Abstract
The pandemic has had a great impact on both social and economic development. Especially in developing countries, both rural and urban communities have been severely affected. Far from the governing power geographically, the limitation of resources distribution from the central government could not provide sufficient help and services to maintain decent livelihoods in rural communities. This paper discusses the emerging creative practice by those who are generally viewed as dilapidated, poor health and uncreative in a Thai peasant community. Chara Chatri, a group of Thai folk performing art, in Viset Chaicharn in Ang Thong province, is chosen. Under lock-down policy, such an artistic group had emerged as creative aging employing community cultural assets with creativity to attract audiences during the Covid-19 between 2021 and 2022. After relaxing mobility restrictions, Chala Chatri has still remained active and got support from state cultural agencies. Participant observation, in-depth interview, and site visit were employed to seek the way in which elderly residents as an unexpected local resource come to create attractive and creative shows delivered online and later onsite to generate incomes for the community. The analysis shows that with creative uses of social and cultural infrastructure embedded in the local as collective resources, the community have found a creative solution to mitigate impact from the pandemic. Therefore such a creative practice makes the community become more resilient that could be replicated elsewhere whereby older citizens with artistic skills mingle with creative ideas can enhance degrees of resiliency at the community level.
Presenters
Boonanan NatakunFull-time lecturer, Interior Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Planning, Thammasat University, Pathum Thani, Thailand Khemmiga Teerapong
Lecturer, Communication Design, Bangkok University, Thailand
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Creative aging, Creative practice, Covid-19 pandemic, Community resiliency, Thailand
