INTERVIEW | 2024.11.08
Bringing Asian Creators to the World
– The Journey of an Artist with a Curatorial Career
Estrella Montien
Aligned with the contest’s mission to promote card art and culture globally and support artists, the Tokyo Tarot Museum became a sponsor and joined as a jury member.
We interviewed Estrella Montien, the CEC’s founders and an artist herself.
Introduction
── Please introduce yourself.
Hello everyone! I am Estrella (Dr. Raveedaon Montien), the founder of 「Bydala Divinations」, an artisan tarot studio based in Bangkok. I’m also the co-founder of the Cartomancy Exhibition Challenge, an international competition for cartomancy design.
1.About CEC (Cartomancy Exhibition Challenge)
── What activities does CEC engage in?
CEC started with the support of Bydala Divinations, my studio, inspired by Vo Duy Khanh, who won the CARTA award in 2022 from the International Tarot Foundation in the UK.
Rather than just an award event, CEC aims to nurture and support a community of tarot artists, particularly encouraging artists from Vietnam and other ASEAN countries to engage on the global stage.
── How was last year’s event in Vietnam?
The event spanned two days. On the first day, seven finalists introduced their works in a friendly, open atmosphere, discussing their creative processes and answering questions from judges. The second day featured ten-minute presentations by each finalist, after which the winners in various categories were selected.
In the end, Nguyen Hoang Nhat Minh, a 21-year-old art student, won the Grand Prize for her work THINK Oracle, an exquisitely hand-drawn piece exploring resilience and recovery through hardship.
──Minh, a student at Hanoi’s Vietnam University of Fine Arts, shared that THINK Oracle was her way of following her heart and expressing what she truly wanted to convey. Participating in the CEC contributed greatly to her personal growth, and she treasures the friendships and mentorships she gained.
──You mentioned continued support for award winners even after the contest.
Indeed, CEC doesn’t end with the contest. Winners receive opportunities to travel to the Gypsy Fair, Thailand’s largest divination cards event, in Bangkok, with their airfare, accommodations, an exhibition booth, and fan meeting all provided. We also assist them with Kickstarter campaigns to garner international support.
Our support continues as they embark on new journeys—that’s what the CEC is all about.
── The contest is open by public submission; can participants apply from Japan?
Currently, CEC is country-specific, so unfortunately, participation is limited to the host country. However, our ultimate goal is to create a global CEC, allowing artists from all countries to participate.
It would be wonderful to host a CEC Japan event in collaboration with the Tokyo Tarot Museum someday.
── Could you share upcoming plans for the CEC?
The next CEC will take place in the Philippines, with the final event slated for May 25, 2025, aligning with International Tarot Day.
2.About Yourself
── While you are currently focused on CEC, could you share about your past work and career background?
I come from the art and museum world. Over the past decade, I’ve worked as a museum consultant, helping both government and private individuals set up their museums.
In the past, I also owned a design studio, collaborating with my brother Oat Montien and other talented artists to produce music covers, packaging designs, and more.
── When did you first encounter tarot?
In 2008, after returning to Thailand from studying in the Netherlands, I worked at a small design studio with my brother, mainly creating CD covers for Universal Music Thailand.
One day, a cafe owner near our home asked me to design a tarot deck. I was to handle the design, while another fortune teller would write the guidebook. I had no knowledge of tarot then, but my brother, who had always been deeply interested in astrology and tarot, encouraged me to take on the project. We began working together, with my brother—who studied illustration at Central Saint Martins—doing the illustrations while I handled art direction.
Though the deck was never published due to the unfinished guidebook, I now look back and feel that this was fate.
── What led you to enter the world of divination cards more formally?
The COVID-19 pandemic happened, which meant I was staying home much more instead of traveling. It felt like the perfect time to rekindle my passion for running a design studio. I began working on my own project, “The Gatsby Love and Wisdom Oracles,” curating beautiful illustrations from the 1920s to create an oracle deck. The 1920s was such an interesting era for women, and I wanted to capture that.
── Your work as a museum consultant and oracle card creator seem quite different.
In fact, the essential skill of both work is pretty much the same. Museum planning and creating exhibitions are all about curating storytelling and experience. Designing card decks, though on a smaller scale, involves the pretty much skill I use in museum work which mainly are storytelling, interpretation, styling, and aesthetics. But what more interesting in cartomancy work is that I can unleash my creativities, fantasies, and surrealistic much more. This is incredibly fun and refreshing after 15 years in museum.
The prospect of tarot world is not only just about fortune telling but arts and creativities.
3.Future Plans
── Could you tell us about your future plans and projects?
As an independent creator, I love to bridge the cartomancy and museum world together.
Museum for well-being is super trendy right now and will be in the next 5-8 years. Using the gamification skills I’ve learned from creating cartomancy cards, I want to design more card decks from museum collections for well-being programs and also teaching people self-soothing skills using cards to enhance their emotional well-being. The prospect of healing in using tarot is what I am interested in so I will dive deep into that path.
As the president of CEC, I am excited to bring more Asian talents into the world of tarot.
Tokyo Tarot Museum Special Exhibition
“The Fusion of Spirit and Art in Asian Tarot”
November 1–30, 2024
The exhibition features award-winning works from the CEC and diverse creations from Asia.
For more details, please visit our EVENT / EXHIBITION page.
PROFILE
- Estrella Montien (Raveedaon Estrella Montien, Ph.D)
• Artist, Art Curator, Museum Consultant
• Founder of Bydala Divinations
• Co-Founder of Cartomancy Exhibition Challenge