The gradual surge of charming hill tribe fashion and accessories like the colourful skirts, shirts, bags and shoes seen on tourists and Thai hipsters nowadays would probably have one unexpected person to thank: Her Majesty the Queen.
It’s a simple narrative we’ve all heard before: through Her Majesty’s visits to the remote hill tribe villages of Thailand, she saw the beauty in the arts and handicraft work of the villagers. Hitting many birds with one stone, Her Majesty provided the hill tribe artisans with extra income by having them create small patches of their most unique fabrics to sell in the SUPPORT Foundation with the profit going back to the villagers. In turn, this preserved the endangered art forms that would have died in the modern era and at the same time eradicated the farming and selling of opium that was their former income.
At present, there are now 22,530 hill tribe artisans from 620 villages who are benefiting from this project, and as seen today, hill tribe fabrics are as big as ever and are found in contemporary fashion.
Taking this narrative as inspiration, the SUPPORT Foundation has organised, for the first time, an exhibition highlighting the distinctive and intricate fabrics of the six major Thai hill tribes in the “Crafts From The Hands Of The Hills … To The Hands Of The Queen” exhibition.
Open to the public next Monday, the exhibition hopes to showcase and engender appreciation towards the Hmong, Karen, Mien (Yao), Lahu (Musur), Lisaw, and A-Ka (E-Gor) hill tribes whose local fabrics and techniques of hand weaving, sewing, embroidery, stitching, patchwork and wax-drawings can go head-to-head with the stunning silk fabrics that Thailand is better known for.
The exhibition will be split into six zones, each highlighting each tribe’s techniques and skills. The Hmong, for example, are known for their intricate candle-wax works (similar to batik), while the Yao are known for their intricate colourful cross-stitch seen on many contemporary clothing items today.
The exhibition will also feature interesting workshops with the hill tribe artisans and more than 70 new fabric and mixed media artworks, designed by Thai artist Nuntapong Sinsawus. “In the fabrics, we see with our eyes the beauty of the techniques,” he says. “But if we look at them with our hearts, of how much the artisans had to go through, you will see Her Majesty’s kindness and the artisan’s happiness within the cloth. This is the value of the clothes in the SUPPORT Foundation. There’s a story behind every fabric. Every step in the fabric making process, the artists will think of Their Majesties, they want to present these clothes to them so they do their very best. We wanted to show this as best as possible. To show not just the beauty, but the grace of the fabrics.”
Aug 1 to Oct 11, 2016, 10am-7pm except Wednesdays at The Queen’s Gallery near Phan Fah Leelart Bridge, Ratchadamnoen Klang Road, Bangkok.
For group visits, call 02-281-5360-1.
This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.