THE INFLUENCE OF SIGNS—SYMBOLS WHICH IMPACT LOCAL CHRISTIAN ART DESIGN IN THAILAND

Abstract

Communities have beliefs and culture which influences their identity, including architecture and decorative arts. Among these, religion-based designs, in particular, consist of symbolisms which must be modified to suit the local beliefs of communities, in order to promote unity, and bestow a similar sense of closeness to the prophet of said religion. In order to aid management of information on this topic, this article presents the history, society, beliefs, and culture of communities having influence on signs and symbolisms of Christian art design in Thailand.

This article is part of the dissertation entitled “Decipherment and Interpretation of Graphic, Sign, and Symbolic Design Reference Based on Thailand's Neo-Gothic Faith", in which the researcher has conducted on-site information gathering and key-informant interviews, by applying triangulation in the analysis and interpretation of information on the history, society, beliefs, and faith.