Wonderfruit Festival
On 16th - 19th February 2017
At Siam Country Club, Pattaya
British Council (Thailand) is delighted to be participating in the Wonderfruit Festival, an annual celebration of art, music and life, on 16th -19th February 2017, at Siam Country Club, Pattaya, Thailand, presenting a collaborative art and craft project by UK and Thai designer makers to explore the meaning of craft, sustainability, and innovation.
Building on British Council’s work in Craft & Design starting in 2014, which has involved more than 50 designers and makers in Thailand and the UK, the cross cultural craft collaboration at Wonderfruit will engage a Scottish designer maker, Naomi McIntosh, and three Thai designer makers, Saruta Kiatparkpoom, Vassana Saima, and Piboon Amornjiraporn, as well as local basket weavers from Chiang Mai and Chonburi, to work on an installation which reflects the cultural collaboration of the UK and Thailand, and the meaning of craft in both countries. The installation – a pavilion - will be completed by festival goers, who will take part in this hands-on process to make the pavilion an organic art piece.
Pavilion
The pavilion resembles a metal cave structure comprising of rows of metal arches made from scrap metals from Saruta’s factory in Bangkok. The structure, inspired by Naomi’s interest in 2D and 3D forms, offers fluidity and will be decorated by thousands of woven bamboo fish designed by Vassana to reflect prosperity and represent the symbol of Thai craft. The pavilion will be completed by Piboon’s attention to detail. It will be lid at night to provide interaction between light and forms.
Profiles of Designer Makers
Naomi McIntosh www.naomimcintosh.com
Naomi studied architecture at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, before earning her Master’s degree in design from Central Saint Martins. Her architectural background helped develop a signature language with a focus on form, clean lines and with a strong attention to detail. She works with materials that allow the intricate nature of the work to be visible.
Saruta Kiatparkpoom www.pinmetallife.com
Saruta or Pin is well known for her metal home décor and art pieces which are intricately designed and inspired by her surroundings and local traditions. Pin grew up in a family-owned steel company, and her primary passion is to recycle worthless steel debris from the factory into valuable home decors. Pin has won numerous design awards and has participated in exhibitions abroad including in the UK.
Vassana Saima
Vassana is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts and Architecture, Rajamangala University of Technology Lanna in Chiang Mai. Apart from teaching, which is her passion, she has worked tirelessly together with local basket weaving communities to collect traditional designs and patterns for their preservation, before reinterpreting them into new forms. Vassana works only on handwoven bamboo lamps and her “Bird Nest” lamp won first prize from the Innovative Craft Award by The SUPPORT Arts and Craft International Center of Thailand in 2012.
Piboon Amornjiraporn http://www.pluraldesigns.net/
Piboon’s background is in architectural design, but currently he is interested in furniture design and woodworking. His works combines forms, materials, functions, and making processes to create everyday art pieces with high quality craftsmanship, which reflect the name of the studio - Plural Designs. He combines factory process with digital fabrication and fine craftsmanship. He has won a number of design awards including Demark and G-Mark.
For more information, please visit http://wonderfruitfestival.com/
Promotion Code: WONDERBOW