The Living Art Festival 2020, Phuket, Thailand

17th – 19th December 2020

“To uplift Phuket province and to position it as a World City of Gastronomy Culture which encompasses Food, Arts, Exhibitions, Entertainment, Music, and Culture.” (Sornchat ‘Aom’ Krainara)

Khun Aom’s vision of introducing young, local Thai artists to the world in order to promote Thai culture and encourage young artists to pursue their craft is what drives The Living Art Festival. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the festival was toned down, but 2020 set the stage for these emerging talents with a grand art event that attracted art lovers. The festival
exhibited artworks from local Thai artists, hosted art workshops, featured a shopping zone, a Street Art concept, innovative live music concerts and a fashion show.

The Living Arts Festival incorporated sustainable art methods and enhanced the shopping experience of all forms of art pieces. While the festival was subdued due to precautionary measures, the lifestyle showcase allowed visitors to see the art pieces up-close-and-personal, therefore creating a true festival of Living Art.

The Living Art Festival 2020 Location

The Living Art Festival was held on 17th-19th December 2020 at Blue Tree Phuket, and
coordinated with the reopening of the leisure and entertainment destination. The Festival was supported by Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) who were the strategic partner, and together with other partners including True Money, Media Expertise, Now
Travel Asia, Baan Ar-Jor, Sound Gallery, Nueng-Sue 2521, Tantitium, Project Artisan, and others who came together to showcase music, fashion, arts & crafts.

The Living Art Festival promoted Phuket as a ‘Creative City Hub’ and showcased the local art and culture as well as various mediums of artwork from up and coming Thai artists and more established Thai artists. Even during the time of Covid-19, the Festival managed to be a grand community festival, adhering to safety precautions and social distancing to ensure guests’ safety. The end result was a fantastic discovery into the real Phuket to the world of contemporary art lovers.

More about the venue

Arts & Crafts Exhibitions and Workshops

The Living Art Festival 2020 showcased the biggest collection of an arts & crafts exhibition to ever take place in Thailand. The festival he festival featured art pieces from all categories such as sculptures, ceramics, jewelry, bamboo weavings, acrylics and much more! The Fes-tival included the works of many of Thailand’s most sought after artists including Prateep Kochabua, Mueangthai Busamaro, Jarupong Juntarapech, Paretas Hutanggura, and others.

The exhibitions were unlike anything art lovers had seen before. Essentially, the exhibition was a lifestyle presentation of real living scenario sets, where all of the art pieces were available for purchase. The Living Art Festival 2020 created a unique one-way shopping
experience that enhanced the viewing of arts for all festival attendees in the dedicated Shopping Zone.

 

A series of workshops also took place during The Living Art Festival including a unique
textiles workshop that focused on Batik painting, and a jewelry workshop that emphasized making jewelry from delicate ceramic pieces.

The Festival’s Street Art Concept highlighted graffiti art, paintings done in real time by street artists, as well as a lively flash mob! As street art has recently become popular in Phuket, this concept highlighted the unique works of local street and graffiti artists and gave guests the opportunity to watch them in action.


A thrilling fashion show was facilitated by two Thai designers, Jeab Eaggamon and Kai Buncha Chooduang. Jeab’s fashion show focused on clothes made from Pate cloth and highlighted her inspiring “Neo Peranakan” collection. Kai’s fashion show highlighted
clothing and accessories made by inmates in Chiang Rai called the “Daan 3 Original”
collection.

In collaboration with artists and friends from Pattani, local archers from the southern
province gave an archery demonstration followed by a workshop. The workshop explained the art behind the sport and gave onlookers a glimpse into this recreational activity.

workshop info & schedule

Entertainment & Gastronomy

East Meets West was the entertainment theme during The Living Art Festival. New Zealand pianist Peter Blake and Japanese Koto player, Noriko Suboi, teamed up for a delightful concert series, while 3 members; Mariam, Q and Cake of the popular Thai Band, B5, also performed. Thai singer, Zynth, of X-Factor fame, also put on an excellent performance for the crowd, and Isaan instrumentalist, Tontrakul, together with Phum Viphurit, Thailand’s famous ‘Lover Boy’ singer, also performed.

At partner venues across Phuket, there were sketch workshops, a drag show, a showcase of Phuketian-style food, a writer’s seminar, live bands and a musical concert by the stu-dents of Siam Yamaha music school.

The unique flavors of Phuket’s cuisine were on display and guests of The Living Art Festi-val were able to sample local Thai food and Phuket specialities sold by street vendors. The street vendors were a great addition to the festival and the creativeness of Phuket cuisine.