VI. Green steel
Part 6 of an international solo on ”Lanna“ by Lim Siang Jin. This online exhibition on contemporary photography, comprising 20 parts, is from May 6 to June 5, 2025
BAMBOO, a fast-growing grass species, is nature’s versatile gift to Lanna’s culture. Maturing in three to five years (versus hardwood’s decades), it underpins sustainable livelihoods, fashioned into homes, tools, and essential utensils like baskets and fishing traps. Its lightweight yet tensile strength—able to bend without breaking—mirrors the resilience of communities reliant on it. Beyond practicality, bamboo forms Lanna’s cultural bedrock: traditional crafting techniques preserve ancestral knowledge through generations. The rhythmic patterns of weaving embody cultural memory and identity. As an ecological alternative to steel or timber, bamboo reduces deforestation while supporting local economies, connecting tradition with sustainability.
Beyond utility
BAMBOO’S significance extends beyond utility—it carries profound artistic and cultural meaning. At the Chiang Rai Contemporary Art Museum, artist Wang Wen-Chih transforms this humble grass into an immersive installation that elegantly bridges tradition and modernity. His work reveals bamboo’s dual character—simultaneously temporary and lasting—while emphasising sustainability. The installations express this inherent tension: individual stalks eventually return to earth, yet the species continuously regenerates. Wang's structures embrace this natural cycle, illustrating how traditional materials can thoughtfully address contemporary environmental concerns through deliberate artistic practice.
Bones of resilience and reverence
I ATTEMPTED three times to purchase a Bo Sang umbrella from a small village workshop, each visit ending in disappointment. Twice in 2019, I arrived to find the elderly craftsman absent. Later, I learned he had passed during the pandemic, his craft inherited by a younger artisan. Returning in January 2025, I discovered the workshop empty once more, though unfinished umbrellas and tools lay scattered about—evidence that the tradition endured. The exposed bamboo skeleton of an umbrella awaiting its saa paper covering drew my attention. It seemed the perfect metaphor for resilience amid change. While editing the image afterward, I enhanced its symbolism by deepening the colour to bright saffron, a hue rich with significance in Thai culture. It evokes the dignified presence of monks who walk the streets, embodying both reverence and humility.
Strength in graceful acceptance
THE BAMBOO’S silent strength echoes across cultures—both East and West. In Aesop’s Fable, The Oak and the Reed, the proud oak stands rigid against storms, ultimately breaking, while the humble reed survives by bending. The Scottish moral “better bend than break” perfectly captures this wisdom. This principle resonates deeply with Eastern philosophy as well. Lao Tzu teaches in the Tao Te Ching: “The hard and strong will fall, the soft and weak will overcome.” This cross-cultural wisdom unites Aesop’s practical humility with Taoist principles of strategic yielding. The bamboo stands as nature’s perfect embodiment of this universal truth.
For more information, click on links: Stephen Menon, O Art Space Gallery, Lim Siang Jin and his art, here and here. For a detailed acknowledgment, click here