Chiang Mai University is located in the land of Lanna, which has more than 700 years of history of precious culture. The preservation of this heritage for future generations has always been the University’s mission and such effort has led to the two awards received – an Outstanding Award for Preservation and Perpetuation: Social in the Artistic and Cultural Museum Category, and the Popular Vote, at the Museum Thailand Awards 200, hosted by The National Discovery Museum Institute (Museum Siam) with the objective of selecting and rewarding museums with excellent quality in administration, service and contribution to future knowledge enrichment.
Lanna Traditional House Museum, located in CMU’s Center for the Promotion of Arts and Culture, received an Outstanding Award for Preservation and Perpetuation: Social in the Artistic and Cultural Museum Category. It is an outdoor museum that preserves and exhibits different styles of Lanna houses, which were donated by the descendants of the original owners as the cultural heritage that is worthy of preservation and study. There are 10 traditional Lanna houses and four granaries, each of which has its own history, identity and was built in different eras. The Centre for the Promotion of Arts and Culture has taken an integrated approach, coordinating with the art and culture networks and the community to gather data, make publication through printed and online medias, and host exhibitions and trainings on art and culture (craftmanship, fine arts, music, food, lifestyle, clothing and etc.)
Moreover, Lanna Architecture Centre, Khum Chao Burirat (Maha-in), managed by the Faculty of Architecture, won the Museum Siam Popular Vote for four consecutive years. Khum Chao Burirat, or Khum Klang Wiang, is an approximately 120 year-old building, previously owned by Chao Burirat Maha-in, niece of Chao Luang Khamfan (Chiang Mai’s third Chao Luang, ‘ruler’). It is estimated to be built from 1889 – 1891 and had been passed on from generations to generations until the present descendants donated it to the University. This spectacular building is a fusion of local and western arts and its great condition is the testimony of the strong construction of the past. It is a centre for the collection, archive, exhibition and research of Lanna architecture.
The two awards received at the Museum Thailand Awards 2020 are a great pride of CMU and a guarantee of the University’s commitment to cultural heritage and the preservation of Lanna culture, contributing to its eminence and sustainability.