Fruit and Vegetable Carving Art
Mukimono, Fruit and Vegetable Carving Art
About the Art
Fruit and vegetable carving is an art form, used mostly for decorations and sometimes to show artistic expression.
The origins of this art form are disputed (Thailand, China and Japan are suggested).
People who believe that this art form originated in China say it began in the time of the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-906) and the Sung Dynasty (AD 960-1279) in China.
In Japan, fruit and vegetable carving art is called Mukimono which become popular in the Edo period, in sixteenth century, when Mukimono gained official recognition.
Those who believe fruit and vegetable carving originated in Thailand say it started during the Loi Kratong festival in the 14th century. Lots of intricate decorations are used during the Loi Kratong festival.
However, it was only in the mid 20th century, fruits and vegetable carving art began to grow outside Thailand. Today, this art form is popular the world over.
Nowhere can we see the popularity of fruit and vegetable carving as much as in Thailand. In Thailand this art form is taught in schools, and children as young as 11 years old are professionally trained.
Birds, flowers, trees and people are craved in fruit and vegetables, but you never know the limit of artists’ imagination. The art is mostly used for decorations, but also sometimes to exhibit artistic impressions.
Mukimono, fruit and vegetable carving art
Click thumbnail to view full-sizeAbout the Artist
Artist: Sajan Thapa Magar
Art: Fruit and Vegetable Carving
Title: Mukimono
Objects used: Pomelo ( A fruit of citrus family found in Asia), lemon, eggplants, cucumber, watermelons, apple, cauliflower etc.
Sajan Thapa Magar, born in April 18, 1986, received his basic education in Dharan, a city located in the eastern part of Nepal. He is a self taught artist who held a solo exhibition of his arts at Gurukul, Kathmandu from November 18 to December 7, 2010.
His second exhibition, titled Mukimono (Fruits and Vegetable Carving), was showcased at Gurukul, Kathmandu in September, 2011.
Mr. Thapa Magar works as a theatre actor at Gurukul, one of the leading theatre companies in Nepal. He has performed in numerous plays and is well appreciated by the theatre critics in Nepal. Besides acting he also looks after lights, props and publicity departments at Gurukul, a School of Theatre.
Apart from performing plays and producing manpower for theatre, Gurukul also organizes art workshops and art exhibitions. At Gurukul, Sajan Thapa Magar got an exposure to numerous art events, which nurtured his interest in painting. In the beginning he copied other artworks, but as his creative impulse took rein over him, he marveled into his imagination. Today, he remains in touch with well established artists of Nepal like Prakash Chandwodkar, Karna Maskey and Kiran Manandhar, and has been receiving guidance and inspiration from them. After his first exhibition, he joined Kasthamandap Art Studio run by well established artists in Kathmandu, where he learned fruits and vegetable carving.
"On September 3, artist Sajan Thapa Magar, gave a perfect example of vegetable and fruit art by creating stunning art pieces from them. His artworks amazed the visitors who got opportunity to witness his creations at the art exhibition Mukimono held at Gurkul, Puranobaneshwor, Kathmandu.”
- The Himalayan Times, September 7, 2011
Mukimono
Different Emotions
Click thumbnail to view full-sizeMukimono
Carving Pain
Click thumbnail to view full-size© 2011 Vinaya Ghimire
Comments
Happy Birthday Vinaya!!
This is amazingly beautiful and so very creative!
I have seen this art so many times, but did not know so many details.
Wonderful pictures and video. Thanks for sharing this entertaining hub!
I loved your photos and I will add them to my Pinterest board on food decor
its cannot be expressed in words
Interesting video and cool art work. Nice to find you here.
Excellent HUB. Really cool topic and set up. I can tell you put in a lot of work.
Incredibly creative! I love this for its sheer originality. You have presented it so well here. I can see so many uses for these oddbeat veggie and fruit faces, from Halloween events and showers to birthdays. Voted way up and shared.
WOW! What an amazing article. This is incredible. I loved the video and the images. Great job! Thank you for sharing. (Voted Up) -Rose
Amazing carvings. I love this hub. Up and every button I can push.
Voted up and awesome. Incredible carvings. Enjoyed and passing this on.
Oh, this is just so creatively wonderful! Shared everywhere and all votes up!
Oh, wow, Vinaya, I love this hub. So creative and delightfully entertaining!!! I am glad I came to your profile page and saw this one highlighted, as I missed this one. The art made from fruit is stunning. I love your caption under the one with the cigarette in his mouth about him being a jerk! LOL
Your video is great, coupled with your awesome music choice.
I want to try this, as it would be so much fun to create out of fruit such as this. Love your new avatar/profile pic too . . . it's you : )
Voted up +++++ and sharing
God bless you,
Faith Reaper
This is amazingly wonderful! I love when art is made in an unexpected way. It does take talent and skill to do and the fun part is you can eat the fruit you cut away!
This is just remarkable! I love these ideas for carving fruits and vegetables. Terrific videos! This hub is so much fun. Voted up and completely across and will pin and share. Thank you Vinay!
I loved this Vinaya, we all need some smiles and laughter and you have brought it with this. Up and sharing.
I am off to try to carve some radishes--I thought I would start small! Happy Birthday Vinaya!
Happy Birthday!! I came back to hear this song.
Vinaya, this is one of your best hubs on fruit and vegetable carvings. I came back to revisit and to listen to this cool song. Love the pictures as well. Voting up & sharing.
I was not aware of any such Art Form. World is full of Creativity I guess. Very nice hub. Thanks.
Oh what fun and how very clever.
Vinaya ~ An unusual art form, which can be fun for all ages, if care is taken with the knife. I wonder if you could use a plastic knife for carving? I found a number of the sculptures scary and frightening. Blessings, Debby
I love the music on the background and this hub on vegetable and fruit carving is fantastic! Hope everything is well with you.
Awesome! This is a great creation of the artist. Thanks for sharing this. Great hub. Voted up and shared;-)
Hi Vinaya, this is one of my favorite hubs. It is so original. The lovers look very funny. Nice background music and good history on vegetable and fruit carving. Voted up!
Hi Vinaya,
A great visual treat. Lovely hub. Hats off to you for presenting Magar's artistic work beautifully. Cheers, Rema.
Brilliant Carvings - I just don't trust myself with knives. :)
WOW!! Enjoyed reading. A great artist. Voted up and shared.
One of your best creations.
Wow this is completely awesome!!!
the best fruit & vegetable carving I've ever seen! A good friend of mine is a cartener , just sent him your hub :)
Voted up & shared
Beautiful and comprehensive!! A write which I will share. Thanks for giving us such detailed history of vegetable carvings!
Excellent Hub with such creative ideas voted up!!!
Wow Vinaya I can see why you receive so many comments on this hub. What a neat topic! You offer factual information about the artist as well as explaining about each piece of art. What a creative use of fruits and vegetables. I vote up and sharing too.
What a fun and clever hub Vinaya and here's to so many more to come.
Eddy.
Great hub again! I remember i used to make one of those when i was kid but not best as these!
I really enjoyed learning about this art form. I have a friend who is a caterer. She makes beautiful designs for serving fruits and veggies.
I voted this Hub UP and will share
Vinaya, this was such a great hub on this art form. It must be fun to carve these creations from fruit. I have seen similar carvings from watermelons, but only as decorative bowls for serving. Fascinating!
Brilliant what an original and wonderful hub.
Eddy.
Brilliant what an original and wonderful hub.
Eddy.
This has my vote for most interesting hub this year for the Hubbies! I am going to share this with followers!
Voted up and awesome. Love this picture gallery. My top favorite is the owl. Thank you for sharing and passing this on.
These are some very delicious looking pieces of art. I don't know whether to look at them or eat them. Very unique article I truly appreciate it. Voted up, beautiful, awesome, and shared.
Wow Vinaya,
I came back to check out the video and am so glad I did. It's truly awesome and looked so professional. As always, you were very generous about giving credit to everyone else who participated in its creation.
Voted up across the board and am sharing.
I love looking at the ordinary objects of our daily lives and seeing how somebody can take them and create them into something so amazing. This was a spectacular piece written about a very fun topic! Thanks for sharing all of the cool pictures as well!
Wow, these are amazing! So much more interesting than our halloween pumpkins usually are. I’ll be trying a lot harder come October! Thanks for sharing this.
Impressive fruit and vegetable carvings!
a very unique hub Vinaya and an awesome one...keep it up...love the photos...
It was a great hub before. Now it is even better.
Vinaya,
This is one of my favorite hubs from you. The video rocks! It's really funny! You're a writer, an artist.. I see a lot of talent here.. keep up the good work:)
Vinaya, this is great. What software did you use to make the video, it looks really professional. I'm going to give this a go.
Your video is AMAZING! Love the music you selected!!!:)
This is amazing talent. I'm glad I came across this hub. So cool! Happy birthday, Vinaya. Many votes on this one!!!
I truly enjoyed the food carving history here, and all the imagery. It goes to show that talent can even be found in the food categories for creative artistic displays, awesome hub! voted up and definitely getting shared elsewhere.
Your selfless levels of sharing here using links of others besides yourself, is also very nice of you and kind to do. Thanks for being such a cool individual, and so selfless as well as a compassionate writer.
this is super cute..love this whole thing..this made me smile.
Beautiful Carvings! Loved it!!!
You made these carved vegetable faces? That's amazing!
These are amazing. Hilarious and cute, even if they are scary!
These carvings are amazing! It must have been so much fun to see all of them in person and to be able to take these photos. Thanks for the smiles this afternoon!
I love these-- I am a fan of this sort of thing anyway, and these are some of the best I have ever seen-- what a talented guy this is.
Oh s awesome! Could never think people can be this creative!
This is awesome
What a great fun hub! I love the owl, and the rabbit! lol! what a fantastic artist, wonderful, nell
This is a great hub! I really enjoyed looking at this fruit art. Great artist! Beautiful pics voted up and shared!
Vinaya, this is absolutely brilliant. I must share and pimp it all over... :)
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