ECONOMIST: Pichet Klunchun is modernising Thailand’s traditional dance form

Culture | Moving with the times

Conservatives in the country are not best pleased

Jul 1st 2022

Visit the Grand Palace in Bangkok and, as well as entry to the complex of classical Thai buildings, your ticket gives you access to a theatre in the Old Town. The package deal encourages tourists to enjoy a traditional Khon performance. The country has long been proud of its masked dance drama; in 2018 unesco added the art form to a list of intangible cultural heritage. Dancers in masks and ornate costumes act out episodes from the life of Rama, an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, and scenes that were originally performed in royal courts to suggest that the ruler belonged to a divine lineage. To authoritarians in power, Khon has been sacred.

Thailand’s culture war between ancient and progressive values is playing out on dance stages as well as in the streets (there have been regular protests and calls for constitutional reform since 2020). Across the city from the Khon showcase, at a chic venue called Noble Play, young Thais are enjoying a radical new take on the dance. “Evolution”, an exhibition, explores the 21-year career of Pichet Klunchun, an innovative performer. Unlike the Khon artefacts in the National Museum in Bangkok, the artefacts on display here are interactive and futuristic. Visitors can wear a virtual-reality headset and move around in fantastical digital worlds.

For full article go to:
https://www.economist.com/culture/2022/07/01/pichet-klunchun-is-modernising-thailands-traditional-dance-form