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HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn,
the most pivotal person
in the college's
establishment
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Thailand is well known for her exquisite arts and crafts. However,
in the world of digital technologies today, the number of craftsmen
in this country is continuously decreasing. Fortunately,
the Royal Craftsmen College, situated in the Grand Palace in
Bangkok, has been set up to teach those who are interested in
the endangered arts and crafts to prevent them from becoming
lost.
Since ancient times, the Thai people
have used the term chang sip mu (ten categories of craftsmen)
to call the various kinds of arts and crafts. But the names
of the ten were not specified until the reign of King Rama V
(1868-1910). They were: painting, lacquering, carving on hard
objects, carving on soft objects, modelling, padding, lathing,
casting, sculpturing and plastering.
The exterior of the college |
Background of the College
Prior to the renovation of the Grand Palace and the Temple of
the Emerald Buddha in 1982 in preparation for the celebration
of the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Chakri Dynasty,
HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn was appointed president
to take charge of the renovation. It was a large-scale project.
When facing difficulties in locating master craftsmen from several
provinces, HRH the Princess conceived the idea of establishing
an institution to teach the ten categories of arts. The Princess
would like to make sure that these traditional arts would not
fall into oblivion.
"There must be a sustainable project to preserve all ancient
arts within the Grand Palace and in some other places because
they are valuable national cultural heritage. Training programmes
and courses in various fields of Thai traditional arts need
to be set up to cultivate students to appreciate ancient arts
and to be able to utilise their skills in the conservation of
national heritage", Her Royal Highness remarked at that
time.
Phra Ram |
To achieve the goals of the Princess, the Bureau of the Royal
Household cooperated with the Ministry of Education's Department
of Non-Formal Education, to establish a vocational school with
an aim to produce skillful craftsmen and to assure the well-being
of the youth.
Thotsakan |
On 22 May 1989, the Royal Craftsmen College was inaugurated
with Princess Sirindhorn presiding over. And rooms in the Uthet
Thaksina Building in the compound of the Grand Palace have been
used as its classrooms since then.
The Curriculum
At present, there are eight courses on the curriculum, viz.
sculpturing, khon mask making, carving on hard objects, mother-of-pearl
inlaying, lacquering, painting, embroidery (using industrial
sewing machines) and pottery. But this article will cover
only six of them. Also, learning to play a musical instrument
for royal cremations is a compulsory course for all students,
according to Princess Sirindhorn's objectives to preserve
this field of arts.
So far, there have been 1,037 students graduated from the
college. Tuition fee is 1,800 baht for all courses. (800 baht
for materials / 1,000 baht as deposit against damage which
will be given back to the students on graduation). Classes
are from 08:00-15:00 hrs on weekdays. One academic year consists
of two five-month semesters. The first semester begins from
May to October and the second from November to March.
Sculpturing
Sculpture here means the art of making
objects by shaping clay. Buddha images and idols are popularly
made in this way. At the college, the course begins with the
basis of sketching and geometric designs. Plasticene and wax
are used in the beginning to enable students to differentiate
characteristics of materials.
When asked why deciding to enrol here, Suthee, an 18-year-old
student, answered: "I'd like to try. I finished only high
school and had been working in the field of traditional Thai
medicine. I had had no background in handicraft but I had succeeded
in passing the exam. In the future, I'd like to hold on to sculpturing
for my living."
Khon Mask Making
The art of making khon* masks is regarded as the most comprehensive
of all fields of arts. It requires all skills of craftsmen like
modelling, carving, sculpturing, painting, lacquering and gilding,
to complete a khon mask. Before making a mask, one needs to
perform the "paying respect to teachers" ceremony,
in which an instructor holds a student's hand to draw a kanok
pattern for the auspiciousness of the students's study.
"Here, we follow ancient ways; students have to practice
every step by themselves, that's why it is hard.", said
Thanongsak Klintham, an instructor of khon masks
making branch. He added that the Royal Craftsmen College is
just one among the few institutions that provide a khon mask
production course.
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*Khon is a traditional Thai masked drama which combines gracefulness
with masculinity in its dancing. |
Carving on Hard Objects
Carving is the art of creating patterns
by cutting wood or ivory into a required shape. Teak is a popular
wood used in carving. At the college, the beginning step is
designing.
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A beautifully carved
wooden piece
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Most lessons that students have to learn are three-dimension
works, Buddha images and parts of ordination hall decorations
such as roof spirals. In the olden days, traditionally, Thai
wood carvings were normally inlaid with colour glass pieces
or gilded with gold leaf. This helps prolong the durability
of the carvings.
A student is carefully cutting
shells. |
Mother-of-Pearl
Inlaying
Second only to khon-masks making, the art of mother-of-pearl
inlaying is almost as difficult as the former because each
piece of shell must be delicately cut and polished into a
very tiny size to fit in each part of the pattern.
In former times, these mother-of-pearl
inlaid objects were usually delivered by countries under colonial
rule as royal gifts to the superpowers. Shells used in this
field of art must be the types that, when cut and polished,
can fully reflect light.
An exquisite mother-of-
pearl inlaid work |
For instance, sea snails, pearl oysters, abalone and coral mollusks,
when cut, can reflect seven colours, and are called "fire
pearl".
A mother-of-pearl inlaid footed
tray |
This branch is quite expensive for students to study because
the sea snails cost 2,000-3,000 baht per kilo of which, when
cut, only three grammes is left for use. However, the college
bears all expenses, with the only aim; to foster skillful craftsmen.
The students must be very precise in cutting each piece of shell
and must be patient to make the most of it.
An example of lacquered works
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Presently, there are only two students in the mother of pearl
inlaying class, which makes it the smallest in the Royal Craftmen
College. Sarawuth, a 16-year-old student, said that he liked
to study this subject because of the great impression he had
got from a beautiful mother-of-pearl inlaid footed tray.
Lacquering
Lacquering is the art of coating things like leaves of door
and window in black lacquer and gilded them with gold leaf.
Examples of this art technique are book cabinets holding Buddhist
scriptures and door leaves of many Buddhist temples.
Lacquer, or Rak in Thai, is the resin of a plant named
Gluta usitata (Wallich) Ding Hou in the family
of Anacardiaceae, the same family as the cashew nut. This resin
is irritating and can cause a severe rash on the skin, so some
people who are allergic to it will not be able to do the job.
The process of lacquering is complicated and painstaking. It
takes up to three or four months to complete such a work of
art.
Paints prepared from natural
substances. |
Painting
This is the most popular course at the Royal Craftsmen
College, which 30 students attend. The lessons begin with
designing basic patterns like ngao and kanok
with a pencil and then with ink and finally with colours.
In the advanced steps, students will begin to draw the typical
male and female protagonists of Thai traditional literary
works and Thai mythological animals.
After that, the students will learn to prepare paints from
natural materials. For example, the red and brown colours
can be obtained from a specified type of earth.
After graduating, some students further their study at Pho
Chang (arts) College or at Rajamangala Institutes of Technology.
A delicate painting at the Temple
of the Emerald Buddha depicting
an excerpt from the Ramakian Epic. |
Moreover, the Royal Craftsmen College will
employ some students who have exceptional artistic talent
and recommend some to places like temples, where renovation
is needed. Although not all graduates become master craftsmen,
they possess an ability to teach other people. And the Royal
Craftsmen College has proved that it is playing an important
role in preserving Thai arts and crafts. Also, the Thais are
grateful to Her Royal Highness Princess Sirindhorn for her
far-sighted vision in establishing the college.
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Special thanks to Achan Jantanee Intaranat, an administrative
instructor at the Royal Craftsmen College, and all instructors
for giving Thaiways useful information and facilitating the
photographing process.
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