Chiang Mai’s
NAP Fair 2015

For the second year in a row, The Kindcraft attended the Nimmanhaemin Art and Design Promenade (NAP) fair in Thailand’s creative capital, Chiang Mai.

Between December 5th and 10th, 2015 the design fair was held in the bustling Nimman neighborhood and featured independent makers, live music, workshops, and Northern Thai food and drinks. The fair grew in size this year, hosting over a hundred booths of local and national Thai artists.

True to the heritage craft of the region, clay and cotton woven textiles were key materials at the show. The global trend of indigo-dyed items was apparent here, where indigo dyeing from plant to paste has been practiced for hundreds of years. The Kindcraft has selected the work of 17 artists to share with you in a curated look at the 16th edition of NAP Fair.


Chachaa

Chachaa means slow pace. The Chiang Mai-based company uses ethnic traditional materials – like the woven textiles of the Karen people and Yao embroidery – to create their clothing and accessories with a special focus on needle crafts and naturally dyed textiles.

Clayday

Clayday presented wonderfully off-beat ceramic sculptures in a vibrant color scheme by artist Nupol Wiriyawong (Dam) who uses the raku firing technique. Read more about raku in our feature The Process: Raku.

Garden Wednesday

Bangkok creative couple Orasa Panyatanaporn and Thanthad Adisathanakul make ceramics together under the name Garden Wednesday. Full of personality, their matte-glazed clay characters – which function as planters and vases – are colored with a fresh palette of lemon, turquoise, peach, and dove grey.

InClay

Jirawong Wongtrangan of InClay Studio creates hand-thrown functional and decorative ceramic pieces finished with natural glazes. His blue and white ceramics were created with new techniques for this year’s NAP Fair.

A limited quantity of Jirawong’s Ceramic Nesting Bowls are currently available for purchase in The Kindcraft Shop and ship from the United States.

It Takes Two to Tango

Bangkok-based twin sisters are behind the slow fashion collection It Takes Two to Tango. Their “kind to all” naturally dyed indigo textiles are created in a process learned in the Northeastern region of Issan and brought to Bangkok where the sisters create their whimsical collection by hand.

Jibberish

Jibberish is a collection of “homemade zakka & other gibberish things” founded in 2011. The word zakka is a design term – and the Japanese word meaning many things – used throughout Asia to refer to cute lifestyle products and contemporary handicrafts.

Kasploy

Together with Olarn Plubplon, an artist called Ploy creates Kasploy – a collection of handmade accessories featuring printmaking, woodcut prints, and painting on fashion fabrics, leather, and nylon.

Metal Studio

Sirilak Samanasak Chappell is the designer behind Chiang Mai’s Metal Studio. For the last 16 years, she has been crafting jewelry inspired by Thai traditional arts and the region’s natural landscape. She uses a mix of materials and globally sourced stones to create texture in her handcrafted jewelry.

Otobmo & Nuttiyar Taan

Wannakarn Suwannasri (Oom) of Otobmo features real dried flowers in her accessories range, while her friend Nuttiya Ratchtrachenchai (Taan) of Nuttiyar Taan creates handbags using specialty materials and techniques like basketry. These Bangkok-based makers are creating modern accessories that reference traditional Thai themes.

Palit

Earthen hues and natural textures are the calling card of Palit, a Chiang Mai-based label that specializes in crochet and macrame. Bags, accessories and garments are all handmade using thick cotton rope, and finished with wood notions and freeform fringing.

Pinocchio

Experimenting with a playful mix of wood and clay, Pinocchio operates at the intersection of art and science. Artisan Wasit, who hails from Bangkok, creates utilitarian objects, including tiered succulent planters that use a clever self-watering copper drip apparatus, and ceramic light fittings.

Rungtan

When she’s not in her home country of Thailand, Tan Jiwanuwong travels to inspiring places like India where she spends several months sourcing products and materials. Her colorful booth stood out at NAP Fair, and The Kindcraft loved the eclectic feel.

Simplerista

With inspiration from traditional antique textiles, the sisters behind Simplerista have created a new fashion range which made its debut at NAP Fair 2015. Minimal contemporary shapes made of silk-lined black linen feature applied handcrafted textiles created by Thailand’s ethnic minorities.

Slowstitch Studio

Trained in Japan, Serg from Siberia and Ann from Thailand are the designers behind Slowstitch Studio. The pair recently moved from Bangkok to Chiang Mai where they have begun growing indigo and making botanical dyes at their new studio. Following traditional Japanese dyeing techniques, Serg and Ann create extremely detailed shibori textiles which are stitched into clothing, accessories, and pillows.

Studio Naenna

Esteemed textile expert Patricia Cheesman and her daughter Lamorna Cheesman of Studio Naenna have been creating quality cotton and silk eco textiles since 1988. The company supports Weavers for the Environment and has a natural dye studio in the mountains of Chiang Mai. New to their collection for the 2015 NAP Fair were specialty pieces handwoven in Laos in pink and blush tones.

The Kindcraft recently engaged in a Maker Collaboration with Studio Naenna. Learn about The Kindcraft + Studio Naenna collaboration and shop our Indigo Collection and our Ikat Collection in The Kindcraft Shop.

Tathata

Bangkok-based lifestyle brand TATHAT was founded in 2012 by duo Vipavat Darapongsataporn and Kavita Srisan. Born out of love for the aesthetic of timeless worn leather, the team crafts a range leather accessories and convertible canvas backpacks and totes. Their organic leather watch straps are dyed with plant-based dyes including tropical flowers.

Walk on the Wild Side

The couple behind Walk on the Wild Side uses natural plant fiber materials such as cotton, linen, and hemp and hand-dyes everything using natural indigo, ebony, mango, and mud. Narawat Chaichompoo and Zazima Asavesna work in nature from Sakon Nakhon, Thailand near Laos.