Blogging for people interested in learning more about the kind of jewelry you can’t normally find in Thailand.

Finally Thailand now has its first and only gallery for contemporary art jewelry.  ATTA Gallery opened its door to jewelry art lovers on August 25, 2010 to introduce contemporary art jewelry to the general public in Thailand.

ATTA means Self in Pali, an ancient Indian language which is also used in Thai.  ATTA Gallery aims to emphasize the name of the gallery by encouraging artists to express themselves through their creative jewelry works and at the same time educating consumes about expressing themselves through the jewelry they wear.

ATTA Gallery will have an open house on Thursday September 9, 2010 between 18:00-20:00.  The Grand Opening will be held on November 11, 2010 with the opening of the exhibition “11 Artists, 11 ATTAs”

Check out the website at www.attagallery.com.

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Tanim will have a booth at the 44th Bangkok Gems and Jewelry Fair at Impact Muangthong from September 15-19, 2009.  Our booth is located at Challenger 1 Hall, number 1A. 

Come see results of the recent design workshop put together by Tanim, conceptual and commercial works of members and the making of Tanim’s 1st Annual Design Project. Tanim hopes to educate the public about art and contemporary jewelry and to promote the culture of studio jewelry in Thailand.

Hope to see you there.

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A lecture on the Development of Contemporary Jewelry and Jewelry Education in Europe:  Past, Present; Future was held at TCDC on Sunday August 30th, 2009.  It was given by Doris Maninger, a co-founder and co-director of Alchimia:  Contemporary Jewellery School in Florence, Italy who was in Bangkok to scout out a location for their frist out of Italy branch.  It was a good opportunity for Thai audience to get to see a different kind of jewelry–not fine jewelry nor costume jewelry.  Many examples of contemporary art or studio jewelry were shown during the lecture.

Doris talked about contemporary jewelry movements in Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and the UK and pointed out differences in their styles and concepts. 

Dutch jewelry is known for its interesting use of non-precious materials to form distinct jewelry with strong personal concepts–very conceptual pieces. 

German jewelers on the other hand, create jewelry out of both precious and non-precious materials combined harmoniously to convey their concepts in a very interesting way. 

Swiss jewelers play with their sarcarstic points of view and using various types of materials including recycled or trash objects to create very high quality jewelry. 

Italy is well-known for its fine craftsmanship in jewelry making for many decades.  Craftsmanship was still the heart of Italian contemporary jewelry, where many artists use concepts that reflect upon its long tradition.  Unlike Dutch jewelry, Italian jewelry gives more weight on beauty than concepts.

The UK contemporary jewelry scene has been quite vibrant due to a large number of schools teaching jewelry design and making.  The overall style of UK jewelry is largely influenced by fashion and textile techniques.  Its jewelry are considered very innovative in the way it is produced.

Doris stressed at the end of the lecture that when traditional craftsmanship meets creativity of today’s world, great things can be realized.  I hope that Thai jewelry educators and young jewelers can learn from European experience shown to us during the lecture, and learn to create our own unique ways of making Thai contemporary and art jewelry.

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Tanim is proud to present a lecture/workshop by the owners and directors of Alchimia School of Contemporary Jewelry in Florence, Italy–Doris Maninger and Lucia Massei. 

Doris will have a lecture titled The Development of Jewelry and Jewelry Education in Europe:  Past, Present, Future on Sunday August 30, 2009 at Thailand Creative and Design Center (TCDC) at 14:00, with registration from 13:00.  The lecture is open to the public with only 150 seats available. To reserve a seat, please email info@tanimpimpaporn.com. 

Doris and Lucia will teach a workshop called Preciousness as Ideal and Reality in Contemporary Jewelry on Friday August 28, 2009 at TCDC from 14:00-18:30, Sunday August 30, 2009 at TCDC from 15:15-16:15 and, Friday September 4, 2009 at Tanim Head Office from 10:30-14:30.  Jewelry will not be completed during the meeting times but will be completed between the first and last meeting at participants own time and space.  Maximum number of participants is 20. 

To apply, submit the following info to info@tanimpimpaporn.com, subject line:  Workshop, by August 21, 2009:  Name, Contact info, Place of work, Reasons to take the workshop, 3 photos of previous jewelry works, 1 photo of workspace.  First-come-first-served basis, priority given to professional jewelry designers/makers.

More info on the workshop can be found on our website:  www.tanimpimpaporn.com under news, workshop.  For more info on the school:  www.alchimia.it.

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This is a sad story.  Only a week after I posted my article about an up and coming jewelry brand here in Thailand, their works have been copied and sold on a website!

That’s right, what one person spent months creating are now being sold at wholesale prices by someone else—in this case a european silver manufacturer.  This is very discouraging for young jewelry designers/makers who are working so hard to make a name for themselves.  Thailand is full of big companies and it is hard enough for us to come up with unique enough works to compete with their more econimically priced jewelry since they are made in bulk, not by hand like our works.

The online company that is selling the copied works is originally from a European country but has an office in Bangkok, Thailand.  It is a shame that many people look down on Thailand as a country that has no creativity of its own since there are so many copied products here.  But look at who is taking advantage of the situation, a company from a developed country. 

Even though it’s not my works that are being copied, I am so frustrated about this whole thing.  A few of us Thais are trying so hard to upgrade our jewelry products with original designs but it took only one small incident like this to take us a few steps back.  But we will not stop here. Actions will be taken in this case by the owners of the brand with consultations from certain governmental offices. 

This might mean nothing to you…I just needed to vent. Sigh….

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What do you think of when you talk about ”craft”? 

What comes to your mind when you think of the word “art”?

I saw an interview of a young and emerging studio jewelry brand in the local newspaper last week (in Thai).  The jewelry looked quite modern and artsy.  As I was reading the interview, I was bothered by one word that a jewelry maker/designer used to describe her jewelry–craft.  For some reasons, from the first look at the photos of jewelry displayed in the paper, I was actually thinking of the words “art and design” and “wearable art” rather than “craft”.

At one point, the designers (there are two designers working together here) described their jewelry work as miniature art–which to me conflicted with the idea of craft that I pointed out earlier.

Is it just me that feels that the word “craft” is not the best choice of word here? At least in Thailand…

What is craft?

Handicraft, also known as craftwork or simply craft, is a type of work where useful and decorative devices are made completely by hand or using only simple tools. Usually the term is applied to traditional means of making goods. The individual artisanship of the items is a paramount criterion, such items often have cultural and/or religious significance. Items made by mass production or machines are not handicrafts.

Usually, what distinguishes the term handicraft from the frequently used category arts and crafts is a matter of intent: handicraft items are intended to be used, worn, etc, having a purpose beyond simple decoration. Handicrafts are generally considered more traditional work, created as a necessary part of daily life, while arts and crafts implies more of a hobby pursuit and a demonstration/perfection of a creative technique. In practical terms, the categories have a great deal of overlap.

(Wikipedia)

I think the distinction between “handicraft or craft” and “arts and crafts” is the word “creative technique”. 

Thailand’s craft

In Thailand, when people talk about craft, they mainly think of simple woven baskets, local and traditional pottery, etc.  These objects are meant to be used so the purpose of their designs is the practicality.  If one goes to a craft fair in Thailand, one will not find studio jewelry like the jewelry we are discussing here. One will find jewelry made with traditional techniques and styles that has been made in the same manner for many decades.

To me, if the designer have had used the word “hand-made”, I would not have thought twice about it.  “Hand-made” is a more neutral word that doesn’t alienate the concept of creativity. It also stresses that fact that the jewelry is not made by machines in large numbers.  I think it’s a better word to use if one wants to promote studio jewelry in Thailand.

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Well, I have been absent from this blog for a while but now I am back.

I have been expanding my understanding of art and contemporary jewelry in the hope that I could write more about this topic.  In the next few posts I will be writing about my recent experience visiting fairs and galleries in Europe earlier on this year. 

The art and contemporary jewelry market in Thailand is still at its infant stage so it is good to look at other places with a much developed markets.   Many lessons can be learned. 

It’s about time we grow older and wiser!

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Have you ever wondered why people wear certian types of jewelry? Here in Thailand, some people choose to wear bangles or cuffs for a reason. 

The Thai word for bangles or cuffs is “Kam Lai” and the word for profit is “Kam Rai”.  See the connection here? Some business women wear “Kam Lai” so that they will be getting “Kam Rai” while doing business.

The next time you are at a jewelry store, you may want to consider buying a bangle or a cuff as a good luck charm.  Or when selling you works, you can now tell your customers why they should consider buying a bangle instead of a pair of earrings.

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Code 10, the newest boutique in town features top 10 Thai clothing designers and 10 contemporary jewelry brands.  Nine out of ten jewelry brands are Tanim current and soon to be members!  They are Solid Skin, CASO, Todesire, Phonthip, SaPrang, Pilantha, Aztique, Flow and La Chiocciolina.

It is a new center for those who are looking for hand-made/hand-assembled, small production works with great original designs.  It is located on the 1st floor of Siam Paragon Shopping Center, right next to Starbucks and in front of IWC store.

The grand opening of the store was held on Friday Nov. 21 and many celebrities and high-profile people came to browse through the new clothing collections and the jewelry.  I hope they will come back and buy our works!

*** The store was very understanding when I told them about the differences between costume jewelry and hand-made contemporary works.  They even changes their promotional materials! ***

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