Lacquer gets a contemporary focus at the new Art Connecting LAcquer Museum

Lacquer is a heritage craft with deep roots in Thailand, while Kamalor, the traditional technique of painting in coloured lacquer, is comparatively rare in the Lanna tradition. Klai. Rak. Kamalor explores how the technique can be sustained and developed for a new generation through research into alternative materials. A research team from Chulalongkorn University, led by Asst. Prof. Dr. Somchai Boonyanun and Lecturer Sanan Rattana, has developed materials designed to recreate the depth, gloss and layered colour of traditional Kamalor without relying on increasingly scarce and costly natural lacquer sap.

At Art Connecting Lacquer Museum, Kamalor paintings by Sanan Rattana are displayed alongside traditional natural-lacquer works and pieces made using the alternative materials, with research displays and a hands-on table allowing visitors to examine the surfaces, including under UV light. Later in the exhibition, students from Chiang Mai Rajabhat University will add their own alternative-material lacquer paintings to the upper-floor display. At the heart of the exhibition is a question about where the value of traditional art lies: in its materials, or in the knowledge, skill and intent behind its making.

October 1-December 30. Art Connecting Lacquer Museum. Charoenrat Road, Wat Ket. Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm