Contemporary Conservative Thai Painting Course Development for Undergraduate Art Education Curriculum

Abstract

The purposes of this research were 1) to study the details, method, creation, and conservation of Thai painting; and 2) to develop Thai contemporary paintings as conservative courses for undergraduates. This research was mixed method by selecting 15 people to be interviewed, which consisted of professors of Thai painting subjects from Arts Education, professors of Thai painting from Bachelor of Arts, Thai contemporary artists who have experiences of creating works of art, Thai painting conservationists, art historians and theorists, along with 2 university institutions that contributed to Thai painting by using interview forms and class observing. The result showed that the Thai painting subject in Arts Education’s syllabus can create a contribution to conserving Thai painting and Thai contemporary art through the study and development of Thai art works. In preparing Thai contemporary art lessons, there should be: 1) Purposes: To establish knowledge and understanding in conservation of Thai painting, Thai culture painting, and Thai conservative painting which portrays both historical origin and method of creation to pass on knowledge to others in the future; 2) Detail: Especially on conservation of Thai painting, maintenance conservation, protective conservation, and educational preservation. On Thai painting subject, it is to specify the value of detail, form, and technique. In the Thai conservative painting subject, it is important to specify the method of creating work; 3) Teaching method: lecturing in theory and in a practical way to create a tour for the students to try by themselves, along with visiting the original places; 4) Teaching media: should use modern tools in teaching combined with the real specimens; and 5) Evaluation: on the theory side, some papers or research will evaluate the outcome and can contribute to estimating the practical work.