ISAN CREATIVE FESTIVAL 2022

FROM ISAN TRADITIONAL PARADE FEATURING A PERFORMANCE BY BAMBOO PIPE MOUTH ORGAN (KHAEN) TO A TRUCK THAT CARRIES A LARGE AUDIO SYSTEM, ISAN CREATIVE FESTIVAL 2022 INVITES US TO CONTEMPLATE A DISTINCTIVE CULTURE OF ISAN IN THE CONTEMPORARY DESIGN

TEXT: KITA THAPANAPHANNITIKUL
PHOTO COURTESY OF CEA KHON KAEN EXCEPT AS NOTED

(For Thai, press here) 

With Bangkok Design Week 2022 freshly wrapped up, CEA brings the hype to the Northeastern crowd with the Isan Creative Festival 2022 held in Khon Kaen. The theme ‘Think Link Things’ takes inspiration from the hook of a nursery rhyme common told in the northeastern or Isan region (similar to the ‘chang erng aoey’ verse in Look Toong or Molam songs), while playing with the sounds of the words ‘Think link Things’. The result reflects the intertwined connection between each northeastern province’s cultural capitals, from the cultural creations that have been a part of the impression people have about the Isan region such as Molam music, textile, or even local everyday dishes such as papaya salad with fermented paddy crab and fish. Isan’s idiosyncratic fun and friendly character provides a great challenge for CEA, as the event organizer, while asking a significant question about how creativity can be developed and nurtured in the areas along Khong, Shee and Moon River that are rich with vernacular cultures.

Isan Creative Festival 2022 takes place in Kangsadan and Srichan, two different neighborhoods with contrasting characters. Situated next to Khon Kaen University, Kangsadan is a city’s hub with a distinctive dynamic that attracts younger crowds. Also home to TCDC Khon Kaen, the area is driven by creative forces and serves an incubator of new creative developments.

In the big picture, the exhibitions curated for Kangsadan district depict the amalgamation of new, modern technologies and practices with the traditional Isan culture. The highlight of the program at Kangsadan is the textile exhibition ‘Thai Swag’ by Amata ‘Pearypie’ Chittasenee, a famous influencer who presents traditional Thai textile through the aesthetic of street fashion. Realized  and developed from her own personal interests and taste, Pearypie uses the Teen Daeng textile from Buriram province for the making of a stylish pair of bell-bottom pants, which she pairs up with a black coat and boots while the grey suit made of fabric from Baan Hua Fai gets mixed and matched with a metallic coloured skirt. The exhibition proposes new possible ideas that can bring more value to traditional Thai textile, especially in new markets with styles that are more approachable and practical, be it through clothes or fashion items from different cultures such as sneakers, berets, etc. Another highlight is the Isan Flavor Library exhibition by Mah Noi Food Lab, which works to change the public’s perception toward Isan food such as fermented fish and other fermented dishes. This type of food comes with complex tastes brought about by the fermentation process yet is deemed inferior for the way it’s generalized and perceived as unhygienic. Mah Noi Food Lab led by chefs, Weerawat Taruyasenawat and Curtis Hetland, experimented on local ingredients and methods to develop new tastes, from fermented grasshopper, Agasta flower kimchi or Spanish style smoked Isan. The two exhibitions reflect the incorporation of Isan’s culture to the more modern experimentation and presentation, and with that a dress made of chiffon fabric and Teen Daeng textile is practically the same story while Isan sausage isn’t all that different from German bratwurst in the sense that they are a part of the culture that can unapologetically and naturally exist and be celebrated in the modern world.

Another part of the curatorial program takes place in the Srichan neighbourhood. Unlike the more modern and upbeat Kangsadan, Srichan is a historical neighbourhood filled with stories from the past and home to the city gate, the city shrine and a number of old, historical buildings. The exhibitions that are highlights of the program occupy the space inside the province’s air conditioned bus terminal, including Made in Srichan 2, a collaboration between designers and local entrepreneurs that aims to develop new design creations inspired by the characteristics of Srichan neighbourhood, from a packaging and label design for the local 100 year soy milk establishment, or the redesigned menu for Krua Yok restaurant, etc. Nearby, the House of Fabric-Ation exhibition portrays Isan through technology and design through the use and experimentation of materials such as aluminium fibres and recycled materials to develop new textile inventions. Different scientific processes are employed alongside sustainability and the approach lays the ground for the entire narrative of the exhibition. Across the hall, the space welcomes the student showcase that invites students and creators throughout Isan to submit and exhibit their works.

Not too far from the program, the art space, 1502 Srichan Creative Sharing Space, hosts ‘SAKON Junction’, the exhibition that showcases the creativity of Sakon Nakon province through art, chef table menus, a quilt workshop, all the way to an interesting reinterpretation of pour over coffee as an art form. The activities take place in parallel with the Isan, Our Home (town) exhibition, which tells stories of Sakon Nakhon and Nakhon Ratchasima as one’s rural hometowns and their rise to become the future creative districts.

After the sun is set, viewers are able to enjoy the Projection Mapping Show where lights, colors and sounds tell stories of local beliefs, cultures, ghosts, tales and myths inspired by ‘Hoop Tam’, the ancient mural paintings found in the Isan region. The visuals and aesthetics of ‘Hoop Tam’ find their way to the festival in the form of projection mapping with the long-standing architecture of Sawasdee Hotel in Srichan neighbourhood as the backdrop. On the street, a contemporary Molam band puts on a live performance, reminiscing the experience of being at a free concert with spectacular visuals and sound experiences.

There is a lot more to Isan Creative Festival 2022, including many interesting exhibitions we did not mention in greater details such as Khon Kaen Urban Transit showcasing light rail transit system that the city will get to welcome in the future, the Future Paradise exhibition by Design and Objects Association (D&O), D-Kak Market, Molam House Hopping and many other smaller exhibitions curated for both locals and visitors to enjoy  and find out about in the fantastic creative spectacle.

What makes Isan Creative Festival 2022 stand out is how it manages the region’s diverse and distinctive cultural capitals, from art, entertainment to food and crafts. Thanks to the vastness of the northeastern region, which takes up one-third of the country’s entire geographic area, Isan’s cultures are diversified and varied by provinces with different locally conceived and evolved characteristics. The challenge that all designers and creators have to work with is how to develop something that is contemporary but still preserves that unique local identity. Looking closer, textiles from Sakon Nakhon and Surin are different in detail and derived from actual usages by people who are born and bred in Isan. If one were to compare the festival to the Molam music, what makes the exhibition successful isn’t a progressive arrangement that leaves people bewildered and confused but a contemporary yet relatable composition that everybody can really have fun with.

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