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Between December 6 and 14, 2025, Maria Stepanova, Head of the Product and Industrial Design track at the HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL, traveled to Chiang Mai, Thailand, to explore one of Southeast Asia’s premier creative centers. During her visit, she took part in Chiang Mai Design Week, curating a booth focused on modern Russian design that featured alumni projects and a series of educational activities. In this article, Maria shares her insights on the local design scene, sustainable practices, and the unique way contemporary design operates at the intersection of tradition and craft.
Head of the Product and Industrial Design track at the HSE Art and Design School, Lecturer. Member of the Russian Union of Designers, exhibition curator.
In addition, daily workshops on portfolio design and print graphics were held, during which students created their own digital posters using the artz.work platform.
Partner: The Russia-Thailand Business Council (RTBC), a key Russian platform fostering business development and investment, strengthening commercial ties, and creating conditions for mutually beneficial partnerships and long-term cooperation between Russia and Thailand.
The event was organized with the support of the Institute for Creative Industries Development.
This trip reaffirmed for me just how important it is to explore new cultures, receive global feedback on our work, and connect with people from other professions as often as possible.
At events of this scale, you never know who you might meet. Guests included participants from Canada, the USA, Japan, and Austria, as well as many representatives from India and China. We met the founder of a South Korean contemporary art gallery who took a keen interest in the objects created by our students. We also met Vasil Badreev for the first time — he is the founder of Open Space Market and the person responsible for bringing market culture to Tatarstan.
We were pleasantly surprised by the support from the local community. Visitors to our booth asked for information to post on social media to help spread the word about our lectures and workshops. At one workshop, a participant’s work stood out in particular — he used an unusual drawing technique that immediately caught our attention.
Thai artists and designers are prolific in creating realistic wood sculptures, which is truly impressive. In graphic design, one often encounters absurd graphics in packaging and bold combinations of prints and illustrations in fashion brands — there is a distinct sense of playfulness and cartoon aesthetics. This is particularly evident, for example, in the brand Rungarun.
All of this reminded me once again of the value of face-to-face connections and an open environment. I want to 'bring back' this incredible network and the relaxed Thai attitude — integrating it into my work, my teaching, and my mindset.
One final small discovery from the trip was the Asian trend of 'dirty coffee,' something I hadn’t encountered before.
Although I have visited Asia before, this was my first trip to Thailand. It is striking to see monks in bright orange robes in everyday settings, like a supermarket. The culture itself and the architecture of the Buddhist temples are truly impressive.
Chiang Mai is a UNESCO Creative City, and almost every block features a stunning ancient temple that is open to the public. I was deeply impressed by how religion shapes society here; thanks to Buddhism, theft is virtually non-existent. The locals were even surprised that we hired security for our booth.
Overall, the atmosphere is very open, and the city seems to exist in multiple dimensions at once. On the grounds of a centuries-old temple, you might suddenly encounter a sculpture of Donald Duck or an installation made of vintage TVs. A spot that goes unnoticed during the day transforms into a bustling night market by evening, only to become an ordinary street again by morning. After sunset, the central square with the Three Kings Monument spontaneously turns into an impromptu skate park.
I was struck by the university campus in Chiang Mai. The sprawling campus concept is not widely found in Russia, so we made a special trip one day to see how life there is organized. It is a vast area featuring a central lake, tropical birds, cafes, laboratories, and outdoor chess tables.
My experience giving lectures and workshops in Chiang Mai highlighted a strong local demand for an educational environment and live intellectual exchange. Feedback suggested that the city was missing intellectual events; while fairs, music and food festivals, and sports abound, there is very little in the way of live lectures and educational content. As a result, the audience was incredibly receptive, with many attendees mentioning that they felt inspired to launch their own projects.
There is a strong emphasis here on sustainable design and traditional techniques. This is evident in the work of local design studios and the festival’s special projects, as well as in the night markets and shop inventories. There are entire villages where you can try your hand at pottery or dyeing fabrics using natural plant and tree extracts. There is an abundance of natural materials, alongside experiments in creating new ones — such as tiles incorporating colorful glass rods recycled from manufacturing waste.
Great attention is also paid to scents. They play a central role at the festival’s main venue — both as an element of national branding and as a significant field for research and creation.
Aside from the educational activities, I experienced a 'traditional' Thai rite of passage: food poisoning right at the start of the trip. Surprisingly, I was saved by a local remedy featuring a flying white rabbit on the label and dozens of inscriptions in Thai. I followed the white rabbit, just like in Alice in Wonderland, and it didn’t let me down.
Thankfully, that was the end of my gastronomic misadventures. Regular visitors to our booth often brought us local desserts and drinks that they insisted we try. We also exchanged gifts with local illustrators, receiving small sketchbooks filled with city sketches in a contemporary graphic style. I brought home a collectible toy by the artist Coppertoy featuring a character that served as the mascot for that market zone — it looks exactly like my dog. The artist made it especially for me in just a few days.
Every evening after the exhibition closed, we went to dinner based on local recommendations, but the highlight was a Sunday hike to waterfalls in a national park. We spontaneously arranged it the day before with some friends who had recently arrived in Thailand. Chiang Mai is a northern city: a twenty-minute motorbike ride is all it takes to reach the mountains. We veered off the path a bit, trekked through the jungle, watched local daredevils sliding down waterfalls as if they were water slides, and even encountered a snake. A true adventure!
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