Exhibition: "Dressing Gods and Demons: Costume for Khon" | Thailand

The Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles, Bangkok, an ASEMUS member, has recently opened an exhibition entitled "Dressing Gods and Demons: Costume for Khon", which can be visited until May 2017.

The exhibition describes the origins of traditional dance Khon and its historical presentation. It then highlights the modern Khon costumes created for the revival of this important art form by Her Majesty Queen Sirikit. The galleries display old and new Khon costumes, masks and jewelry.

In 2005, when Her Majesty Queen Sirikit set about organising the revival of Khon, one of Thailand’s oldest narrative dance forms, she assembled a scholarly research team to discover what the costumes might have looked like in the past. After the historical evidence had been collected, specialists were selected to design new costumes to fit today's performers. This authenticity required re-establishing or expanding the weaving, embroidery, mask- and jewelry-making workshops necessary to produce all aspects of Khon costuming. The exhibition has opened on the occasion of the celebration of Queen Sirikit's 7th cycle birthday anniversary, on 12 August 2016. A new activity room on Khon has also been established in the museum, providing space for visitors to take part in different activities, learn and better understand this dance practice. Several workshops are being organised in this context, and a catalogue of the exhibition, describing the history of Khon and recent research work, has also been published. For additional information about "Dressing Gods and Demons: Costume for Khon", please visit http://www.qsmtthailand.org/exhibitions/542/