Tajima SAI and designer Patipat Chaiwitesh’s textile artwork supported by FabCafe Bangkok

What if embroidery can function as a communication platform between the hotel and their guests? What if culture can be narrated through space?

Tajima is a Japanese embroidery machine company that has created a creative collaboration partnership with FabCafe Bangkok and FabCafe Kyoto.

Thai Product and textile designer, Patipat Chaiwitesh leveraged the power of the Japanese embroidery digital fabrication machine to create Tajima SAI  to create his artwork showcased at the Bangkok Design Week 2020. FabCafe Bangkok supported the work by providing the necessary equipment and technical support for the creation of the work.

Inspired by the pattern of typical Thai cement ventilation blocks used for housing foundations, walls, etc. Patipat configured 64 patterns of cement ventilation blocks into a contemporary design pattern which was then embroidered into a huge, nearly ceiling-to-floor fabric artwork. By reworking the patterns in this way, a traditional and common design, usually intended for a rugged wall made of cement blocks, has been embroidered and laser-cut into an elegant fabric partition.

Enacting such cultural cinematics by using culturally local elements such as ventilation block serves to reframe cultural identity by telling local stories through space in this textile space divider.

Following Bangkok Design Week 2020, Patipat has continued to use the Tajima SAI embroidery machine to create works for his new exhibition, Traveling treasures, at S.A.C. Subhashok The Arts Centre. Traveling treasures asks the question, how do we find a way to continue practicing our cultural practices sustainably? Patipat raises this question through an exploration of alternative materials including scrap materials. He compares these long-lasting materials to the fragility of human minds. The Traveling treasure exhibition will be held June 27th, click here for the official event page →

Recently (June, 2020), the TAJIMA Sai embroidery machine has also made it’s way to FabCafe Tokyo! FabCafe members in Tokyo joined a training class to explore the machine. We are still testing it’s abilities, but we look forward to seeing what interesting creative works come out!