Grace's Canvas: Future Tribes: Tribe research

On our next project, we are making Future Tribes which will let us explore character design with well defined concepts, proper anatomy, and design that aims for a powerful impression.

Before starting my mood boards I need to gather ideas for this project and research for the tribe I wanted to redesign.

I started off by searching just with "tribes" as a keyword. I stumbled upon most of North America and southwestern tribes that are shown a lot in media. I find them very inspiring but because of the fear, I might choose the same tribe as other people I search for less known tribes.

I then found a picture of Cham Dance while searching. It was not a tribe but a Cham Dance. Which is the traditional dance of Bhutan. It involves a series of masked dances, which are usually performed by monks and laymen, wearing colourful costumes. These dances are vibrant and lively and are performed during Tshechus, the annual Bhutanese festival.

Because of the similar aesthetic to my culture with masked dance, I realized “Hey, what if I did my own culture tribes?”

This is why I choose two topics to research on Akha tribe and Khon

Akha tribe

Chiang Rai-Akha tribe is a group whose ancestors were originally from southern China. In China, They are known as "Hani or Won", where immigration comes on two routes: the first route, entering Burma in Kengtung and entering Thailand continuously. They came to settle down in Mae Fah Luang District and the second path evacuated to the border seam of Mae Sai District. The Akha people's costume is considered a very valuable and valuable art. Some sets can be priced in the hundreds of thousands.

Because they rely on farming and not hunting with the art form as their most important trait, I decided that the design of them won't have weapons and focus on the clothes.

Khon

Khon, Thailand's Masked Dance Drama, is a genre of performance art that incorporates musical, vocal, literary, dance, ritual, and handicraft elements. Khon performances feature delicate dance moves, instrumental and vocal interpretations, and glistening costumes

Except for the woman, the protagonist, and the angel, the performers in Khon are required to wear all masks. The protagonist and the angel wore the head in ancient times. The protagonist and the angel were later altered so that they didn't have to.