Chula’s inheritance of art and revival of artists.
Besides having an important mission as the leader in education and research in Thailand, Chulalongkorn University also plays an essential role in preserving art and culture. The university maintains, develops the body of knowledge, and endorses the spread of the custom. This results in unlimited resources regarding art and culture from the university to its students, professors, personnel, and Thai society. For many years, Chula has been working towards being the domain for the management and preservation of art and culture by offering support and assistance to various departments within the university. This can be clearly categorized into 3 main projects which include the following: The Chula musician inscription project, the artist honor, and commemoration video project, and the preservation of artistic creations video project.
The continuation of the Thai music legacy “Chula’s Musician Commemoration”
The Thai Music Library of Chulalongkorn is one of only a few libraries in Thailand that specializes specifically in Thai music and is notably the only higher education institution to offer a complete digital service. Founded on the university’s concept of nurturing and preserving the national culture, the project led to the collection of information regarding Thai music starting from 2529 BE and has been ongoing for more than 30 years. Counting Thai music exclusively, the project has now recorded over 10,000 songs in its database.
Currently, the Thai music library’s main objective is to offer the ability to search information regarding Thai music to a variety of people including but not limited to students, undergraduates, postgraduates, alumni, researchers, and even the general populous that are interested in learning about Thai music. Furthermore, there is a rotation of exhibitions and a museum section showcasing important pieces of Thai instruments.
In the year 2561 BE, the Thai music library began the collection of information regarding Thai musicians for a project titled “100 musicians, 100 years of Chula” to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the university’s establishment. This led to the major contribution towards the Thai music industry which gave students and researchers harder to find information and sources regarding senior Thai musicians. Following this, from the year 2562 BE on-wards, the Thai music library carried on the mentioned project under the name “Chula’s Musician Commemoration” project and started to collect more information regarding Thai musicians, skilled vocalists, and additional well-versed educators. Starting from senior musicians and descending, they started to collect biographic information and inherited knowledge in the form of interviews and demonstrations of samples, all recorded on video. The project received cooperation from many affiliated departments such as the fine arts department, the Thai music bands from all 4 corps of the army, the public relations department’s Thai music band, and the Bangkok Thai music band to name a few. Currently, they have completed interviews with 30 participants and plan to continue collecting information every year moving forward to corroborate the library’s mission to conserve and continue the nation’s traditional musical heritage and spread knowledge and develop Thai musical work. Furthermore, they aim to help students and interest-ed populous realize the value of music, which is an important part of the nation and the world’s culture.
Honoring artists through online media (Chula Videotaping Project: “Honoring Artists)
Chulalongkorn University’s Department of Arts and Culture worked to produce the video project titled “Honouring Artists” to commemorate, preserve, endorse, and communicate different aspects of the artist’s art and culture. This was actioned through collecting autobiographies, knowledge, and creative art and musical work which was expressed through communication with national artists as well as well known artists in various sectors. In the year 2562-2563 BE, information was recorded and collated into a video format with 4 artists specializing in different areas as follows:
- Thai Music Area, Dr. Sirichaichan Fachamroon, National Artist, Dramatic Arts Department (Thai Music)
- Western Music Area, Asst. Prof. Col. Choochart Pitaksakorn, National Artist, Dramatic Arts Department (Western Music)
- Arts Area, Phansakdi Chakkaphak
- Thai Architecture Area, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pinyo Suwankiri, National Artist in the Visual Arts field (Architecture)
Furthermore, the interview video materials that were recorded were distributed online which is an efficient way for the public to be able to access information and gain interest at any time in any place. Besides, the videos were used in exhibits held within Chulalongkorn University.
Learning to preserve culture through renovation
Chulalongkorn University is the first higher education institution in Thailand to be established for over a century therefore many valuable artworks are worthy of preservation. As the days pass by, the condition of these pieces of art starts to deteriorate, meaning that conservation is needed so the art can stay within the university for the future and so this responsibility shall be passed on to further generations to be looked after, even if the task at hand is one of difficulty. The careful craft of renovation must be relied upon along with the inheritance of knowledge to the relevant people so the cultural heritage of the nation can live on through the “ preservation of artwork” project; which was founded to maintain and protect artworks from Chulalongkorn University so they may retain their value and integrity for years to come.
Chulalongkorn University along with experts from the Office of National Museums proceeded to work to preserve many pieces of art within the university such as oil paintings of King Rama 5 and 6 which are over 100 years old and displayed in the university’s auditorium. Additionally, every step of the preservation and renovation of German artist Emil Groote’s masterpiece from start to finish down to how to store was documented via video format for future generations of conservation personnel and interested populous to be able to reference and learn from.
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