CULTURE: TRADITIONS
In Thailand, despite the openness to all forms of progress, there is a deep attachment to traditions, which unites all social strata. The cycle of life, from birth to death, is linked to numerous beliefs and superstitions, such as the fear of evil spirits (phi), death understood as a positive and happy event, love for family and the choice of a god. protect to protect it. The male costume, when the European style is not adopted, is made up of a piece of colored cotton that wraps around the body, from the waist down, like seamless trousers (panung); the female one, once limited to the sarong, is now very varied and becomes sumptuous and refined elegance on special occasions. Thais are very fond of all forms of entertainment and in particular dance, which has a thousand-year tradition, and theater. Numerous and evocative popular festivals: important the festival of “floating lights” (Loi Krathong) after the rainy season, celebrated with a procession of illuminated boats, and those for the New Year (celebrated between 13 and 16 April) which they last three days. Check themakeupexplorer to see Northern Thailand Buddhas and Foreign Cultures.
CULTURE: ART
Precise artistic styles, mostly determined by the schools of Buddhist sculpture inspired by the Hīnayāna (Theravāda) doctrine, characterized the various periods of Siam’s history and took their name from the political capitals or major centers in which they flourished. The first artistic school developed from the century. VI to the century. XI, in the middle and lower Menam, during the reign of Dvāravatī (previous artistic experiences, similar to the ways of the pre-Khmer culture of Fu-nan, were produced in the area of U Tong, as the archaeological finds of this area have shown) and was strongly impregnated with the aesthetic components of India Gupta, arrived through the irradiation of Indian civilization and the emigration of numerous manpower, which in these countries was active alongside that coming from Ceylon. The style of Dvāravatī was succeeded by that of Lop Buri, which constituted a provincial version of the great Khmer art. With the foundation of the first independent Siamese kingdom of the Thai (13th century) a third style was established which took its name from the new capital of Sukhothai and which brought about a renewal of the artistic tendencies of the local schools. In the twin capital of Sajjnālava the ceramic kilns (Svargaloka pottery) had great importance in this era. The Sukhothai schools of sculpture began a great plastic tradition (for example, the iconography of the Buddha image was developed”Walking”) which had a wide impact on the artistic production of the country. And it was in the period of Sukhothai and in the subsequent Ayutthaya that the great architectural transformations took place, with the progressive abandonment of Khmer forms and the definition of more exquisitely Siamese characters (adoption of the type of cetiya bell-shaped with a square plan, or of the type with a bulb dome). In this period (13th / 14th-16th centuries) the sculptural style of the school of U Tong flourished, inspired by Indian and Javanese formulas. The latter succeeded in the century. XVIII that of Bangkok, with which Siam opened up to modern trends, while fully respecting the ancient traditions, to which all the experiences of figurative art and architecture were informed during the century. XIX, before Siam turned to the acceptance of Western influences, which assumed more and more importance starting from 1900. Overall, contemporary artists owe a lot to an Italian, Corrado Feroci, invited to Thailand at the beginning of the twentieth century by King Rama VI. The sculptor, Silpakorn University of Bangkok) and over the years becoming the true father of modern Thai art. Among the personalities that emerged in the twentieth century. J. Buabusaya (1911-2010), author of landscapes, Khien Yimisiri (1922-1971), fundamentally traditionalist, Sawat Tanitsuk, Chamras Khietikong (1916-1966), good portrait painter, Fua Hariphitaksa (1910-1993), Piboon Musikpodok (1917-2008), photographer and Prasong Patamanuch (1918-1989): the latter tried to translate traditionally inspired motifs into modern forms. Subsequently, the names of the internationally reported art scene are Chakrabhand Posayakrit (b.1943), author of portraits and scenes inspired by the classical literature of Thailand, San Sarakornborirak (b.1934), painter and sculptor, Piboon Musikpodok (b.1917), photographer, painters Pratuang Emjaroen (b.1935),
CULTURE: MUSIC
The Thai musical system has singular affinities with Western music: the octave is in fact divided into seven equal parts, based on an empirical temperament. Of these seven sounds, musical practice selects five, giving rise to melodies that sound to the Western ear as if they were built on the Chinese pentaphonic scale. Traditional Thai music has strong affinities with that of Cambodia; in particular, the constitution of the orchestras is almost identical, including xylophones with tablets, bronze plates, gongs, bow lutes, psalters, oboes, flutes, cymbals, drums and wooden rattles.
