What is Lanna?
FAM Fahlanna Art Museum goes a long way to not just show us what Lanna is, but to welcome its visitors to immerse themselves in it.
In the heart of the seven centuries-old moated city of Chiang Mai sits FAM Fahlanna Art Museum, an homage to Lanna arts and culture. The museum, which sits in what was not so long ago a dilapidated old tobacco warehouse, has undergone dramatic remodelling. Its large industrial space has now been divided into multiple rooms, each designed to highlight a different aspect or characteristic of Lanna culture as well as to offer visitors interactive experiences with Lanna history, traditions, beliefs and ways of life, as they make their way around the various exhibitions and spaces.
This world class private museum is curated with passion, featuring thousands of works of art and pieces of crafts and artefacts collected over the decades by its owners, whose successful Fah Lanna Spa sits just next door.
Lacquerware, opium weights, textiles, paintings, sculptures, old black and white photos, cassettes tapes, silverware and a plethora of other collectables, all of which represent Lanna culture over the past century or so are presented with creativity, flair and academic reinforcement.
A Lanna renaissance
So, back to the question, what is Lanna?
As we bask in the afterglow of the recent Yi Peng Festival, it’s easy to think that the answer to that question is simple: a distinct culture surviving and thriving through the centuries.
Yet we locals—some visitors, even—are probably more knowledgable about what ‘Lanna’ is today than just about anyone living here a mere half a century ago. And that is thanks, in part, to the passionate study and revival of Lanna culture in recent decades by historians, collectors, researchers and students, all of whom have brought back a culture on the brink of extinction into a new era of renaissance.
The recently opened FAM Fahlanna Art Museum is the latest project which is proving to be an integral part of this important revival. This ambitious museum features thousands of collectables which have been curated into a museum designed to showcase Lanna in a way never before seen. It is immersive, interactive, informative and creative in its expression and embrace of the Lanna history and culture.
According to leading Lanna historian Vithi Panichphant, while Lanna Kingdom was indeed founded over seven centuries ago in 1296, it later became a backwater vassal state to, alternately Burma and Ayutthaya, between the 16th and 18th centuries, with whatever remained gradually assimilated into Siam. By the second half of the 19th century there wasn’t much left of the kingdom; its remaining royals having to send tributes to Bangkok, and its population mainly living in small farming communities scattered around the mountainous region. There was always decent trade, but by the late 19th century, most of the wealthy were Chinese merchants and settlers, not locals.
King Rama V, fearing western influence as the Brits and Danes began to arrive with their logging companies as well as having concern over the connections Chiang Mai’s royalty still had with Burma and Southern China, set a policy to bring Chiang Mai fully into the Siamese fold. Once the royal lords were neutered, Bangkok began to homogenise the rest of the population. The aim was to implement a nationalistic agenda by destroying all cultural and linguistic identity, creating a One Thai Nation. By the mid-20th century much of the language and culture was being forgotten.
Yet here we are, days after the vibrant, world class Lanna Yi Peng Festival which saw a city preen with Lanna pride and tradition.
It is in the spirit of this revival that FAM Fahlanna Art Museum shines.
Showboating Lanna
The museum’s entrance is impressive and spacious, designed to be a multi-functional space where future events and activities can be held. Upon arrival, visitors pass through an interactive video mapping room where they are invited to touch the walls to see he animation unfold, before heading to The Power of the Spirit Room which showcases Lanna’s relationship with the sacred, the spiritual, the royal and the natural and how they relate to Buddhism, animism and Brahmanism. All of these seemingly disparate influences have long been intertwined into a complex and unique blend of rites and rituals only found here in Lanna. The room features paintings of royals past, Buddhist palm leaf manuscripts and a number of collectables to honour this very interwoven Lanna belief system.
From such lofty eights to the daily humdrum, the next exhibition hall, Lanna Heritage, features hundreds of items collected from the daily life of the many peoples of Lanna; whether lowland farmers or ethnic hill tribes. Here you will find collections of bronze opium weights, finely woven baskets, antique lacquerware and even a life size model of a traditional house, complete with items found around the hearth of a rural home. Items have been selected to showcase not just the artistry and craftsmanship of the Lanna people, but with a click of a QR code and the information provided, its place in history.
Next, Kingdom of Textiles, a room dedicated to the textiles of Lanna, with some having been bought into the collection while others were commissioned, such as the standout teen jok textile which is unique in that the weavers of Mae Chaem were asked to include all of the 16 traditional patterns of the area into one single piece. Next is the Maze of Memories room filled with old black and white images. Many of these images may already be familiar to long time residents but there are a number of newly discovered images featuring fascinating moments past from a century-old picnic by a waterfall to a photo of a long-forgotten flooding of Warorot Market.
One of the most popular—and photogenic—rooms is next, the Journey of Time, where history is so recent it is nostalgic. Here you will find a wall of old cassette tapes, barbers’ chairs, movie posters of yore and even a cabinet of now defunct cigarettes brands. This is a fun room with many familiar items from our recent past featured. Two other main exhibition rooms are the sculptor and the painting halls, both of which will change as artists come and go and will be featuring up and coming as well as renowned artists, some already part of the museum’s collections, others fleetingly presented before continuing on to their next destination.
FAM is not just an homage to Lanna past, however, but also a museum which celebrates Lanna of today. Cutting edge technology is used as creative tools. Apart from being able to contribute a fleeting moment to the museum experience in the interactive room there is also a bean bag room to lounge in while mind-blowing images wash over you from the projection mapping videos. A small mirrored room with lasers and LED pillars offers a moment of reflection—a sorbet for the senses between exhibition rooms. And QR codes in each room to provide deeper dives into information, so that rooms are filled not with labels, but with art and history.
Before entering the final hall, there is the grandeur of room 10 where walls leading up to lofty heights are covered with paintings; some part of the museum’s collections, others for sale. This House of Arts is a home for artists near and far who will be invited, in the coming years, to exhibit and become part of the Lanna experience. Each piece selected conveys stories, ideas and spirit, offering artists a stage to share and audiences a chance to appreciate and nurture living culture.
The final hall to explore is the gift shop and café—an expansive space with large paintings lining its walls and plenty of local arts and crafts exhibited for sale. The café sells all of Fah Lanna Spa’s favourites in a full menu of coffees, smoothies, hot and cold drinks as well as a savoury and sweet menu which covers Thai and international favourites. You can pop by for a ‘dirty coffee’ (espresso poured over cold milk and a scoop of ice cream with fresh mango) or linger over a meal of smoked duck breast and mashed potatoes or dig into the very popular fried crab in curry powder. In fact, the café and restaurant are their own destinations and you can skip the museum and head straight there is you wish.
Thanks to initiatives such as FAM Fahlanna Art Museum, the future of the Lanna culture is no longer in jeopardy. Lanna arts and crafts are being appreciated and coveted, Lanna traditions and festivals are attracting visitors from around the world, Lanna language is even being spoken again in playgrounds and markets and those who work in the Lanna industry—artists, craftspeople, curators, collectors, researchers, historians—will continue to keep this culture very much alive.
For more information
Open time: 10:00-19:00 hrs. (Closed every Wednesday)
Website: www.fahlannaartmuseum.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fahlannaartmuseum
GPS: maps.app.goo.gl/XyG2PzW3HTnuGD3P8
