Art on Chiang Mai’s streets
March 21, 2012 by TTRweekly Staff
Filed under Chiang Mai, Festivals, News
CHIANGMAI, 21 March 2012: This northern city will host the Chiang Mai Fest 2012, an arts and cultural event, 23 March to 7 April, at the Three Kings Monument, in the centre of the city.
Tourism Authority of Thailand partners with Earth Wind & Fire Company to host the second edition that offers entertainment over 16 days.
Based on last year’s data, Earth Wind & Fire advisor, Yut Wanichanon, estimates the event will attract 35,000 Thai and international visitors who will spend around Bt200 to Bt300 million.
Last year’s event attracted 10,000 visitors.
“The 16-day event will boost business leading up to the Songkran Festival and help to extend stays,” he said.
Chiang Mai Fest 2012 will feature art exhibitions and music performances, but the highlight of the festival is “Art on the Street”, which will copy similar art activities held in the United States and Italy.
An international music festival is scheduled from 6 to 7 April.
TAT events department executive director, Wiwatchai Boonyapak said the festival should boost tourism revenue in the province as well as raise Chiang Mai status to international arts and culture destination.
For further information visit http://www.chiangmaifest.com/2012/index.html.
I have always wished we would do something like this to make Chiang Rai a world famous art city working with the government in Chiang Rai as we do have lots of local talents and these talents are being exported to Chiang Mai and Bangkok. Artist Khun Angkrit Ajchariyasophon was actually the curator for last year’s art event in Chiang Mai and I myself as an art consultant and publisher have also done a great deal in Bangkok and Chiang Mai in the past 12 years to promote art in Thailand. The AseanArtExpo and Symposium in Bangkok 2001, PhotoArtExpo 1 & 2 at Central Zen in 2008 – 2009 and currently Lisa Moses’ show at Sangdee Gallery Chiang Mai, just to name a few.
TAT Chiang Rai is sitting on a gold mine of talents and resources and yet not realizing it. Too bad! For the past 7 years till now, I’ve been mostly based here, I always feel that the local TAT office are staffed with the most inert and uncreative officials. Most of their activities I have seen so far are superficial. Perhaps, it’s time for TAT’s big hancho in Bangkok to consider changing this whole team and replace it with a new team of more active, hard-working and creative people. In June 2012 during the Mekong Tourism Forum (MTF2012), I’ll be planning some art activities at Le Meridien CR Resort where I’m the in-house curator, to welcome participants of the forum expected to be more than 400.
It’s time to showcase Chiang Rai’s art talents! We have some of the most talented artists in the country including 3 very famous great national artists, my beloved friend, the late Ajarn Damrong Wong-Uparat, Tawan Duchanee and Charlermchai Kositpipat.
Jaffee Yee – Art Consultant & Publisher, Chiang Rai
Definitely will boost tourism with a name like Earth Wind and Fire associated with the Tourism Authority of Thailand! But at the moment the haze is so bad that one can’t see Doi Suthep mountain overlooking the city, and nearly everyone I talked to complains of itchy nose and coughing. Some people mention they have itchy eyes or throats also. Perhaps TAT and Earth Wind and Fire should concentrate in stopping the forest fires all over the place, even yesterday evening near Mae Tang, deliberately set off by locals. Thai farmers or hill tribes, theses people should be educated, or arrested! Well, good luck to the tourists coming to Chiang Mai next week… They certainly won’t come back at this period of the year.