Seven weekends in the country

Silpathorn artist Manop Meejamrat hosts the Chet Samien Arts Festival in Ratchaburi

For the past three years, Silpathorn Award artist Manop ?Khru Nai? Meejamrat has been realising Patravadi ?Khru Lek? Mejudhon?s vision of turning a small community into a highly vibrant arts centre and a model for many small towns around the country.

On the last weekend of every month, rain or shine, he?s been organising the All About Arts festival at the town centre near the train station in Chet Samien, a market village Ratchaburi Province. Manop also runs an arts centre there called Suan Silp Baan Din, where he and other artists have been offering classes in performing arts for local youngsters, some of whom have already performed at the Patravadi Theatre in Bangkok and the Vic Hua Hin.

Now, he?s upping the stakes with an even bigger event called the Chet Samien Arts Festival, which takes place over seven weekends.

?While All About Arts is like an interaction between Suan Silp Baan Din and the Chet Samien community, the Chet Samien Arts Festival has a much larger scope and is like a summary of what many Thai artists have been doing for the past year,? says Khru Nai.

?Plus, the weather is usually very nice here in Chet Samien at this time of year, so the festival is a way to celebrate this festive season for the artists and audience alike.

?Many people have asked me what is my curatorial concept for this festival, and the answer is, well, I don?t have one. I believe artists are already creating works and there shouldn?t be any concept limiting their creativity. They can do whatever they want, but of course their works usually reflect the present state of society and culture.

?Word has been going out that I?m going to organise a big festival and proposals have poured in. And so the festival will feature works by professional artists who are based here in addition to nearby districts, neighbouring provinces and, of course, Bangkok. Students from many universities will perform too.?

Khru Nai says that the whole festival is like ?opening up the town? and is comprised of ?three main events, at three different time slots, at different venues, plus other supplementary activities?.

He gives a brief overview of the programme on any given Saturday and Sunday.

?Activities will start around 2pm with a film screening at Vic Khru Thawi and will be followed by demonstration on how to make pha khao ma [traditional loincloths] and ceramic wares at the houses where these are being made. At 4.30pm, the scene moves to the train station, as traditional Thai music ensembles take the stage.

?An hour later, it shifts to Lan Pho in Chet Samien Market. During All About Arts, this has become known as the place and time for senior artists, but for the Chet Samien Festival, we?ll have more variety ? the Sincharoen Brothers are also part of the line-up. And when there?s a performance whose genre may not be very familiar for the audience, we?ll ask the artist to talk along ? for example, Western classical music performance by Saowakhon Muangkruan and Friends.

?The last programme of the day, for those who are in no rush to go home, starts at 7pm at the evening stage, although this stage, featuring dance, music and theatre in both traditional and contemporary styles, will move from one venue to another almost every day. But that doesn?t mean this is the day?s highlight. A keyword here is variety.

?Other extra activities include talks by such celebrities as Mae Chee Sansanee Sathirasuta, Phol Tantasathien and Siriyakorn ?Oom? Pukkavesa every Saturday afternoon at 4.30 in December; and an exhibition of paintings by Mae Klong River artists will be on throughout the festival at Suan Silp Baan Din.?

For those who prefer to stay overnight rather than return home late, some 20 rooms are available at Suan Silp Baan Din though advance reservations are required.

All events in the festival have free admission but donations are accepted. Khru Nai explains, ?The old train station was demolished and replaced by a townhouse. The villagers here have been very saddened by this lost page of history. The State Railway of Thailand has given a small piece of land to the town and we?re planning to build something as a remembrance of the old station.?

Despite the scale of the festival, Khru Nai remains modest. ?We?re not saying that these are great works of arts. We just want people to see that arts can exist anywhere and in various forms and styles. We?d like them to see how arts are related to everyday life as well.?

Rural reverie

- The Chet Samien Arts Festival opens on Saturday and runs every Saturday and Sunday until January 9. Activities begin in the late afternoon and continue until late evening.

- Admission is free. Donations are accepted.

- Tambon Chet Samien is in Photharam district of Ratchaburi province, a few kilometres off the southbound Highway 4 (Phetkasem), about a 90-minute drive southwest of Bangkok, and about an hour north of Hua Hin. Many southbound trains also stop at Chet Samien station.

- Check out www.Patravadi

Theatre.com or call (032) 397 668 and (081) 818 2542.