Designs on dominance

Designs on dominance

With its Design Week, Chiang Mai has ambitions to raise Thailand's international status

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Designs on dominance
Installation art.

The City of Craft wishes to move up to the City of Design. Chiang Mai Design Week has returned for the second time this month with activities, art and product showcases plus shopping opportunities, with an emphasis on incorporating design and creativity into the culture of the city.

Chiang Mai Design Week 2016 is organised by TCDC following the success of the first edition in 2014, which generated 169 million baht for the city. Beginning last weekend and running until Sunday, the event can be added to the long list of attractions during the long holiday in the northern winter breeze.

"We created Chiang Mai Design Week to be about art, culture and craftsmanship, because it's something people think of when Chiang Mai is mentioned," said Inthaphan Buakeow, the manager of TCDC Chiang Mai, who also sits as the festival manager.

"Seventy percent of the population here do agriculture and handicrafts for a living. The design week is an opportunity to connect people at the local, national and international level through design."

"New Originals" is this year's theme. It refers to the exploration of how skills, craftsmanship and local materials can be made relevant to today's society as well as making it marketable. It's also about how to expand something that already exists into something more economically beneficial.

The festival includes 130 showcases for local and national designers, including food, service, furniture and apparel. Installation arts, talks, conferences, workshops and events are also featured.

This festival takes place in two neighbourhoods: TCDC Chiang Mai and the Three-King Monuments area. Shuttle buses are provided for visitors to hop between the two. A cycle route is also provided.

"Among all showcases, 50% are local Chiang Mai," explained Inthaphan. What these products and design showcases have in common, he added, is they are all art-and-craft items looking for opportunities in the wider market. And TCDC supports these entrepreneurs by holding workshops all year leading up to Design Week.

Saowaluk Korsakwattana's Faith And Luck. Photo courtesy of Saowaluk Korsakwattana

Ethnica, a Chiang Mai-based bag brand made out of cloth and leather, is one of the labels featured in apparel. The brand is an example of how traditional culture can weave into popular products. Its first collection, for example, plays around with patterns taken from Lua ethnic people, while its latest goes abstract by designing products inspired by the Mekong River's streak.

What makes the brand stand out is not only its design but the process, since hilltribe craftsmen provide the main hands in producing the product. Karen people from Lamphun's Thung Hua Chang are hired to weave the materials, while Akha people in Chiang Rai do the embroidery.

"By doing it this way, the quality [objective] was met, as they are so skilled at what they do," said Ethnica designer Yujarej Somana. "At the same time, I believe that working with hilltribe people helps them generate income so they don't have to migrate to the city. And their wisdom and craftsmanship can be preserved."

In...Cloud.

Culinary culture is also part of the "design" in the fair's name. Nithi Foods, a spices and seasoning products manufacturer based in Chiang Mai, is a good example. East Kitchen is one of the brand's products, an instant curry paste targeting foreigners by positioning itself as a spice for cooking fusion food with the flavour and thickness modified to suit Westerners' preferences. The package has been minimally designed to differentiate it from other brands.

"Agricultural products together with creative ideas can create something valuable," said Smith Taweelerdniti of Nithi Foods. "If Thai food can be cooked easily and if that impresses them, chances are they might want to visit Thailand to taste the authentic Thai food here, which will generate a lot of income for the country."

But products aren't the only offerings at Design Week. Art and design as two overlapping disciplines make the festival a fairground of creative and conceptual experimentation, again based on the traditional wisdom of the city.

At Wat Duang Dee, an art project called "Get Lucky" shows how designers and artists interpret old beliefs into art pieces. As part of the project, Saowaluk Korsakwattana's Faith And Luck renders the Guan Shi Yin goddess and Ganesha in a more artistic way, using the paper-tole technique, displayed along with an altar table. Meanwhile, Wiwat Saelee's Wish You Luck interprets belief into a sculpture of a banana tree decorated with a ceramic mosaic. The detail on the tree shows "lucky numbers", referring to how some hope to see magical numbers on tree trunks.

The New Age Of Thai Food Exploration.

"Installation art can be something that draws people's attention. At least, it should trigger people to wonder how they are being made. Some of them are made out of local materials, so if a visitor can get inspired by it and start thinking about what they can do with something they have, that would be great," said the festival manager.

The In...Cloud installation, for example, is an acrylic cloud shape which may look simple but actually interacts with people. When a sensor detects movement, the cloud lighting is switched on.

"We want to create a dynamic for the city and make people excited," said Chanyaporn Chuntamara, a lighting designer of the installation, adding that lighting has been used to boost the economy in the form of lighting festivals in many cities.

In...Cloud is also a good example of how people in different professions can work together to create something new. In this case, it's a collaboration between a lighting designer and engineer.

Ethnica bags.

"The work becomes real because the knowledge is being integrated. Working together is the only way to cross the boundary," explained Chanyaporn.

Going further, the festival presents international collaborative projects. For example, Readjust by students from Ensci, a French-design school, and Maharaj Nakhon Chiang Mai Hospital, is a social-design project developed for seniors and patients. It includes toys and games, crutches made out of bamboo and rattan, and a bamboo support structure for patients' beds -- examples of local design with practical use. All products were made with materials found locally. These items are cheaper than those from the market and are of a quality not often available there.

To really connect people with mutual interests, there will be talks and conferences on topics from craft to urban planning.

"So far, the feedback has been positive," said TCDC managing director Apisit Laistrooglai.

"We want Design Week to be another landmark for tourism. We also aim for the country to be a World Design Capital. If we are selected, there will be design events held throughout the year. At the end of the day, I believe the country will benefit economically and socially from design."

Chiang Mai Design Week 2016.

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