Wonderfruit Evolves Its 2022 Programme Through Innovative Experiences Exploring the Intersections of Art, Culture and Human Rituals

2022 Programme:

Ancient Forest, Meditative Soundscapes, Sonic Nature Immersion, WonderOK, Human Body as Axis Mundi
Artistic Wonderings from:

Yayoi Kusama, Ab Rogers Design, Boonserm Premthada, SUGi, MSCTY Studio, Navin Rawanchaikul

Live performances from:

Soichi Terada, Kai Campos (Mount Kimbie), Penguin Cafe, Yumiko Morioka, Angkanang Kunchai,

Snapped Ankles, Ajate, Anne Müller, H 3 F

Sonic sounds from:

Ben UFO, Erased Tapes, TOM oF ENGLAND,

Dresden (Ivan Smagghe x Manfredas),

Tiffany, Garth, More Rice Records Showcase

At Wonderfruit, we encourage, develop and innovate creative solutions for mind and nature. We explore art and culture to catalyze growth.

Returning for the first time in three years since the pandemic, Thailand’s Wonderfruit festival comes back stronger as one of the world’s biggest gatherings to showcase the intersection of global culture. Just 6 months until they manifest into a city of wonder once again, they announce the first installments of their Experiences Programme as well as performers across music, art & architecture and wellness. Set amongst the lush rolling tropical fields at Siam Country Club, just 2 hours from Bangkok the festival will transform into a unique setting of experiences filled with Ancient Forest, Meditative Soundscapes, Sonic Nature Immersion, a new community based art project Wonder OK, ancient rituals in wellness with the Human Body as Axis Mundi and reimagined spaces for both humans and nature with Architecture that feeds.

 Art comes from world renowned Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama who presents her Flower Obsession (Sunflower), Wonder OK, by Navin Rawanchaikul’s StudiOK who will be creating community art from Wonderfruit’s visual history and submissions from wonderers. Wonderfruit family Ab Rogers Design returns to rebuild and reform his magnificent whimsical structures which this year include a series of new piazzas. Boonserm Premthada who recently has been showcasing his natural-world themed structures in Versailles summer architectural biennale (2022) and Venice Architectural Biennale (2021), has been designing structures with humble Thai materials in our farm and fields. Plus two specially curated projects for Wonderfruit 2022 with a unique Ancestral Forest designed with SUGi, the world’s leading network of Miyawaki Forest Makers. And Sonic Elements with MSCTY Studio, a collaborative project designed to enhance the relationship with the natural world through sound and space.

Live musical performances come from multi-talented Japanese producer Soichi Terada, Kai Campos (Mount Kimbie) and MSCTY Studio x Yumiko Morioka who, for the first time ever will perform her recently re-released Resonance album (1987) along with a green tea ceremony conducted by her daughter. Erased Tapes return with a unique collaboration with Wonderfruit with Hatis Noit, Masayoshi Fujita, Penguin Cafe, Anne Müller, H3F, Autta and Forest clad performance art and art rock band Snapped Ankles. Legendary Molam Singer Angkanang Kunchai takes to Wonderfruit’s now iconic Molam Bus. 11 piece experimental Japanese outfit Ajate, experimental artist Telefon Tel Aviv and Berlin based Cellist Anne Müller. Plus electronic Ben UFO, D. Tiffany, Dresden (Ivan Smagghe x Manfredas) the legendary TOM oF ENGLAND and an artist credited with defining the sound of San Francisco House music Garth.  As always highlighting local and regional acts such as Durian Radio, and More Rice Records being part of the programming.

 Pranitan Pete Phornprapha, Wonderfruit Founder:

Since the last time we gathered, it feels like we have left behind a different world. The pandemic gave us the opportunity to pause for a long moment, think back at where we had started, and look ahead more clearly to where we want to go. While life ahead is unknown, I am recognizing that to be vulnerable through this lens is to grow and engage with it. To focus on the things that matter. And it’s in these moments that life expands.

Culture has shaped me for as long as I can remember, from the music I listen to, the art I connect with, to the flavours and forms I love. Since our inception, we have always been exploring how we can live more closely with nature. Through it, I realized the significant connection with our minds, and the intersection of the external and internal worlds we all live in. This year, we will examine this relationship more closely and lean even more on culture as a catalyst for growth.

Still with so much more to come, Wonderfruit continues to ready itself to welcome everyone  back to blur the boundaries between worlds. A creative exploration of culture and human rituals.

Full outline of Experiences and line-up so far below.

 Wonderfruit 2022 Line-up

Music

Creature Stage

Slow Down with Erased Tapes:

Hatis Noit, Masayoshi Fujita, Penguin Cafe, Anne Müller, H 3 F, Autta, Snapped Ankles

Neramit

MSCTY Studio x Yumiko Morioka

More Rice Records Showcase:

Chalo (Live), Sarayu, Elaheh, DOTT

Solar Stage

Ajate, Garth, TOM oF ENGLAND, Telefon Tel Aviv

The Quarry

Dresden (Ivan Smagghe x Manfredas), Ben UFO, D. Tiffany

Molam Bus

Angkanang Kunchai

And more:

Batavia Collective

Durian Radio Showcase: Däydang, Pam Anantr, Slowlygreen, Supersonic,

Kai Campos (Mount Kimbie), Soichi Terada (Live)

Art & Architecture

Special projects

Ancestral Forest by SUGi

Sonic Elements with MSCTY Studio

Installation art

Flower Obsession (Sunflower) by Yayoi Kusama

Wonder OK by StudiOK

Contour Distort by Tawatchai Puntusawasdi

The Walk by Boonserm Premthada

Mindfulness Amidst Changes by Sanitas Studio

Island by Ruangsak Anuwatwimon

A Singing Sea by Satit Raksasri

Sonic Elements

[Earth] Embrace by Nanu Youttananukorn x Hear & Found

[Water] Rueng Loy by Eyedropper Fill x Chris Watson

[Metal] Sonic Path by Pin Metal Art x Kate Carr

Architecture

Ab Rogers Design – Entrance, Ethos Pavilion, Bath House, Theatre of Feasts, Ziggurat, Creature Stage, Living Village, The Quarry

Boonserm Premthada – Neramit, Open Kitchen, Insect Hotel, Compost Hut

And much more to come

Wonderfruit 2022 Experiences

Experience #1: Wonderfruit is designing an ancient forest

The power of nature is our biggest inspiration. Together with SUGi we are designing and planting an Ancestral Forest. Rewilding the land will encourage an ecosystem in the coming years for us to discover wild ways to explore the harmony between nature, architecture, and culture. This year we invite wonderers to engage through workshops and installations around our new forest.

Experience #2: Slow Down with Erased Tapes

A journey into the language of music in its deepest form. In collaboration with Erased Tapes, the exploratory sonic label we love, we invite you to slow down, and go beyond the realms of everyday tunes. The project will explore sonic compositions that encourage deep reflections with our inner and outer spaces. Sometimes, slowing down and being intensely aware is the way forward.

Experience #3: Sonic elements for your senses

Sonic Elements is a project designed to enhance our relationship with the natural world through sound, sense, and space. Wonderfruit and MSCTY Studio merge field recordings with multiple immersive installations spread throughout The Fields. Discover natural elements uniquely in new forms and shapes.

Experience #4: Wonder family through the arts

A collaboration with Navin Rawanchaikul’s StudiOK, Wonder OK is a large-scale participatory art project to grow Wonderfruit’s visual history of ethos-driven experiences with our growing community. Through an open call, we look to interpret and compose your impressions from The Fields into various interactive art forms that will expand into the next years.

Experience #5: The human body as axis mundi
Axis mundi represents the rotating axis connecting our home earth with the celestial. This core links all particles; from trees, land, bodies, and minds. Wonderness will bring the rediscovery of our own axis mundi through a range of wellness and nature activities intended to restore balance to the body and spirit, aligning inside and outside as one.

Experience #6: Architecture that feeds

A sustainable approach to our built environment: pavilions and spatial interventions take shape from the land to activate The Fields, which then feed life back into the land. Working with radical studio Ab Rogers Design on site landscapes and venues, and humanistic architect Boonserm Premthada on the farm village, Wonderfruit hopes to reimagine spaces for both human and nature through simple, honest materials and building techniques.

Wonderfruit 2022 Wonderness (Wellness)

 The Wonderness Axis Mundi Ceremony

“u.ME.verse” High Pitch Sound and Meditative Journey by F.O.E.T and Maxine

Exploring Nature with Your Five Senses by Pearypie

Walking the Geometric Labyrinth to the Inner Self by Journey of Herenow

Ancient Medicinal Plants with Guided Meditation and the Sound of Nature by MELT