Very Thai by Philip Cornwel-Smith

Very Thai by Philip Cornwel-Smith

Regular price
Checking stock...
Regular price
Checking stock...
The feel-good place to buy books
  • Free UK delivery over £5
  • 10% off preloved books when you join +Plus
  • Buying preloved emits 46% less CO2 than new
  • Give your books a new home - sell them back to us!

Very Thai by Philip Cornwel-Smith

This pioneering insight into contemporary Thai folk culture delves beyond the traditional Thai icons to reveal the casual, everyday expressions of Thainess that so delight and puzzle. From floral truck bolts and taxi altars to buffalo cart furniture and drinks in a bag, the same exquisite care, craft and improvisation resounds through home and street, bar and wardrobe. Never colonised, Thai culture retains nuanced ancient meaning in the most mundane things. The days are colour coded, lucky numbers dictate prices, window grilles become guardian angels, tattoos entrance the wearer. Philip Cornwel-Smith scoured each region to show how indigenous wisdom both adapts to the present and customises imports, applying Roman architecture to shophouses, morphing rock into festive farm music, turning the Japanese motor-rickshaw into the tuk-tuk. Colour-saturated illustrations help you navigate various social traits, whether white-faced hi-so matrons or Red Bulls, willing workers wearing coins in their ear. This is Thai culture as it has never been shown before.
Photographer John Goss is an American artist based in Bangkok. John works collaboratively and individually on projects using both traditional and electronic media. A past recipient of a fellowship from the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts, he has created multi-media performances combining text, movement, lasers, computers, image projection, and digital music. His video works and photography have been widely exhibited around the world.
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9786167339375
ISBN 10 6167339376
Title Very Thai
Author Philip Cornwel-Smith
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Hardback
Publisher River Books
Year published 2013-09-18
Number of pages 256
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note Unavailable