Sheer brilliance in Bamboo

WITH SHOPPERS hunting for fresh ways to decorate their abodes for the festive season, new brand Patapian was one of the stars of this month’s Baan Lae Suan Fair (Home and Garden). Its marvellous wooden stationery items and shelf furnishings, a mix of traditional handicrafts and contemporary design, earned plenty of instant fans.

Patapian made its debut on Facebook last year, founded by former ad-agency employee Varongkorn Tienparmpool (a Rangsit University art-and-design grad) and craft-crazy Supattra Kreaksakul, who holds a master’s degree in language and communication from the National Institute of Development Administration.

Through the cleverly efficient use of resources, they transform teak and redwood discards from a furniture factory into all sorts of lovely containers, candlesticks and such intriguing oddities as pencil caps and eraser covers.

Patapian items are immediately recognisable for their jazzy geometrical patterns rendered in bamboo strips in the skilled hands of Eastern Thai artisans in Chon Buri, Sa Kaeo and Prachin Buri. 

“We produce utensils for daily life, and the concept is ‘Living, handicrafts and objects’,” says Varongkorn. “The inspiration was traditional wickerwork. We wanted to give it more function but also make it more fashionable. We started out by learning the basics of carpentry from tradesmen in Bang Pho in Pathum Thani. And we’ve tried to use different kinds of wood, like ma kha and rosewood, to produce beautiful new textures.”

There are currently four collections, all devised using a colour-matching technique to create enchanting designs in the bamboo strips. The patterns are Mickey Mouse, chevrons, dice, dots and plus signs.

Varongkorn had even more to show at the recent “Thai Navatasilp” exhibition hosted by the Support Arts and Crafts International Centre of Thailand. He was one of 10 artists and designers selected to create pieces based on the five colours 

 used in Benjarong porcelain.

“I was assigned the colour yellow, so I made a teakwood tray with heavy, durable brass legs, wooden candlesticks that could double as a pendant and a ring, and jewellery holders in tree shapes that could also turn into a pendant.”

Coming next year from Patapian is a fifth line of wooden jewellery and home-decor items with the bamboo strips naturally dyed with extracts of fruit, flowers and other plants.

Patapian’s products are sold at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre and the King Power outlet at Suvarnabhumi Airport. Next month, just in time for the holidays, they’ll also be available at Siam Center’s Selected Shop.

 

 

LITTLE SHOP OF DELIGHT

>>To learn more, check out the Patapian Facebook page or call (086) 898 8336 or (081) 961 1295.