CREATIVE NAKHON

SPEAK WITH SUPACHAI KLAEWTANONG, THE CHIEF MEMBER OF CREATIVE NAKHON, ABOUT THE OVERALL IMPRESSION OF THE 4TH CREATIVE NAKHON FESTIVAL AT NAKHON SI THAMMARAT WHICH IS HELD IN THE THEME “RE – SET”

TEXT: PRATARN TEERATADA
PHOTO: NUNTANORA THAMMACHAT

(For Thai, press here) 

Supachai Klaewtanong is a designer who has a passionate appreciation for locality and local wisdom. Currently helming Nakkid Design Studio Company Limited, Supachai is also one of the driving forces of Creative Nakhon, a design-oriented collective behind the making of Creative Nakhon Festiva, an event that operates with support from Creative Economy Agency (Public Organization) or CEA.  Themed ‘RE-SET,’ new idea, old neighborhood, the fourth Creative Nakhon Festival took place between December 1st- 12th 2021 in Nakhon Si Thammarat. art4d talked with Supachai about this latest creative event he helped create.

art4d: Would you mind telling us a bit about the current scenario of Nakhon Si Thammarat’s creative economy?

Supachai Klaewtanong: In terms of the creative economy, speaking in general as a member of Creative Nakhon, in the past three years, we’ve been trying to bring together people in the creative community in Nakhon Si Thammarat, encouraging everyone to meet and exchange ideas and works at Creative Nakhon festival. The event is garnering interest and recognition and we are now moving into our fourth year, and with this latest event, we got to work together with the local sectors and the CEA team.

In 2019, CEA implemented the Creative District policy. At the time, both our team and CEA agreed that our city had enough potential to meets CEA’s criteria, so we applied and were chosen as one of the 15 pilot creative districts. CEA sent their research team to conduct a study and found that Thawang and Thamon are areas with high cultural capital with their own stories, long-standing history and both are old commercial neighborhoods with their own unique assets such as architecture, food, crafts, traditions and cultures. But despite their cultural capitals, the areas still lack local creative force. Many old establishments in the neighborhoods were closed down, some are either put up on sale or for rent. The neighborhoods were disappearing and spaces were left unoccupied. Such a scenario ignites the idea of piloting the creative district strategy that would bring together creative individuals, stakeholders, and the locals as the driving forces, developing the areas through Creative Nakhon Festival, which has been held for the fourth time now.

art4d: What are your roles in Creative Nakhon?

SK: I’m the head of the Creative Nakhon Collective and the head of the steering committee of the forth Creative Nakhon Festival, so my role is to lead the collaboration and work with the committee members from Creative Nakhon. My work mostly entails planning the main program of the event, control the theme, key visuals and activities, presenting ideas and raising support and facilitating collaborations from governmental and private agencies, local community and members, as well as supervising the production aspect of the festival, which includes the COVID-19-related measures.

art4d: What are your favorite contents from the festival?

SK: I personally like RE-MEMORY of Thawang Thamon, which basically revolves around a revival of the Thamon’s memories through five exhibitions, featuring everyday objects, food, memory tellers, architecture, and old photographs. I like how the exhibition allows us to work on the subject matter that involves memories of the neighborhoods’ past, and how it helps us learn more about the history of the areas, and many interesting stories behind their evolutions. It enables us to expand our contents into so many other areas and subject matters. I also like that the exhibition was very relatable to the viewers, especially the senior members of the community. They came and saw old photographs, stories from the past, and they shared something with the stories we told because there were places they went to or used to live.

Another part that I also like is the extension of the exhibition called REVIVAL. It brings the areas’ assets and stories and turns them into creative works such as graphic design, packaging design and street products. Through these creations, people can easily understand how stories in their lives can be materialized into products and everyday objects that are not only beautiful-looking but also have unique design characteristics and stories. They’re relatable and practical with the potential to be developed into many more things.

art4d: What have you learned from putting together this festival?

SK: There are many things I’ve learned and even though this is the forth time we’ve done it, it was actually the first official event that centers around the creative district strategy. Everyone put in all their efforts. I would say we outdid the budget we were given. But since it was the first festival in the scale of an actual neighborhood, there were problems here and there, from making everyone see the same big picture, and the fact that an event of this nature was considered pretty new for Nakhon Si Thammarat. We had been asked what the festival was about but after the it was promoted and shared, people’s interest has managed to grow over time. I think we’ll have to continue organizing and promoting the event in the future.

Management wise, there were some obstacles. Some of the venues had water leakages, some had problems with electricity but we were able to handle all the 18 venues, including assigning the people who would oversee each venue and explain the curatorial programs. We learned and adjusted our plans almost on a daily basis. There were some unavoidable issues such as COVID, which had to be managed according to the changing situation, but in general, we received great support and collaborations.

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