Within the Spiritual City of Art

Chiang Rai is the most northern major city in Thailand. It's filled with a rich history of the Lanna Kingdom and a mixed culture between the Lanna Kingdom, modern Thailand & the ancient Burmese Empire. I first traveled through here in my mid 20's and fell in love with the pace of life and natural surroundings. The local people were full of kindness and their smiles seemed genuine in everything they did. Northern Thailand is notorious for generosity and Chiang Rai is a huge part of that positive part of their culture.

Every year we take our aunties & uncles on a family trip to Northern Thailand and the main cities we visit are usually the same. The camping trips always consist of a lot of mountains, waterfalls, lakes, and cities like Chiang Mai & Chiang Rai. Chiang Rai is notably one of my favorites because of the legendary artists that are from there and have contributed to the city's artistic culture and visual appeal. An example is The Golden Clock Tower of Chiang Rai. A timeless piece of art for generations to admire. Two legendary artists who've created the mystique of the Thai fine arts are Professor Chalermchai Kositpipat & Professor Thawan Duchanee.

These two legendary artists were surrounded by a mystique rival as if it were wizardry of the arts, up until Professor Thawan Duchanee's passing September 3rd, 2014. One is said to draw his artistic forces from the light & the other rose to legendary status drawing artistic powers of the dark forces. Hearing my uncles and aunties speak about it this way was why we all started going to both of the professors' land, where they drew their powers from. Their homeland is known as Chiang Rai.

Wat Rong Khun also known as The White Temple

Professor Chalermchai Kositpipat bought Wat Rong Khun in 1997. Since, he has used it as his ultimate artistic creation along with his way of aiding his spiritual growth in a remarkable way. He's used his artistic creations to independently fund all of Wat Rong Khun's activities and has single-handedly created a tourism market for the immediate rural community. The very same community that he grew up as a child with dreams of painting for the king of Thailand.

I grew up in an age where we collected comic books and sports cards so collecting cool stuff is a personal hobby of mine. Wat Rong Khun sells replicas of Professor Chalermchai Kositpipat paintings with his actual signature so naturally, the collector in me loves to buy different replicas with each visit. I buy them for both our home & as gifts for friends. I collect his replicas because the prices for his original paintings are meant for true art collectors.

I'm just a fan of a man that can create visual magic out of thin air & has the sculptor skills to match.

The parking lot is in the back of the temple so most people come in passing a peaceful piece of naturalistic expression of art. There's a reenactment in the temple's rear garden of Buddha meditating under a bodhi tree.

It's a garden that you can meditate in and usually find people there who are.

I'm always impressed by the temple's bell on the same side as the garden before you reach the museum and the temple's infamous main hall.

The museum has most of Professor Chalermchai Kositpipat's artwork & paintings. He's infamous for depicting Buddha & Hindu Gods in priceless sculptures. His sculptures & famous paintings focus on his strengths, which is abstract art & his pieces of Hindu Gods such as Ganesha.

Just Professor Chalermchai Kositpipat's 1st Ganesha amulet on the public market can currently sell up to 3,000 SBD, individually. His priceless sculpture pieces of Buddha are considered world class and has been featured in TIME magazine in 2009.

Every year my family and I get to admire an artist who the locals in Chiang Rai say used the forces of the light to paint his way into owning a temple. For me, that's an admirable accomplishment and am grateful for every year I get to witness Professor Chalermchai Kositpipat artistic greatness.

Within the artistic shadows of Baan Dam Museum

We were fully rested and were energized from a great dinner the night before. It was time to hit the Baan Dam museum. This is one of my favorite museums in Asia because every time I visit, the artistic expressions strikes a nerve with me. When we say dark forces, we mainly mean the artistic expression of dark colors and negative emotions such as anger, sadness, and rage. We're not referring to dark forces in Hollywood horror films but diabolical forces yes. The Baan Dam Museum grounds is where Professor Thawan Duchanee spent 25 years with the aid of his students, creating his legendary artistic expressions. A legacy I love to admire and one that TIME magazine associated with the term "diabolical."

The very first room of the Baan Dam Museum is a room of shadowy designs that look like they belong in another time, even another dimension. They remind me of what I would feel like if this land was still full of savages in the style of Conan, complete with magic spells from sorcerers. The artist designs and collections are always amazing to me & year after year, they strike similar emotions. I always wondered if Professor Thawan Duchanee has this type of design in his actual home because, in this main building, he liked using wooden furniture that looks like they can still be used today.

The entire museum grounds is huge and is made up of 40 huts that all have artistic expressions in the form of interior design influenced by the dark forces.

Dam in Thai means black and Baan means house so the translation is literally "black house," in terms of the dark diabolical forces used for inspiration.

Some rooms depict a certain perspective of what we visualize as hell from films, while other rooms portray what having power in these realms may be like.

These rooms portray a dark lavish & pleasurable adult lifestyle which artistically, is ingenious to me.

Professor Thawan Duchanee's original paintings can be seen on display near the front entrance. These timeless pieces of art, show the level of artistic intelligence he was collaborating with, simply by the emotions they strike. This time I was blown away by the paintings because I normally don't get the opportunity after seeing the museum grounds. I now always make time for the paintings after that first day in awe.

When I get to see Professor Thawan Duchanee's work, it makes me feel proud to be alive, enjoying that very moment of awe of artistry.

The Artistic Legacy of Chiang Rai

When people bring up art in Chiang Rai, I always joke and ask, "What's in the water out there?" Referring to Chiang Rai is the city that bore 2 legendary contemporary artists on an international scale. I love visiting here every year. I love seeing the art and the influence these iconic artists had & continue to have in their culture and in their communities. I hope to be lucky enough to see many more years of this city and these 2 places of artistic mastery. Afterall, even without the art, the Northern Thai people's generosity alone makes me want to settle down here. I love Chiang Rai.

Authored by @stewsak

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