You can still schmooze even when there’s nothing to sell

Posted on August 4, 2016 by SoClaimon

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/You-can-still-schmooze-even-when-theres-nothing-to-30286251.html

SOOPSIP

The Nation May 19, 2016 1:00 am

We love kidding actress Araya A “Chompoo” Hargate about appearing on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival

WE LOVE KIDDING actress Araya A “Chompoo” Hargate about appearing on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival – for three consecutive years now – despite never having a movie to show the nice people there.

Chompoo has made movies, of course, but it’s unlikely the not-so-nice judges at the world’s most snobby cinema party would be wowed by her comedy “Saranae Siblor” or her last outing, the 2012 flop “Khunnai Ho”.

Regardless, Chompoo can just laugh along with the kidding (all the way to the bank) because she’s among hundreds of actresses and models from around the world flown to the French Rivera by the festival’s official sponsor, L’Oreal. She’s the makeup brand’s well-made-up face in Thailand.

And anyway, it’s a bit of a thrill for Thais to see Chompoo on the red carpet among all those Hollywood stars, and another bit of fun commenting on her haute couture gowns. She always looks great and graceful, mind you, a fine Thai ambassador to the world.

Her mere presence is far more important than any of the movies vying for awards. It’s not like this is the Oscars or anything, right? If you read the many, many comments about the festival on Pantip.com, everybody’s heard of Palmy, the singer, but no one’s ever heard of the Palme d’Or, the top prize in Cannes.

When it comes to Cannes, we want to see Thai stars on the red carpet. What goes on at the screenings, we’ll skip that, thanks.

And evidently we’re not alone in our pool of provincialism. This year there are no movies from mainland China in the main competition, but beautiful Chinese actresses and models they’ve got.

Gong Li is a regular at Cannes, having appeared in several critically acclaimed films from her homeland and once even serving on the jury. This year, though, she’s just another invited guest of a festival sponsor.

A reporter for the China Daily found this odd for some reason and asked what’s with the red-carpet pictures when you have no picture to show?

Li demonstrated with her answer the kind of impressive coolness that’s made her a global idol and a powerhouse of Asian cinema.

“I think you can participate, come and see what film festivals abroad are like and how much respect actors abroad have for films,” she said. “Our actors should go beyond the national borders, see some films if they’ve got time, and not just walk on the red carpet and leave right after.

“See the films – it’ll be helpful for your career, and maybe you’ll love your job more, from deep inside. If you have this mindset, then coming to film festivals won’t do any harm. If you go off the tracks, then you’ve come for nothing, and that’s a pity.”

It’s enough to give you goose bumps – and surely an inspiration for all the other non-acting actresses.

WORDLESS and timeless

Posted on August 4, 2016 by SoClaimon

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/WORDLESS-and-timeless-30286250.html

MIME

PAWIT MAHASARINAND
SPECIAL TO THE NATION May 19, 2016 1:00 am

Germany’s most highly revered mime highlights a new pantomime festival in Bangkok

INITIATED BY PAITOON “Kon Na Khao” Laisakul, the KonRak Mime Festival opened yesterday with an all-day workshop led by German mime master Milan Sladek. With support from the Culture Ministry, Thammasat University, the Goethe Institut Thailand, the Japan Foundation and others, more workshops and performances by German, Japanese, French and Thai artists are being held through May 29.

“This is not the first pantomime festival I’ve ever organised,” Paitoon tells XP. “Many years ago, I created another festival but after a few years it turned out to be just a show, not a festival, so it’s not worth mentioning now.

“A festival should present works by artists from various countries, not just the same few ones, and we have to make sure Thai artists can learn from the visiting artists and keep developing their works. This year, we’re starting with four countries and the highlights are Sladek, whose two-week pantomime workshop at Goethe Institut Thailand more than three decades ago I attended, and Japan’s Kita Kyoichi, who both work in the classical style of pantomime. Of course, next year our focus will change.”

Slovakia-born, Cologne-based Sladek tells XP that he discovered pantomime from French master Jean Gaspard Deburau when he was studying visual arts in Bratislava.

“I’ve always made use of visual arts when I was creating pantomime works. I would, for example, draw the blocking of how my character moves on the stage on my notebook. What I learned from anatomy classes has also helped me understand and make better use of my face and body muscles in performance.”

For his much-awaited return to Bangkok, he’s selected three works to perform – “Sunflower”, “Leda and Swan”, for which he was inspired by Greek mythology, and “Samson and Delilah”, whose gender equality issues are as resonant now as they were when it debuted in the 1970s during Germany’s women’s liberation movement.

“Although Paitoon says that I belong to the classical school of pantomime, I always bend, or break, some rules – for which I’m frequently criticised – and make use of other arts disciplines in my works. I also keep developing my works, including those that have become my signature like ‘Sunflower’, in accordance with what I’ve learned and experienced in life. This is to make sure that [after many decades] the audience can still enjoy my works without getting bored,” Sladek says.

“If Picasso or Van Gogh had ever said that all artists should paint like them, then there would be no point having Picasso or Van Gogh. Each pantomime artist is different while – and I know I am being controversial here – in other disciplines many are trying to replicate each another.

“For me, the content, or subject matter, or the work is always more important than the style of presentation, the structure or the performing art techniques that can be studied.”

Sharing the stage with Sladek tomorrow and Saturday is Bangkok-based Japanese mime Yano, while on this coming Sunday and May 29, Kon Na Khao, his troupe and French mime Abel Talbi will perform seven works – solo, duo and group.

Next Friday and Saturday, the programme features solo works by Kita Kyoichi and Thailand’s Hao.

The writer wishes to thank Goethe Institut’s Kannikar Saengsuwan and Pimpika Boonchan for all assistance.

MORE THAN WORDS

– The KonRak Mime Festival will be held in the Sri Burapha Auditorium at Thammasat University, Tha Phra Chan, from tomorrow to Sunday and May 27 to 29. Shows are at 7.30pm.

– Tickets cost Bt600 (Bt 1,500 for all three programmes). For details, check http://www.ThaiTicketMajor.com.

– Those buying tickets to all three programmes are entitled to join Kyoichi’s workshops from Tuesday to May 26 at Ratchadamnoen Contemporary Art Centre. E-mail Contact@KonRakMimeFestival.com for free registration.

– For more details, see http://www.KonRakMimeFestival.com.

Written on the leaves

Posted on August 4, 2016 by SoClaimon

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/Written-on-the-leaves-30286249.html

FEATURE

CHUSRI NGAMPRASERT
THE NATION
CHIANG MAI May 19, 2016 1:00 am

A rarely seen part of our cultural heritage is being digitally preserved

IT’S NOT EVERY DAY you see a monk writing Lanna script on a dried palm leaf with a metal stylus, but the age-old tradition lingers at Wat Phra That Si Chom Thong in Chiang Mai.

Palm-leaf manuscripts – khum phi bai lan – represent one of the oldest writing and painting media in South and Southeast Asia. And it’s dying out thanks to the dampness, hungry insects and the very fragility of the leaves.

A manuscript on a palm leaf might last a few decades or, with luck, 600 years. When it begins to decay, the script has to be transferred onto another leaf.

The content includes passages from Buddhist literature, historical records, and laws, customs and culture. The subjects range from astrology, mythology and rituals to medicine and folk tales. The language can be the Northern Thai (Lanna), Tai Khuen, Tai Lue, Lao, Shan, Burmese or Pali.

Monastic reforms issuing from Bangkok in the early 20th century saw use of the Lanna language suppressed and along with it the writing of Lanna manuscripts in any form. Efforts to preserve khum phi bai lan as a regional literary tradition began in the early 1960s.

“It’s very hard now to find Aksorn Tham Lanna script, the northern dharma characters, because everyone uses the standard Thai alphabet,” says Phra Maha Prasert Siripunyo. The 28-year-old monk at Wat Phra That Si Chom Thong is one of the few who still inscribe palm leaves.

Preparing the leaves is in itself a complicated process, and another reason why the ancient practice has given way to modern forms.

“We cut the third and fourth leaves from the top of a lan palm [genus Corypha] because only the half-opened leaves are suitable,” says the monk. The leaves are cut to the required size and softened by boiling for three days in water that’s been used to wash rice (nam sao kao). Then the leaves are dried, pressed, polished and trimmed further as needed.

Inscribing is usually done with a sharp wooden or metal stylus, and then a mixture of resin or oil and pot soot (min mo) is applied to make the text more legible.

The manuscripts are bound with cord strung through holes punched at either end and stored between wooden panels (mai pa kad) that are sometimes painted or gilded. A cloth wrap keeps the bundle free from dust. The manuscripts are kept in temple repositories (ho tham), but are forever at risk of being destroyed by fire or termites.

Harald Hundius, professor emeritus in Thai and Lao languages and literature at the University of Passau in Germany, has spent four decades studying palm-leaf manuscripts in both Asian countries – and trying to preserve the practice.

Fluent in Thai, Hundius migrated from research on the poetry of Sunthorn Phu to the first comprehensive survey of Lanna manuscripts, conducted from 1971 to 1974 in the Thai North with funding from a German foundation. To understand the text he studied the Lanna language (kham mueang) with Singkha Wannasai in Lamphun.

It was Ajarn Singkha who had in 1966 completed a survey of the manuscripts at Wat Lai Hin in Lampang for the Siam Society.

“Kham mueang is difficult,” admits Hundius, now 77. “It was almost two years before I had the courage to try and speak it, and the locals laughed at me, but I didn’t give up!”

While lecturing at Chiang Mai University he initiated the Preservation of Northern Thai Manuscripts Project, and then headed to Laos to do the same there, with financing from the German government.

That led to a Digital Library of Lao Manuscripts, and an identical library for northern Thai manuscripts was undertaken in 2013, with funding – scant to begin with – finally secured from the Henry Luce Foundation and, again, the German government. Significant support has also come from the Andrew W Mellon Foundation and the University of Pennsylvania.

“It’s quite hard for researchers to get to the manuscripts at the temples,” Hundius says, explaining the key appeal of the digital libraries. “You have to get permission to go inside the repositories and you have to read the documents on-site. The online library makes the manuscripts more accessible for study and also helps preserve the originals.”

Complicating matters, though, is the fact that the library curators are based in Laos, says David Wharton, technical director for the Northern Thai project. “We have to borrow microfilm copies from Chiang Mai and then check them in Laos before sending them to Germany to be digitised,” he says, while praising their Lao colleagues and the National Library of Laos, where they’re based.

“There are still hundreds to thousands more ancient manuscripts out there,” Hundius says, “and we want to preserve their content for study.

“We’re a bit anxious because the funding period ends in a few months, but, when I look at those monks and the villagers who spent their whole lives taking good care of the ancient manuscripts, it encourages me not to give up.

“The practice of writing on palm leaves is almost gone,” the professor says. “People these days don’t even understand what’s written on the leaves. But now that this rich literary heritage is available online, we hope their increased accessibility will contribute in turn to the maintenance of the physical tradition for many more generations to come.”

THE OLD IS NEW

– The Digital Library of Northern Thai Manuscripts contains more than 170,000 images of manuscripts, on both palm leaf (bai lan) and mulberry paper (phap sa).

– For details, check LannaManuscripts.net.

All in the artist family

Posted on August 4, 2016 by SoClaimon

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/All-in-the-artist-family-30286248.html

ART

THE NATION May 19, 2016 1:00 am

The paintings of Chinese artist Li Yugang are also part of the exhibition.

A work by Maymay Jumsai na Ayudhya.

THAILAND’S TALENTED JUMSAIS JOIN WITH CHINESE PARTNERS IN A BEIJING EXHIBITION

THAILAND’S FAMILY of artists, the Jumsais, join with celebrated Chinese artists Li Yugang and Xueyi Fan for “Rencontre”, an exhibition opening on Saturday at the XYZ Gallery in Beijing’s 798 Art Centre.

On display will be vivid abstract paintings by the respected architect Sumet Jumsai na Ayudhya, his daughter Maymay’s contemporary paintings and his son Prisdha’s architectural designs. Sumet’s wife Suthini is curating the show, which is the first exhibition by the Jumsais in China and follows their “3” showcase, which was held in Bangkok 18 years ago.

The Jumsai family trace their roots to 19th century Siam, in the reign of Rama IV, King Mongkut. Prince Choomsai, son of Rama III, later named Prince Krom Khun Rajsihavikrom, was the first of the Choomsai family. This was an era of accelerated modernisation for the Kingdom and the Prince was in the forefront as an architect and engineer.

The paintings of Sumet emphasise line and shape through delineated motifs against colourful backgrounds.

Maymay’s luscious prints of thickened paint and gloss sit atop a transparent surface that reveals the wooden support of her innovative painting practice.

And Prisdha’s bold approach to architectural design is highlighted in his plans for the New Art Museum (NAM), yet to be built in Bangkok, where grand, colourful and irregular shapes were inspired by Picasso’s 1915 painting “Harlequin”.

ENCOUNTER

IN BEIJING

– “Rencontre” runs from Saturday until June 17 at the XYZ Gallery in Beijing’s 798 Art Centre.

– For more details, check http://www.XYZArtGallery.com.

Hangman’s lament

Posted on August 4, 2016 by SoClaimon

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/Hangmans-lament-30286247.html

FILM

FIACHRA GIBBONS
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
CANNES, FRANCE May 19, 2016 1:00 am

Arthouse drama about Singapore’s death penalty stirs emotions

BEFORE HE MADE his new film about the death penalty, Boo Junfeng sat down to tea with some of Singapore’s retired hangmen.

He also talked to the clergymen who helped condemned prisoners make their last walk to the gallows.

And most difficult of all, the young filmmaker spent years trying to reach through the curtain of shame to families who had lost fathers and sons to the hangman’s rope.

But it was only after Boo, whose film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday, met one particularly “humane” executioner that he had an epiphany.

He realised that no movie has ever dealt with the whole horrible business from the perspective of the man who pulls the lever.

“I had already started to write [the film] but after I met the first hangman I couldn’t write for three months. What completely threw me was how much I enjoyed his company,” says Boo. “He was not like I thought. He was likeable, charismatic, grandfatherly jocular and open about what he did. He took pride in the almost caring way he looked after the prisoners trying to make it as humane as he could, and I realised how difficult that was. He really shook up my ideas and forced me to rethink everything.”

So Boo took his film, which he toiled over for five years, one step further.

For “Apprentice” has a shocking twist. It is the story of a young man who ended up learning the executioner’s trade from the man who opened the trapdoor on his own father.

More surprising still is the intensity of the almost father-son relationship that develops between the young prison guard and the hangman.

“He is in some ways searching for his father,” Boo says. “And in doing that he finds this man. What I was going for was human truth. I didn’t want to make it an activist film.”

The death penalty is nevertheless a hot political issue in Singapore and in neighbouring Indonesia, particularly when foreigners have fallen foul of strict anti-drug smuggling laws.

The execution of seven foreigners in Bali last year, including two Australians and a mentally ill Brazilian, sparked an international outcry, and several others, including a British woman and a Frenchman, are still on death row there.

Boo said he began his research with the book “Once a Jolly Hangman” which features Darshan Singh, Singapore’s chief executioner for nearly 50 years who once executed 18 men in one day.

Its British author Alan Shadrake was arrested the morning after the book’s Singapore launch in 2010 and was held for a month in Changi prison for insulting the country’s judiciary.

He had criticised the way he claimed the death penalty was disproportionately applied to the poor, while well-connected criminals and wealthy foreigners escaped the noose.

Boo shot the prison scenes in disused prisons in Australia to avoid controversy in the city-state, where an estimated 95 per cent of the population still support the death penalty.

“It would have been easy to make a film about the death penalty itself, but it’s much bigger than that. I learned so much about the value of human life” from making the movie.

Boo, 32, one of a new wave of talented Singapore filmmakers, said his friends who are against the death penalty “may be disappointed by the film”, which is showing in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard programme.

“I took myself out of the comfort zone to address the issue from a different point of view. I don’t have a view myself [in the film]. Because the humanity behind the issue is so much more complex,” says Boo, whose semi-autobiographical first feature “Sandcastle” was a hit at the French festival in 2009.

“Apprentice took so long because I had so much to learn, so many things were beyond my experience and very few people really knew [about this world] … and unfortunately almost of them are not around” to tell the tale.

True luxury in leather

Posted on August 4, 2016 by SoClaimon

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/True-luxury-in-leather-30286246.html

FASHION

KUPLUTHAI PUNGKANON
THE NATION May 19, 2016 1:00 am

Alexa Chung and Sophie Delafontaine

.Suvadee Pungbunphra and Orand Puipanthavong

Longchamp opens its flagship store at EmQuartier with a charity auction of a special edition Pliage bag

FRENCH LUXURY leather goods maker Longchamp recently celebrated the opening of its flagship store at upmarket mall EmQuartier with a philanthropic gesture – a specially designed Le Pliage Heritage Tricolore Thailand bag that was auctioned off to raise funds for the Thailand Heart Foundation under Royal Patronage.

“I felt it was the best way to honour Bangkok as I know Thai ladies are very sensitive to the quality of our products,” said Sophie Delafontaine, Longchamps artistic director and the granddaughter of its founder, who flew in especially for the occasion together with brand ambassador, top model Alexa Chung.

“For Bangkok, I wanted something very feminine and elegant so I chose orange pink and pastel pink enhanced by gold buttons and a little Swarovski crystal,” she added.

The auction, which was held as part of the opening event, saw anti-ageing specialist Dr Puttipong Poomsuwan snap up the prize for Bt250,000 as a present for his wife.

“We are very please to support this foundation because it is something we also do in France, Delafontaine explained.

“I’m very proud of the grand opening and really excited to observe the dynamism of this fashion city . I think it is a huge statement for Longchamp to open the flagship store here. It represents the new lifestyle of Longchamp.

“Thai women demand quality so I know we will continue to do well here. Longchamp loves to play with a lot of colours and that’s what I start with when I come up with a new collection.”

Chung too was delighted at the reception the new store received. Now in her sixth consecutive season as the brand’s ambassador, she often joins Delafontaine on her trips abroad and the two have become good friends. “I’m a huge fan of France as well as the brand, which is incredibly modern, up to date and relevant to every international fashion arena. Sophie and I are both passionate about fashion. We also have a similar appreciation for art, culture and travelling,” she said.

The English fashion model, television presenter, and contributing editor at British Vogue does however sport a different look for the 2016 campaign, .

“It’s my hair,” she laughed, pointing to her head. “As I’ve moved from my 20s to my 30s my style has developed and that’s reflected through the Longchamp collections as well. Shooting the ad campaign in all these amazing places has been an education. I always learn a lot with Longchamp. It’s been |lovely.”

The best part, Chung said with a grin, is annoying her |ex-boyfriend by having her face beaming out at him all around the world.

“I travel a lot and it is weird when I’m in an airport or on a street in Paris or New York and see my poster on the billboard. It’s huge!”

Her favourite bag, she says, is Le Pliage Heritage Hobo. “It a classic shape in beautiful leather. My favourite is the brown and black, and the strap is perfect. It suits more subtle situations and for the way I travel and work, it’s a really cool bag.”

She defines the brand in just three words: “Chic”, “International”, and “Optimistic”.

“One of the main things about having good style, is knowing yourself very well,” she said. “I admire women and men who express themselves through clothing.

“It doesn’t have to be expensive or crazy. It can be anything providing it rings true. Someone who looks amazing is confident and happy to express him or herself. I’m very lucky that Longchamp wants me as its brand ambassador. ”

The guests at the launch were lucky enough to enjoy a sneak preview of the ad campaign for autumn 2016, which introduces a new range of luxury leather bags modelled by Chung, all of them reflecting the true Parisian style of Longchamp.

Pretty in pink

Posted on August 4, 2016 by SoClaimon

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/Pretty-in-pink–30286243.html

BEAUTY

THE NATION May 19, 2016 1:00 am

pic

Actress Araya “Chompoo” A. Hargate stuns on the Cannes red carpet

BACK ON THE fashionable French Riviera for the 69th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, Thai actress Araya “Chompoo” A Hargate is turning heads both on and off the red carpet.

Dubbed by the Thai media as the “Queen of Cannes” and at #Mae is Mae” as the fashion queen, Araya is in France for the fourth year running as brand ambassador for L’Oreal Paris.

For the “Caf้ Society” premiere and opening ceremony this year, the superstar looked stunning in a dramatic pink ruffled gown by Ralph & Russo and really caught the public’s attention when she changed into a sexy violet Versace gown. For the premiere of “The BFG”, Araya stayed true to her voluminous dressing, opting for a Zuhair Murad organza dress while for the premiere of “From The Land of the Moon”, she opted for a completely different colour palette with a black-and-white gown by Jean Paul Gaultier.

The Thai actress enhanced her outfits with the Red Carpet gems from the main sponsors Chopard High Jewellery Collection.

L’Oreal Paris has kept fans updated throughout the festival with not only shot-by- shot images of Araya on the red carpet, but through a video presentation on its official website that shows how the brand’s international makeup artists created the gorgeous looks. These come courtesy of beauty guru Napassorn “Momay” Buranasiri who joined the trip to Cannes and filmed the makeup inspiration with Araya.

As ever, L’Oreal Paris is making it easy to follow the “Sensual Sophistication” look with its “Cannes 2016 Red Carpet Edition” range, which comprises four makeup items. Infallible 24H Stay Fresh Foundation” (Bt499) is a high- coverage, long-wear foundation that hides fatigue and blemishes; “L’Oreal Paris False Lash Superstar” (Bt449) are super-sized, super-long, lashes; “L’Oreal Paris Super Star Liner” (Bt399) transforms your look in one daring stroke and “Colour Riche L’ Extraordinaire Matte” (Bt459) – lends a sublime velvet lip quality in a multi-dimensional rich colour that’s never flat.

For more, check out http://www.LOrealParisthailand.com/ cannesmunity and http://www.facebook.com/lorealparisthailand.

Bravery on the battlefield

Posted on August 4, 2016 by SoClaimon

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/Bravery-on-the-battlefield-30286060.html

The Nation May 17, 2016 1:00 am

Suriyothai fights her way to where the King is dueling in a single combat with Prome, Viceroy of Pegu (Performed by Winita Lohitkul)/Photo courtesy of Opera Siam

Somtow Sucharitkul brings the story of Suriyothai back to the Bangkok Stage

Somtown Sucharitkul brings his ballet-opera “Suriyothai” back to the Thailand Cultural Centre next week to mark this year’s 84th birthday of Her Majesty the Queen.

Composed and directed by the Silapathorn Award laureate Somtow, the production won critical and popular acclaim when it was staged in 2013, with all five performances completely sold out and four more performances scheduled a few months later.

Set during a period of Siamese history in which Ayutthaya was a major international metropolis, a meeting place for world cultures, the opera begins when Prince Thian leaves the monkhood to become King Maha Chakkraphat and Suriyothai becomes the queen.

King Tabinshwehti of the Pegu Kingdom leads his army to attack Ayutthaya and Queen Suriyothai joins her husband on the battlefield by dressing like a man. The Siamese army soon meets the advance column commanded by the Viceroy of Prome and the two forces engage in single-elephant-combat but King Maha Chakkraphat’s elephant panics and takes flight, charging away from the enemy with the viceroy giving chase. Fearing for the life of her husband, Suriyothai charges ahead to put her elephant between the viceroy and the king. The viceroy then engages the queen in single combat, fatally cleaving her from shoulder to heart with his spear, and also wounding her daughter on the back of the same elephant.

The production tells the entire story in dance with opera in some scenes.

Fabrics for the production were created specially by design leader Pasaya. Opera star Stacey Tappan returns to sing the heroic queen’s words and Trisdee na Patalung conducts the Siam Philharmonic Orchestra.

Somtow asked choreographer Phuwarate Wongatichart, who has worked with on the operas “Mae Naak”, “Otello” and “The Silent Prince” and on “Reya – The Musical”, to create a hybrid style of dance that contains elements of modern dance and Thai classical dance.

The designer of the show, Dean Shibuya, is the former artistic director of the San Francisco Lyric Opera and worked in set design for the Bangkok Opera’s “Madame Butterfly” in 1996.

GET YOUR TICKETS

“Suriyothai” will be performed from May 27 to 29 at the Thailand Cultural Centre. Shows are at 8 nightly with 2pm matinees on Saturday and Sunday.
Tickets are Bt600 to Bt3,000, with discounts for seniors and students and groups. For details, check http://www.ThaiTicketMajor.com.
Groups of 15 or more can also get discounts. For more information, call the Bangkok Opera Foundation at (02) 231 5273 or (089) 136 9981.
And there are free tickets for students from the Department of Cultural Promotion. Call (02) 247-0028.

Ming wonders reborn

Posted on August 4, 2016 by SoClaimon

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/Ming-wonders-reborn-30285923.html

BUDDHIST ART

Phatarawadee Phatarawadee
The Nation May 16, 2016 1:00 am

Reproductions of paintings of the Lord Buddha are on view at the National Gallery. Nation/Anant Chantarasoot

Youngsters view reproductions of ritual paintings of Chinese. Nation/Anant Chantarasoot

An original ritual painting of Chinese religious figures gets a close look. Nation/Anant Chantarasoot

Artist Zhao Qingsheng spends 23 years to copy 136 Shuilu ritual paintings of the Ming Dynasty at Bao Ning Temple. Photo courtesy of Nation Gallery Bangkok

For Visakha Bucha Day, replicas of Buddhist ritual paintings from China

Artist Zhao Qingsheng was fascinated by the Shuilu ritual paintings of the Ming Dynasty when he visited Bao Ning Temple in China’s northern Shanxi province three decades ago. He was also alarmed, though, at the way the 136 masterpieces had faded over the course of nearly 600 years.

So Zhao spent 23 years copying them, and the results of his labour are now on display in Bangkok, in the exhibition “Buddhist Faith Art of the Ming Dynasty” at the National Gallery on Chao Fah Road.

Organised to promote Buddhism in Thailand in time for Visakha Bucha Day this Friday, the Bt500-million show is a collaboration of both countries’ culture ministries and Thai Asean+6 Business Promotion Association. The show also tightens Thai and Chinese relations as part of the business- and culture-boosting “21st Century Maritime Silk Road” programme.

Zhou’s 136 copies are on view alongside 10 original Shuilu paintings borrowed from a private collection. The bulk of the originals and other artefacts from Bao Ning Temple are now stored at a museum in Shanxi.

“The core value of the Shuili ritual paintings is in their royal descent and their uniqueness,” the 55-year-old artist told The Nation through interpreter Dongyu Zhao, who lives in Bangkok.

“The paintings were commissioned by the Ming emperor Tian Shun, so they have the highest-possible social standing and are much honoured in Chinese history. They constitute the only complete set of Shuili ritual paintings still in existence.”

Zhou explained that Shuilu paintings are associated with Mahayana Buddhism and reflect its characteristic proselytising – Mahayana beliefs are disseminated so that all sentient beings can gain enlightenment. And this is why the paintings depict figures not just from Buddhism but also Taoism and Confucianism.

The Lord Buddha appears in various incarnations – as Sakyamuni, Akshobhya and Ratnasambhava – and as Vajarapanina Bodhisattva and Amitabha. All of these representations will be familiar to the Thai faithful.

Zhou began his preservation mission at the end of 1980 when he was transferred to the Bureau of Cultural Relics of Shanxi. There he became head of the technology centre, in charge of preserving the province’s treasures.

“The original paintings have weathered more than 550 years of history and most of them are blurred and damaged,” he said. “At times I couldn’t even identify the original colours because they were totally oxidised and blackened. And some parts of the original patterns are missing, so I had to use my professional skills and make assumptions to reconstruct them.”

Zhou is famous in his homeland, having studied under Pan Jiezi, regarded as a master of figure painting, Liang Shunian, a master of the traditional landscape, and Dong Shouping, master of the freehand style. Zhou’s specialities are figures rendered in meticulous brushwork and impressionistic landscapes. His drawings are precisely delineated and his colours rich.

His copies of the Shuilu ritual paintings caused a sensation in Chinese Buddhist circles and earned the praise of Buddhist patriarch Zhao Puchu and Bureau of Cultural Relics chief LV Jiming.

Preservation, Zhou said, is never easy. “The whole process is quite complicated – only experts with the needed background can understand it.”

He simplified the work into four stages. “The first step is drawing a graph of lines to recreate the patterns. Then you create the parts missing in the originals to produce a complete picture without colour.

“The third step is colouring the pictures and restoring the missing colours of the originals. Finally, the paintings have to be antiqued to make them look old.”

Taoism and Buddhism are the predominant faiths in China, and Confucianism – an indigenous practice regarded as the “soul” of Chinese culture – is still widely pursued, even though it evolved as a guiding ideology for a feudalistic society.

“Buddhism has developed in China for more than 2,000 years,” Zhou said. “Chinese Buddhism integrates the other traditional beliefs – in other words it follows the track of cultural integration in China. The Shuilu ritual paintings are important evidence for that integrative development process.”

Zhou hopes his exhibition can share some of the alternate Buddhist tenets in Thailand, where most of the faithful follow the Theravada teachings.

“Thailand is the one of the biggest Buddhism countries in the world and has a lofty reputation in the world of Buddhism. If the people of Thailand can accept this exhibition, I will be very proud and honoured, because my paintings will have been certified by such an authoritative country.

“I also believe this is a good chance for our two countries to enhance their cultural communication.”

Retired art lecturer Wiroj Anantanawong, visiting the show, remarked on the similarity in style between Chinese and Thai traditional painting.

“You see the same technique of painting in watercolour and then making the outlines clear,” he said. “The differences are in the characters depicted and other subject matter.”

Thai and Chinese art and beliefs do have much in common, Zhou said. “I hope this exhibition helps Thais understand the characteristics of Chinese Buddhism so they might see what is similar and what is different.”

Although the paintings are fascinating and truly impressive, the show’s layout provides little information about Buddhist art in general. Unfortunately only a brief biography of the artist is offered, along with a short video about his preservation process.

The paintings are mounted with their titles but without any attempt to explain their meanings, which will make it difficult for the average Thai – even a devout Buddhist – to understand their importance or context.

FAITH AND HOPE

– “Buddhist Faith Art of the Ming Dynasty” continues through May 29 at the National Gallery on Chao Fah Road. It’s open Wednesday through Sunday from 8.30 to 4.30 but will be closed this Friday, Visakha Bucha Day.

– For more details, check Facebook.com/|TheNationalGalleryBangkok.

Tree-huggers get to squeeze a star instead

Posted on August 4, 2016 by SoClaimon

ศาสตร์เกษตรดินปุ๋ย : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/life/Tree-huggers-get-to-squeeze-a-star-instead-30285897.html

SOOPSIP

The Nation
email: ntsoopsip@gmail.com May 16, 2016 1:00 am

Weir’s fan club documented the hugs on Facebook.

Plastic bottles are recycled in Taiwan to make a giant reproduction of van Gogh’s ‘The Starry Night’. Photo/EPA

Other caring entertainers are joining rapper Apisit “Joey Boy” Opasaimlikit in coming to the aid of the vanishing forests of Nan.

More generally, they’re coming to the aid of the province’s governor, Suwat Promsuwan, after he came under attack on the “Reclaiming Thailand” Facebook page for letting the trees wither – or be burnt.

Enraged, Suwat demanded constructive proposals from the “keyboard brats” instead of criticism and said he had 500,000 rai in need of replanting. Joey Boy promptly offered the nearly Bt390,000 remaining in his 2011 flood-relief fund, and DJ-singer Suharit Siamwalla has pledged another Bt500,000.

Then Sukollawat “Weir” Kanarot came forward with a novel idea. He and Muang Nan Mayor Surapol Thiensut staged “Hug Weir for Nan Forest” in front of famous Wat Phumin and loads of people paid good money to give the handsome actor a squeeze.

“The money might not be much, but I’m determined to give something back to society,” Weir said. “And these aren’t just hugs – I want them to be symbols of unity. We all need to hug the forest.”

A major local fan of Weir absolutely insisted she was there to hug a tree, not him. “I’m very worried about the deforestation in my province,” she said convincingly. “I get really upset when my friends visit from other provinces and ask me where all the trees have gone. So seeing Weir doing this for the people of Nan is really impressive.”

Tree-huggers or star-huggers, deforestation is a problem right across Thailand, so Weir might have to come up with millions more hugs to turn the situation around. Not Joey Boy, though. No one wants to hug Joey Boy.

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Bottled up for posterity

Surely crazy old Vincent van Gogh is used to being recycled by now. His grizzled face and iconic paintings are replicated on all sorts of weird merchandise – everything, it seems, short of medical bandages, which would be tacky.

At least Taiwanese firm Unison Developing is trying to save the world by turning four million used plastic bottles into a mammoth replica Vincent’s “The Starry Night” to promote recycling. The image is rendered in coloured plastic and covers 53 hectares, Reuters reports.

The Starry Paradise park outside the city of Keelung opened earlier this year to mark the 125th anniversary of the Dutch post-impressionist’s death in 1890. (Okay, so they were a bit late.) The year before he died he painted “The Starry Night” – shivering stars and moon and cypress silhouettes all rendered in swirling pigment.

Visitor reactions to the recycled replica have varied, says Reuters, which found at least one moderately happy customer.

“We came here right after work to have a look,” the news agency quotes 22-year-old Fan Yu-Hsiang as saying. “It’s very big and there are a lot of PET bottles! I think it looks more beautiful in photographs, but looking at it like this is still impressive.”