Thai Art, Literature, and Music Art -Sculpture oBased around Buddha
19th Century Thai Buddha Sculpture
§Mix of Chinese, Burmese, Hindu, and Khmer influences §Best seen in Buddha temples oTraditional Dolls §Really important to Thai culture §Traditionally dressed §Meant to look like the person it’s made for -Paintings oReligious paintings not well preserved §Earliest ones found date back to 150 years oUsed primary techniques without perspective §Two dimensional §Perspective introduced by Westerners in late 19th century
Literature -Traditional literature oPrimarily concerned with religion in verse form §Exclusively written by aristocracy and royalty §King Rama II and King Rama VI were distinguished poets oRamakian §Thai version of Indian Ramayana §First written by King Rama I and a few intimates
Music -Traditional instruments and music oKlong thap(Persian origin) oJakhe (Indian origin) oKlong jin (Chinese origin) oKlong kaek (Indonesian origin) -Other music styles oLuk thung §Developed in mid-20th century §Songs are about daily trials and rural poor oMor lam §Similar to luk thung in that they sing about rural poverty §Really fast rhyming (like American rap) §Dominant folk music oKantrum §Less popular than mor lam §Very fast dance music §More modern electric version introduced in mid 1980s oPop and Rock §Introduced in the 1930’s §Jazz really popular with upper class oString §Thai version of “pop” §Became popular in the 1990s §Heavily influenced by today’s Western and European pop stars
Art
- Sculpture
o Based around Buddha
§ Mix of Chinese, Burmese, Hindu, and Khmer influences
§ Best seen in Buddha temples
o Traditional Dolls
§ Really important to Thai culture
§ Traditionally dressed
§ Meant to look like the person it’s made for
- Paintings
o Religious paintings not well preserved
§ Earliest ones found date back to 150 years
o Used primary techniques without perspective
§ Two dimensional
§ Perspective introduced by Westerners in late 19th century
Literature
- Traditional literature
o Primarily concerned with religion in verse form
§ Exclusively written by aristocracy and royalty
§ King Rama II and King Rama VI were distinguished poets
o Ramakian
§ Thai version of Indian Ramayana
§ First written by King Rama I and a few intimates
Music
- Traditional instruments and music
o Klong thap(Persian origin)
o Jakhe (Indian origin)
o Klong jin (Chinese origin)
o Klong kaek (Indonesian origin)
- Other music styles
o Luk thung
§ Developed in mid-20th century
§ Songs are about daily trials and rural poor
o Mor lam
§ Similar to luk thung in that they sing about rural poverty
§ Really fast rhyming (like American rap)
§ Dominant folk music
o Kantrum
§ Less popular than mor lam
§ Very fast dance music
§ More modern electric version introduced in mid 1980s
o Pop and Rock
§ Introduced in the 1930’s
§ Jazz really popular with upper class
o String
§ Thai version of “pop”
§ Became popular in the 1990s
§ Heavily influenced by today’s Western and European pop stars
Clewey, John. "Music of Thailand - History." The Music Artists Guide. 2003. PhuketWatch. 10 May 2009 http://www.phuketwatch.com/thai-music-artists/thaimusic.htm
Ka, Sawadee. "Thai art, dance, music, and traditional culture." OneStopChiangMai. 7 July 2008. virtualtravelguides.com. 10 May 2009 http://www.1stopchiangmai.com/culture/art/
Connor's Research Topics
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