"A lot of people see figurines as just toys for kids or something for immature adults," says organiser Tawat Puncharoenluck.

The festival of figurines: 26 days of peace, love and understanding how to make buttons look like eyes

If bookworms and even those people who worship T-shirts can have their own Woodstocks, why shouldn't collectors of figurines mass together?

Yes, it's the Underground Figure Festival 2, at the ArtGorillas gallery from December 14 to January 9.

"A lot of people see figurines as just toys for kids or something for immature adults," says organiser Tawat Puncharoenluck, who's actually a quite mature architect.

Collecting and building figurines is, of course, a serious hobby, and Tawat's even made celebrity figurines his second job. This year he'll be showing off his work in progress, a model car he calls "Brokustom".

Tawat says his festival is unique because individual makers, including rookies, can show off their hand-made creations. Most such gatherings are for corporate manufacturers and distributors, and "independents" are shunned.

"People will spend weeks or months making a figurine and rarely get to show it to the public," says Tawat. Last year a Silpakorn University gallery gave 48 artisans just four hours to display their work.

That was the inaugural Underground Figure Festival.

This year the craftsmen have nearly a month. Tawat has invited 26 of them, including cartoonist Songsin Tiewsomboon from A Day publishing, to show and sell their work, and anyone else can bring their stuff too.

The "clubhouse" for local figurine fans is in cyberspace, so the festival affords a rare chance to compare creativity and swap ideas in person.

They build their figures using various techniques and materials, such as metal, resin and cloth stuffed with cotton. It can take anywhere from five minutes to many months, depending on the desired level of detail.

Some modify store-bought dolls - Barbie might be decapitated, for example, if there's another head that fits the concept better - and fit them out in home-made costumes.

XTRA

Don't call them dolls!

The festival is at ArtGorillas ArtGallery on the second floor of the Lido Multiplex. It'll be free to browse, but if you're planning to buy, expect to pay at least Bt1,000 for a model - these are very limited editions.

If you'd like to enter a figurine, send a photo of it to brokuu@gmail.com by this Saturday.