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At the first meeting with Dr. Seilert,
I asked him the reason for his appreciation
in Thai art. He replies me that:
“Thailand’s beauty has
received worldwide recognition. Its temples, palaces and shrines
are attracting millions of tourists every year. However, most of
the tourists are not familiar with the Thai culture, traditions
and myths and do not fully understand events described in temple
wall paintings, temple doors or figures decorating religious and
public places. In my efforts to gain this understanding I had the
chance to observe a variety of traditional arts and techniques used
by highly skilled Thai artists. The fascination for the myths described
and the respect for the craftsmanship made me study and enjoy Thai
art.”
Dr. Heiko Seilert
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I asked him
further why he wanted to have a mother-of-pearl inlaid cabinet.
He said:
Being a marine biologist by
education I am fascinated by the diverse colors and forms
of marine organisms. My work in Southern Thailand as a field
manager in a co-funded project for coastal habitats and resources
management (CHARM project), funded by the Royal Thai Government
and the European Union, allowed me to observe Thailand's various
marine resources. It is only a small step to come up with
the idea to combine the beauty of these marine products with
traditional Thai art to produce such mother-of-pearl inlaid
cabinet. This technique is uniquely Thai and has been used
and cultivated in Thailand for centuries. I hope that with
the team of highly skilled craftsmen and artisans joining
in this project the resulting cabinet will allow me to keep
some of the secrets in Thai art.
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The final question
I asked Dr. Seilert is how he thought of my works. He expressed
that:
"When visiting Jitdra Thanee's
web page for the first time I was fascinated by the way he
has developed traditional Thai painting. Inspired by old myths,
stories and religious scenes Jitdra Thanee has found a way
of preserving the traditional style of Thai painting and combined
it with new elements and new ways of expression. Although
still young he has already proven his skills in several projects
and competitions."
"I asked Jitdra Thanee
to take the lead in the preparation of this mother-of-pearl
inlaid cabinet because his ideas for the design will not only
provide a lively scene for the cabinet but will also prove
that traditional Thai art is still up-to-date. This web page
is an other example for his ideas and vision of "modern" traditional
Thai art. And Jitdra Thanee still has a lot of stories to
tell." |
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Dr. Seilert and I |
I believe that art is universal and
art is beyond races. When a piece of work is created with full of
artistic skills, despite without any literal explanation, that piece
of work will be able to attract people’s attention. Anybody
who has seen a good piece of work will be able to directly communicate
with the artist’s mind. It is as if he or she is listening to
a story of that artist’s life through his work. No matter how
long the time has gone, the artist’s spirit still remains in
his piece of work.
I sincerely hope
that this special piece of work, a mother-of-pearl inlaid cabinet,
will be interesting to anybody who appreciates in Thai mother-of-pearl
inlaid work. I will also be grateful, if this piece of work can show
the beauty of traditional Thai art to the world community.
Thank you for your attention
Jidtra
Thanee |
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