ARTS AND CRAFTS OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN COUNTRIES
Southeast Asian arts
religious belief and are often expressed natural scenes and themes from their aesthetic tradition.
THAILAND
Thai silk
cocoons of Thai silkworms
one of the finest arts in the world
SKY LANTERN
made from oiled rice paper on a bamboo frame
Thai name is khom loi
Loy Krathong Festival
WAT PHO
Bangkok
largest temple complexes in the city
giant reclining Buddha that is 46 meters long and 15 meters high
plaster on a brick core and finished in gold leaf
LAOS
their history was not passed on orally, it was woven
traditions are shown and reflected in most intricate dense patterns and motifs of textiles.
mbroidered textiles and the production of woven
Color
important to textiles
Sihn
Lao women’s ankle-long skirt
CAMBODIA
Silk weaving in Cambodia dates to as early as the late 13th century were women only weave cotton from Kapok
Kapok
a tropical tree, since none of the locals produces silk
Cambodian weaving has two main types:
Ikat technique
quite complex
produces patterned fabric which is diverse and vary by region.
weavers tie-dye portions of weft yarn before weaving begins.
Uneven twill
yields single or two-color fabrics
produced by weaving three threads so that the color of one thread dominates on one side of the fabric, while the two others determine the color on the reverse side
Krama
check scarves worn almost universally by Cambodians
made of cotton
VIETNAM
Silk painting
most popular forms of Vietnamese art.
showcase the countryside, landscapes, pagodas, historical events, or scenes of daily life
emphasizes softness, elegance and has a flexibility of style
Dong Son culture
known for its kettledrums, small carvings, and home utensils
MALAYSIA
Kite-making tradition
Malaysian batik
found in the east coast of Malaysia such as Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang.
leaves and flowers
most common motifs of Malaysian batik
Wau Kite
Malaysian kite
shape most closely resembled an English number 9
farmers used them as scarecrows in the fields.
INDONESIA
Shadow puppetry
batik
most common fabric in some Southeast Asian countries
derived from the word ‘ambatik’ that can be translated into ‘a cloth with little dots’.
WayangKulit
form of puppet shadow play performed in the Indo-Malayan archipelago
derived from a Javanese Hindu-Buddhist tradition
hand-crafted leather puppets depict epic stories of the gods in shadow play
Puppeteer or Dhalang
entertains and teaches
manipulated the puppet, usually men
BRUNEI
batik
has its own unique design that shows their national flower simpur, sumboi-sumboi
Flower simpur, sumboi-sumboi
Brunei’s traditional design of air muleh
peci or kopiah, songkok
cap commonly worn in Southeast Asia
associated with Islam in Malaysia
nationalist secular movement in Indonesia
SINGAPORE
‘Singapura’ meaning ‘Lion City
Batik
uniform of flight attendants for the official flag carrier airlines of Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia
Sri Mariammam Hindu Temple
sculpture as old as Singapore itself.
dedicated to the goddess Mariammam who is worshipped for her power to cure Diseases
goddess Mariammam
worshipped for her power to cure Diseases
Merlion
mythical creature and as a symbolic nature to Singapore was widely used to represent both the country and its people.