There is character in the wood - held in grain, gesture and time - and it is in Yu Wa that it finds form. Shaped by devoted hands, these carved narratives carry centuries of culture, myth and imagination, awakening heritage anew.
A tradition waiting to move
Southwest of Chiang Mai, the Yu Wa Wood Carving Group preserves one of Northern Thailand’s oldest art forms. Inside its 70-metre time-capsule, teakwood becomes a vessel for memory and discipline. A language suspended within these walls, often read only at the surface.
Restoring that literacy meant returning to what already exists: an archive written in teak, shaped by mythology and the continuity of local savoir-faire. Here, every statue is a chapter, every relief a constellation of symbols.
What the craftsmen fix in time, the series sets in motion. By reactivating the character held deep within the wood, tradition becomes an experience, shifting from object to encounter. Surrounded by gallery and process-led content, Yu Wa re-enters the public as a cultural transmission carrying Thai heritage forward.
