are fixed and homogenous. In particular, the body of knowledge is created under the influence of the national ideology which emphasizes the value and importance of Thainess and Theravada Buddhism. Meanwhile, the critical art historians started to criticize and question the methodology of mainstream art historians. They also presented a new methodology for studying Thai art which leads to the new cultural framework to understand and make sense of it.