On a fleeting visit to the renovated office of my company, I was enthralled by the art prints on the statement wall of the waiting space which is neither typography nor paintings but the large babana tree leaves, stark contrast to the light grey background.
The depiction of banana leaf was nothing new in interior design. Dating back to the 1940s, it might first appear in Don Loper’s Martinique Banana Leaf  wallpaper designed exclusively for Beverly Hills Hotel. The wallpaper is widely recognized as one of the most iconic wallpapers of all time, used in hotels worldwide, and by interior designers still to this day.

In a broader sense, the depiction of banana leaf is just one of many ways to create the tropical theme, together with the pink flamingos, the birds of paradise and the tropical fruits. They were too all-encompassing in interiors of late, uphostered on many items from the window dressings to the chair pillows. 
Our love for all things vintage has resulted in the resurgence of these prints, made it the key trend in 2012 onwards.
I simply think that the CEO, with her boldness, never thought it was reckless to add a tropical wallpaper print to the interiors.



Indeed, what fascinated me was not the prints itself but the radical implication behind. I have heard that the tropical prints was so blended in the notion of “escapism” because they evoke the exotic feeling in western culture back then in the midst of nineteen century. 
However, in the countries of tropical climate like Vietnam, such image is so ubiquitous. Now it is really intriguing when tracing this banana leaf back to its origin:
The banana leaf in tropical forests of Asian countries 

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The artists depict this image in their patterns to create “exotic” feeling in Western culture in 1940s.

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In 2012, when “vintage” and “retro” became trendy, these images once again became popular in design (And at the same time, the love for all things Ancient Asian of the American)

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This trend was spreaded all over the world due to Americanisation and Globalisation.

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Now it appears in my company - a foreign-owned one right in the city of a tropical area.

See? Now in this country, the prints is no longer “exotic”, it is local. At the same time, I see escapism of the urban mindset, heading back into the wild; and a reversed taste of Western right in this tropical climate country.

Nhật Tuân | 16.12.2017