ARTISTIC WISDOM OF MON COMMUNITY TO CREATE LEARNING MEDIA DESIGN

Abstract

This research aimed to 1) study the artistic wisdom of Mon community 2) analyze Mon artistic identity in order to design the learning media 3) assess the knowledge and understanding concerning Mon artistic wisdom of the sample group.  The research findings revealed that, the major factors to create Mon arts were Buddhist religion and the remembrance of Mon ancestors. Mon art can be categorized into two main groups: 1) tangible art and culture: permanent architecture (such as Mon pagodas at Songtham Worawihan and Poramai Yigawat temples, painting in Ubosot of Sai Arirak and Khong Karam temples, swan pillar at Klang Worawihan temple; temporary architecture (such as traditional monk’s funeral pyre); craft (such as Mon’s coffin making, centipede flag making, breast cloth embroidery) 2) intangible art and culture: Mon language, spiritual belief, life tradition (such as funeral traditions, Songkran tradition, parade for the centipede flags and knowledge and skills of Mon craftsman (such as identity of Mon painting design on the traditional coffin, paper engraving, colored paper decoration, earthenware molding techniques, design and color creation techniques on breast cloth, doctrine and connotation of Mon centipede flag,  jargons and technical terms). All of these arts were claimed to be ‘cultural capital’, which can be commercialized to the production of cultural souvenirs, establishment of tourist attractions and learning center of Mon art and culture, etc. Therefore, the researcher applied the results of study to design the learning media—‘traditional Mon breast cloth embroidery kit and centipede flag demonstration kit’, which aimed to express Mon identity and esthetic, Mon artistic wisdom inheritance, and encouragement of easy self-learning media. The created learning media were evaluated by the three experts who specialized in media design and art and culture. The evaluation results varied from good to excellent levels and the highest average assessment score was 5.00 relating to the media design that showed the pride of Mon community in knowledge transferring and Mon wisdom inheritance. The knowledge and understanding assessment of the sample group showed that they gave the highest importance to the learning media that could express Mon identity and esthetic. Additionally, their prior consideration also contributed to the conformity of beliefs, culture, and tradition, and the preservation and restoration of Mon wisdom in creating conveniently accessible self-learning media.