The ORIGIN Thailand Arts Programs

North by North East has been working closely with Alex Kerr and the ORIGIN Arts programs in Thailand since 2005. In 2007, we’re also excited to report that North by North East and Alex will be working together to bring ORIGIN to Luang Prabang, Laos.

Usually, when one visits a foreign country, one mostly sees places and objects: temples and museums. Maybe a festival if one is lucky. Or perhaps one hears someone give a talk or illustrated lecture. But the hardest things to gain understanding of are the living arts based on ancient philosophies such as Zen Buddhism or Shinto. These exist only in the bodies and minds of their practitioners and leave nothing behind. Yet it is in these arts that the spiritual origins of the culture are to be found.

Experience the spiritual origins of Thai culture

Physical works such as paintings, sculptures, and architecture are of course an important part of cultural heritage. But ORIGIN focuses primarily on "arts of living and practice". Only when one has understood these, do the paintings and other art works start to make sense.

With a 30-year history of tuition in Japan, and ten years in Thailand, ORIGIN is a uniquely designed program for teaching the traditional arts of Asia. It currently operates in Kyoto and Tokyo in Japan, and Bangkok and Chiangmai in Thailand. The name ORIGIN refers to its basic aim: to introduce the spiritual origins of each culture, that is, the human wisdom that lies hidden within the traditional arts. This is done in short but intensive programs where students learn hands-on with master local teachers, in which they experience up to four different arts in a day.

One of the most exciting take-away's from this program is to discover through your own experience the common threads that run through all of the arts. In a Kyoto program this might be noticing with your own body how the kamae pose of Noh theater is the same as the sword stance in martial arts, and is even mirrored in the movements of the tea master wiping the bamboo scoop. In Bangkok, this insight could take place after a program, upon suddenly seeing the principles one has learned in Khon classical dance, Marayaat etiquette, flower offerings and Lai Thai design, re-appear in the architecture and paintings of the Grand Palace.

Creating the artistic threads found throughout the Kingdom

The ORIGIN experience aims to give people a set of mental tools to understand the traditional culture they are in. For the engaged visitor, this can bring a different level to the way in which one encounters the people and places of a country. (For this reason we always recommend that visitors try to experience the ORIGIN program as early in a trip as possible.)

In Bangkok, a program begins with the participants gathering over fresh fruit and coffee in the leafy garden of the ORIGIN art center in the grounds of Khun Santi's house at Soi 60 Ladprao Road. This is a beautiful high-walled complex of traditional Thai houses on stilts, surrounded by lush fan palms and banyan trees – upon entering through the tiny gate it feels as though one has stumbled into a hidden oasis.

Origin Bangkok

Alex launches each program with a half-hour Orientation, in which he gives the day’s agenda an introductory grounding in Thai (and Asian) history, religion, and arts. Participants then gather in the polished teak dance pavilion, where they learn the basics of traditional Thai etiquette: how to sit, walk, give and receive, and wai (pay respect by raising the hands with palms together). Unlike the now quaint Western notion of “etiquette”, Marayaat in Thailand is a crucial part of peoples’ daily interactions. After doing this class, one will suddenly begin the notice the depth to which these graceful forms of social intercourse permeate the lives of the Thais.

Students are next given bright cotton jongkraben traditional trousers to change into, and then it’s back to the dance pavilion to pay respect to Ganesh. The portly elephant-headed god is patron of the arts in Thailand, and flowers and incense are always offered before beginning the Khon dance class. The Bangkok program focuses on the classic arts of the Thai court, and these are epitomized in the refined movement and ornate elegance of this dance form.

After having learned, among many other things, how to gracefully flex one’s fingers into the two basic positions of wong and a jeep , students take a break for a relaxed lunch of home-cooked Thai food upstairs in one of the teak houses.

In the afternoon, it’s time for Lai Thai design, and the art of creating traditional flower offerings from banana leaves and jasmine. These flower offerings, known as bai sii, can be seen in a myriad of sizes and styles in Buddhist and Hindu ceremonies throughout Thailand. After learning the meaning of the shape and elements of these arrangements, students then make their own bai sii from scratch, starting with the folding and assembling of pliant banana leaves.

Finally, after a break for coffee and snacks in the garden, students return to the same (air-conditioned!) studio to learn about Lai Thai design. Lai Thai is the art of creating the graceful, flame-like patterns that are found here in everything from fabric prints to temple eaves, and from Khon masks to corporate logos (to say nothing of Thai money.) These patterns, so recognizably Thai, are basically fractal in nature, reflecting the same repetition on different scales that determines the forms of plant leaves and flames. During the class, students are given a brocade-bound book, and shown how to draw several basic designs in pencil. At the end of the day, they recreate these patterns in their books with a fine brush and glue, and lay gold leaf over the surface. After brushing the excess away, students are left with their patterns etched in gold in the books, which they take home as souvenirs. For longer programs, students also study Thai martial arts, and learn traditional dessert-making.

Learning traditional Thai design in modern day comfort!

After a full day of study, participants then freshen up back at the hotel before paying a visit to Alex’s private home for a special dinner party and arts evening.

The idea behind this party is to give guests a chance to see the arts they’ve studied during the day come alive in an authentic context. The highlight of the evening is performances by the Bangkok program dance troupe (one of Thailand’s finest), with a live Khon orchestra playing throughout the evening. Having learned the hand and foot motions of dance in the program, guests now see professional dancers, dressed in gorgeous gold and brocade costumes and wearing masks, perform a full classic dance. Enjoyed at close range in a private setting, this is an experience not easily forgotten. Likewise guests eat food and desserts cooked as they have seen in class, in a room decorated with flowers such as they have made, and so forth. The final dinner is a valuable – and really fun – way to bring all the arts together.

These Bangkok arts trace back thousands of years to India, Java, and the Khmer empire at Angkor Wat, and were later brought to their present high level of refinement within the Thai court. In contrast, the ORIGIN program in Chiangmai concentrates on the arts of Lanna, the old kingdom of the north. These are related to the ancient culture of the peoples of the Mekong River valley, including the Lao, the Burmese, and ethnic groups of southern China and Vietnam.

The Lanna program takes place at ORIGIN’s Chiangmai arts center, a private park setting with grassy open spaces and huge old shade trees, situated on the grounds of Chiangmai University. A group of seven old Lanna teak houses have been reconstructed on the grounds, and it is here that the program takes place.

The emphasis in Chiangmai is on the vibrant Northern cultural mix: ancient Mekong traditions, influences from China and central Thailand, animism, shamanism, and the delicately playful arts nurtured within the old northern court. Course elements include traditional textiles (in collaboration with textile expert Patricia Cheesman [spell?]), dance and music, flower arrangement, lantern making, and cooking using natural ingredients from field and forest.?? The Lanna ORIGIN program also culminates with a special party, with guests dining on their creations from cooking class while watching the teachers and dance assistants put on a traditional northern style dance gala with live orchestra and jaw-dropping costumes.

Lana traditions come to life with 'jaw dropping' costumes.

For visitors with time, experiencing both programs in succession offers a unique window into the "yin and yang" of traditional Thai culture, showing the nobility and refinement of royal Bangkok, and the grace and freedom of old Lanna.??

?The challenge in countries across Asia is that it's very difficult for visitors (and also young people from those countries) to meaningfully access the traditional arts. ??At the low end of the scale are the ubiquitous "tourist shows" in which case the spiritual values are degraded. Higher up are "demonstrations" of arts or dance, but these usually lack a context or explanation to make them truly understandable. And at the top end are the orthodox traditions preserved in universities or palaces – which are mostly closed to outsiders. The teachers of traditional arts in Asia are mainly used to teaching only to students who are going to dedicate their lives to the art form. But most modern people are not able to do that. We seek to learn something of lasting value from the arts, but after that we must return to our everyday lives.

Until recently, there have been no programs aimed at this need. North-by-Northeast is proud to be working with ORIGIN to fill this gap. These arts programs introduce traditional Thai culture in a way that's true to the high tradition, can be experienced in a short period of time, and – most importantly - in a way that's fun and understandable for modern people.