Tanyapong Jaikham, a farmer and factory worker from Thailand has transformed his rice fields at Chiang Rai in northern Thailand into three adorable portraits of cats. One of the cats even clutches a fish, alluding to Thailand’s polyculture in which fish and rice are cultivated together. As per BBC, Jaikham has been invested in this crop art project since October. He used different types of rainbow rice plants to create the shade variations in his crops. He took the help of over 200 volunteers who carefully hand planted the rice at precise locations. Jaikham used drones and GPS technology to pinpoint the plantation location. “It’s crucial to position (the rice seeds) accurately, and the rice will gradually change shades over time,” Jaikham told Reuters.
Now the visitors are arriving at his field to view it. Reuters reported that special viewing towers are being built at the corners of the fields to allow visitors a full bird’s eye view of the artwork. “We’re expecting tens of thousands to come and see the art in the rice fields,” the farmer artist told Reuters. He added, “Previously, rice was mainly considered for consumption. This approach allows us to develop tourism and agriculture simultaneously.”
This is not the first time that an artist created landscape art using crops. In 2015, crop artist and painter Stan Herd created a 1.2-acre rendition of Vincent van Gogh’s Olive Trees at a field in Eagan, Minnesota. For six months, Herd cultivated watermelons, cantaloupes, squash, and pumpkins, and rearranged rocks and soil to create this crop artwork. This project was commissioned by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts as part of the institute’s centennial celebration. Interestingly, the original Olive Trees painting is displayed at the nearby Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
Japan is also famous for its intricate rice paddy art that attracts tourists from all over the world. The rice paddy art is locally known as ‘shokudo zushi’, which means ‘rice field pictures’. The farmers use varieties of rice that allow them to give different colors to the artwork.
The Inakadate in Aomori Prefecture is most famous for its rice paddy art festival. The town of Inakadate has been holding rice paddy art festivals since 1993. Over the years, the farmers have created pictures of Mount Fuji, the Great Wave off Kanagawa, and even the Mona Lisa on their rice fields.
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