Why Arisa de Siam exists
Our Founding Story
Founded in 2025 at the intersection of cultural preservation and technological optimism, Arisa de Siam began as a personal search to decorate a home with regional textiles. It became a mission to collect, safeguard, and share the woven arts of Southeast Asia with a global audience.
In an age of rapid digitization and AI, we return attention to the distinct languages of cloth—rooted in community, ritual, and identity.
Supporting handweaving sustains livelihoods and keeps knowledge alive for future generations.
Publishing writing and imagery fosters understanding, connoisseurship, and care.
For collectors and patrons, each acquisition affirms the enduring value of things made with patience and artistry.
A Living Collection
Our collection spans masterworks from Thailand and neighboring regions, shaped by centuries of exchange. We present textiles not as static artifacts, but as living works—co-created with master artisans and placed into meaningful collections.
The Tai branch of the Tai–Kadai languages is the most widespread cultural group of mainland Southeast Asia. In Thailand, Tai Phuan, Tai Yuan, Tai Lue, Phuthai, Lao, and Shan communities form the backbone of weaving traditions—from finely brocaded silks to intricately patterned mudmee (ikat) and other dyed or adorned fabrics. The collection includes Tai textiles from Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, and southern China where lineage and style connect across borders.
Khmer and Kui weavers are known for refined brocaded silks; Hmong and Mien artisans excel in complex ikat, embroidery, and appliqué. Present across Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and China, these traditions show how cloth traveled as people traded, migrated, and intermarried.
Conflict and movement reshaped techniques. Burmese weavers, spinners, and dyers once entered Thai courts as spoils of war. Political upheavals drove Shan, Intha, Naga, Kachin, and Chin communities into northern Thailand, carrying distinct practices that remain visible today. Earlier still, ancestors of the Tai moved from the Boloven Plateau and Vietnam’s central highlands into Siam’s lowlands, blending ideas into new hybrids.
Malay textiles—especially from Kelantan and Terengganu and from Thailand’s southern provinces—reflect Islamic aesthetics along the Malay Peninsula. Songket brocades, patterned silks, and ceremonial cloths at the southern edge of Siam extend our view while keeping focus on mainland Southeast Asia.
