Hup taem or hoop taem (Thai: ฮูปแต้ม, lit. 'picture painting') is an Isan folk art style of murals found on the ordination halls, or sim, at Buddhist temples. Some hup taem are influenced by traditional Thai and Lan Xang artistic conventions, but the Isan folk art style created by local artists called chang taem (ช่างแต้ม) features simple techniques with few elements. These hup taem murals are found mostly in Khon Kaen, Roi Et, and Maha Sarakham provinces in Northern Thailand.
Etymology
editHup taem is literally translated as "picture painting" in Isan. In Isan, ฮูป (ḥūp) is analogous to the Thai รูป (rūp), meaning 'picture', while แต้ม (tæ̂m) means to daub or paint with colored paste.[1]
Style
editMural painting in the Isan region of northeastern Thailand has been three regional "schools" with the hup taem of the interior provinces of Khon Kaen, Maha Sarakham, Kalasin, and Roi Et reflecting the least degree of stylistic influence from other regions. [2] As seen as Wat Sanuan Wari Phatthanaram in Khon Kaen, the region's hup taem tend to use a limited color palette against an off-white background and composition style that includes panels designed to be "read" as one moves around the building with short captions.[3] The postures of the humans, gods, and beasts in the murals tends to follow shadow puppetry conventions with heroes shown mostly in profile and others shown full or three-quarter face.[4] The murals also often include some bawdy scenes for entertainment and moral educational purposes.[3] The brush strokes used in hup taem tend to be heavy and straightforward. The color palette typical rely upon blue, indigo, green, and brown pigments devised from locally available natural sources.[1]
Since 1957, the style of hup taem have shifted away from the self-taught, "naïve" work of chang taem without formalistic artistic compositions, to more traditionally trained artists.[5] Newer wat murals tend to follow images produced by a Bangkok-based religious publisher, So. Thammaphakdi & Sons. Efforts to document and preserve these traditional hup taem began in the 1980s by artist Pairote Samosorn (ไพโรจน์ สโมสร) and architect Wirot Srisuro (วิโรฒ ศรีสุโร). A survey of wat conducted by Pairote in 1989 identified 74 sites with hup taem murals. Fifteen of these had murals on both the exterior and interior of the sim. The survey also noted the folk art style of hup taem in Khon Kaen, Maha Sarakham, and Roi Et, compared to those along the Mekong River or near Ubon Ratchathani that showed greater influence from other regions of Thailand or Laos.[6]
Themes
editAlthough hup taem commonly depict traditional Buddhist texts, including the Vessantara Jātaka, Mahānipāta Jātaka, and other Jataka; scenes from from hell (naraka); and traditional epics like Phra Lak Phra Ram and Sang Sinxay. Images of local life and the community are often commonly depicted.[7]
References
edit- ^ a b Wanwiwat, Rattanalum (March 2018). "Murals on Sim: Aesthetics, Identity and the Embodiment of Isaan People". We Smile. p. 71. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
- ^ Brereton, Bonie Pacala (2010). "Towards a Definition of Isan Mural Painting: Focus on the Heartland". Journal of the Siam Society. 98: 185. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
- ^ a b Brereton (2010), p. 194.
- ^ Brereton (2010), p. 188.
- ^ Burin, Plengdisakun (2011). "Development of Isan mural paintings: a case study of Khon Kaen, Maha Sarakham and Roi Et provinces". Journal of Fine and Applied Arts Khon Kaen University. 3 (1): 110–111.
- ^ Brereton, Bonnie Pacala (2015). "Preserving Temple Murals in Isan: Wat Chaisi, Sawatthi Village, Khon Kaen, as a Sustainable Model". The Journal of the Siam Society. 103: 3–4. ISSN 2651-1851.
- ^ Adun, Lanwong; Phramaha Yothin, Yodhiko; Phra Panuwat, Chuntawatthano (October 2020). "Painting Isan : Community Management for Buddhist and Culture Tourism". Journal of Modern Learning Development. 5 (5): 163. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
External links
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