How Can Local Thunders Reach Global Transformation? A Conversation with CMDW 2026 Committee Members on the Challenges for Northern Creators

Local Thunders, Global Transformation is the core concept of the Chiang Mai Design Week 2026 festival. It projects the image of thunder from the local Northern region as a creative force forged from the area’s roots and wisdom, before expanding its impact into a driving force that transforms and creates change on a global scale.

Following the Open Call to select works from creators who will ignite new energy at this year’s Chiang Mai Design Week, we had the opportunity to speak with two of the five selection committee members for the Design Showcases and Exhibitions category. They are Krit Phutpim, designer and founder of Dots Design Studio, and Angkrit Ajchariyasophon, artist and founder of Artist + Run Gallery. We discussed the overview of the selected works and the hopes to see these creations truly reflect the journey from Local Thunders to Global Transformation.

Krit Phutpim is no newcomer to Chiang Mai Design Week. Back in its inaugural year, Krit brought works from his studio and the Design Plant group to exhibit. Since then, he has been a regular attendee almost every year for a decade. Additionally, he previously served on the selection committee for Bangkok Design Week. Here is Krit’s perspective as a committee member who wants to see opportunities for Thai creators emerge from this festival.

“I am interested in design as a tool to elevate everyday objects we are already familiar with, giving them functions that better answer usage needs while featuring appearances that align more with contemporary tastes. This interest perfectly aligns with what most local creators are doing, which is taking unique local identities or characters and building upon them. However, this uniqueness has both pros and cons. Let us start with the pros. When we choose a highly local creative direction, it communicates excellently with local people or those sharing the same cultural background. But from my perspective working in commercial fields, this communication language might be too niche, creating limitations in reaching a broader consumer base.

In this regard, finding a balance between local identity and universality is crucial. The design festival has always tried to explore this balance. Historically, the festival has attempted to connect with international creative networks through the International Pavilion. Another element I believe could help is that we might need to make the festival more commercially oriented.

Take Milan Design Week in Italy as an example. We see a significant corporate presence joining the event. Automotive brands like Audi, Peugeot, or Mazda, or even major real estate brands, set up booths or pavilions alongside Italian design brands and showcases by local artists and designers.

In one sense, it looks like opening a space for brands to sell products. But for a festival that curates content to serve the creative industry, this allows the works of smaller individuals to be seen by high-potential entrepreneurs. Similarly, these smaller creators get to see the innovations of international brands. It helps create both dialogues and channels that allow local creative works to find a place for broader development and wider reach.

Certainly, Chiang Mai Design Week has recently started partnering with more national corporate brands. But I think if we can expand this collaboration even further, the festival would be much more exciting and would answer the Global Transformation concept much more effectively.”

Although Angkrit Ajchariyasophon humbly states he is quite far removed from the design circle, his long experience in the art world, including serving as a curator for the Thailand Biennale 2023, led CEA Northern Office to invite him. As an artist hailing from Chiang Rai and a long-time driver of creative activities in both Bangkok and at the local level, he joins as a selection committee member for this year’s Chiang Mai Design Week exhibitions. Perhaps it is this “outsider” perspective from the design industry that makes him particularly interested in the festival’s core concept, with high hopes for the mechanisms that can truly elevate Local Thunders into Global Transformation.

“I am originally from Chiang Rai but attended university in Chiang Mai. Since the cities are not far apart, I have always had opportunities to view art in various galleries and frequently visit the design festival. I see that Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai share a similar strength, which is having crafts and handmade arts as excellent foundational assets, along with new-generation creators ready to build upon them. However, in the past, these works might have only answered needs on a functional level, an aesthetic level, or by adding value to local materials and wisdom. The proportion of works creating a broader impact is still not very large.

I think this is the challenge that the design festival, as well as myself as a committee member, must seek out or use to stimulate creators to push their work to the next level. The festival is an experimental space for this. Many might feel that over the years, the showcases are repetitive and tell similar stories. But as someone working in art, I believe that developing work through repetition increases precision, gradually shaping the works and ideas to become sharper and naturally create a greater impact over time.

Actually, Local Thunders, Global Transformation is quite a grand phrase. I think Northern creators, as well as our entire nation, can certainly create local thunders. From the works presented so far, I believe this year’s festival will be highly enjoyable and spectacular. But the real challenge is how to make this thunder sustainably stimulate the economy and the livelihoods of local people. This might not be the sole responsibility of the festival organizers but requires coordination with the government, the private sector, and various networks to ensure that the proposals in these creative works can be practically applied and developed at both national and international levels.”

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