Dates: Tuesday, January 27, and February 3, 10, 17, 24, 2026
Description
National Artists have been recognized and supported by the Office of the National Culture Commission of Thailand since 1985. They are respected as valued
resources in the representation of Thai culture in the fields of Fine Art, Architecture, Literature and the Performing Arts.
This will be a series of five lectures beginning with the establishment and history of the National Artist program and how the concept of National Artist is defined. A presentation of the different fields will focus upon some of the best-known artists and their contribution to Thai culture. It will then move to examine the contribution of National Artists from and working in Northern Thailand and their role in the creation of the culture in which we live today.:
Week 1: What is a National Artist – January 27
The artistic tradition in Thailand, HM Rama II and the inspiration for the National Artist program, the role of the National Artist, concepts and definitions of the fields of art.
Week 2: Performance and culture – February 3
The role that dance and music play in Thai culture, music, song and instruments, traditional performance and cultural ritual, National Artists performing in the North.
Week 3: Art and Architecture – February 10
The traditional relationship between visual art and architecture, painting, sculpture, lithography, photography and conceptual art and between traditional and modernist expression, National Artists in the North.
Week 4: Literature – February 17
A survey of National Artists of Literature, the definition of a Thai literary artist, poetry, short stories, fiction, publication and translation, National Artists writing in the North
Week 5: The World of National Artists in Thailand – February 24
– National Artists Day
– The duties of the National Artists, the role of Academia, how they relate to
each other and exchange between regions.
– Associated Awards – regional and global: Fukuoka Prize, SEA Write, PEN International, Venice Biennale
Presenter: Rebecca Weldon
Rebecca Weldon was raised in Laos and has spent most of her adult life in Thailand. A student of museology, she has worked in several local ethnographic museums in northern Thailand.