Bygone days in small sizes

YOUNG VOICES shriek in delight as a bunch of school kids hover around display cases of tiny hand-painted boats and point excitedly at a group of pint-sized farmer toil away in the paddy fields. 

Soon enough, the youngsters will be heading into class at this Miniature Festival that celebrates smallness while portraying life as it was in Thailand’s bygone days to try their hands at shaping fruit out of clay.

Many of the miniatures on show have been made by artists attached to the Thai Miniature club and they are on show at the Thai Miniature Mobile Museum for another two weeks.

The festival concept takes its cue from the current government, promising to “return happiness to children with a small world” through the show and free workshops led by veteran craftsmen where kids can have fun learning how to create their own models. 

The festival is the brainchild of Piyanuch Sakuntanark, secretary of the Foundation for Thai Museums and a former student of Daruneenaath Narkkong, the pioneer of miniature-making in Thailand and the first to blend cornstarch, white non-glutinous rice flour and wood glue for a clay particularly suited to miniatures creation. 

Piyanuch went on to found the Thai Miniature Club in 1998 and today it has 375 members specialised in different aspects of miniature-making including ceramics, pottery, carpentry and sculpture.

She’s also an avid collector, owning at last count about 2 million tiny models originating from just about everywhere in the world.

In 2005, with no room left in her home for storage, she leased some space off the Grand China Hotel in China Town and opened the Thai Miniature Mobile Museum.

“Actually it was Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn who inspired me to open a museum. She told me my collection reflected the charm of Thai culture and the way of life and felt it would stimulate kids to be more creative. I put together a team and we starting by organising road shows, visiting tourist attractions and schools in all four regions,” Piyanuch says. 

“Unfortunately, we were forced to suspend our activities after the 2011 flooding as we lost so many items in our collection to the water. This is really the first activity we’ve organised since.”

 

 

The museum occupies space on the hotel’s second and third floors and is well equipped with huge cabinets displaying the attractive miniatures on different themes. Many come from Pinyanuch’s own collection and those of her friends, with the remainder created by local artists.

This year’s festival also featured a competition on the “return happiness” theme and saw Sudjai Charoensuk from Ayutthaya pick up the first prize for his pottery models of farmers working in rice field.

Piyanuch’s own work – miniatures of tempting Thai dishes – earned an honourable mention.

“What makes our miniature arts unique is that we use the real materials. For example, the houses, furniture and boats are all made with solid wood. Obviously we can’t use fresh or dried produce for the flowers, fruits, food and desserts so instead we use white clay mixed with food colouring. All our miniatures are made to the scale of 1:12 so you can really see the detail,” she says.

The festival is also showcasing the collections of other miniature fans, among them the food-vending pushcarts owned by Arunocha Bhanuphand, an executive director of Broadcast Thai Television. 

The visiting youngsters are so fascinated by Piyanuch’s western-style pastries, sandwiches, American breakfast set and appetising cakes that they have a hard time keeping their hands off the goodies. 

Museum manager Nanthaya Paengtrai meanwhile is showcasing her miniature traditional Bai Sri |ceremony made from fabric coated glue and gelatine.

“I’ve been creating miniatures of Bai Sri ceremony for a decade. The real stuff is made from banana leaves but for the miniatures, I use fabric,” Nanthaya says. 

Alongside the offerings and sweet treats are several kinds of Thai fruit like mangoes, longan, orange, rose apple, mangoesteen, Marian plum and lychee.

Other miniatures that catch the eye are the musical instruments, lipao baskets and pottery Buddha images.

At the weekends, children can pay Bt99 to take part in any of the 14 art workshops.. 

Veteran artist Sawat Phoowanitlawan, 77, is in charge of the Thai boat workshop and also created the delightful vessels on display in the exhibition. 

“I graduated from the Poh Chang College of Arts and live very near the river, on the bank of Klong Bangkok Noi. In the old days, 20 different types of boats plied the Chao Phraya River, among them the sampan, i pae and passenger boat, and each had a different function and design,” he says. 

“We use balsa wood for the models as it is lightweight and adaptable. These days I also make miniature furniture but for that I use bamboo.”

Vilai Pawandee shows the youngsters how to create Thai fruit, vegetables and bakery items.

“The art of miniatures is very beneficial to young people, as it focuses the mind and centres the emotions,” she says. “My students start by creating simple shapes like croissants, cake and fruits.

Museum manager Nanthaya offers a decoupage class teaching students to decorate baskets, tissue holders and bags with their own ideas. 

 

IT’S TINY, PERFECT FUN

>>> The Thai Miniature Mobile Museum is located on the third floor of Grand China Princess hotel. 

>>> It’s open daily from 9am to 6pm and the festival continues through September 28.

>>> Find out more by calling (089) 492 0121 or visit MiniatureMobile (in Thai only) on Facebook.