Pittalew art exchange – Pai, Thailand

Whilst I was in Pai, the local art gallery “Pittalew” held an art exchange.

The idea was to take a piece of unfinished art along to the exchange, someone would take your art and finish it in their own vision and style and you would do the same with someone else’s art.

I didn’t participate this time as I found out a little too late to try and find any art supplies, but I happily went along to check it out.

We arrived in the evening and followed the lights down the stone stairway to the donation box. Not set entry fee here.

People were still busy working on the finishing touches to their pieces when we arrived

They had an exhibit as well as the art exchange, and late in the evening, the pieces from the exchange were auctioned off to raise money to contribute to the costs of building and starting the new school.

Out in the open space, in the pleasant evening air (it gets to a nice cool temperature in Pai once the sun goes down) people sat on benches and on the floor, live music played, people danced, a fire roared in the corner and billowed that familiar smoky smell across to where I sat.

Kids giggled and ran around, weaving in between people and jumping on the swing hanging from the tree.

There was a small bar selling refreshments and food stalls selling anything from pumpkin to soup to french fries, corn on the cob and vegan muffins.

 

The night had a relaxed, happy, magical quality to it and ended with a beautiful drumming circle.

People brought along any sort of drum they had, and in a circle, they began to drum a beat, sing, chant and shout. My friend’s child stood in the middle of the circle and danced with a bright smile on his little face that made us all leave grinning and dancing our way back to our scooters.

Have you ever been to an art exchange before?