Luang Prabang Mural Paintings: Social and Cultural Reflection, Lao PDR

Abstract

The study entitled Luang Prabang Mural Painting: Social and Cultural Reflection, Lao PDR is the study of the mural paintings in Luang Prabang and the analysis of the social and cultural reflection from the mural paintings in Luang Prabang, Lao PDR. The research adopts both qualitative and quantitative methods. Studying the mural paintings in Luang Prabang, created during the Lao Lan Xang era under Siamese rule up to the present day (1779 to the present), covering eight temples. The target group consisted of the informants in Luang Prabang City, and the research tools consisted of surveys, observation, and interviews. The data was analyzed through the representation concept, structural-functionalism theory, and cultural diffusion theory, presented through descriptive analysis. The study found that the characteristic of the mural paintings in Luang Prabang, consisting of the form, colors, techniques, and composition, was artistically influenced by the surrounding kingdoms. Starting from the Lan Xang kingdom, until the era Laos was under Siam, where the Rattakosin artistic influence came to play a significant role in the development of arts and the integration of the traditional Lao art, creating an identity of Luang Prabang arts. As for the social reflection in the mural paintings, according to the Lao historical context from Lan Xang to the present, there are four significant social aspects: social kinship system, political relationships, transnational economic trades, and cultural tourism as a world heritage site. There are four aspects to the cultural reflection of the mural paintings in Luang Prabang: cultural livelihood and way of life system, cultural consciousness or social system, cultural intelligence and thought systems, and arts and culture or aesthetic system.