It should surprise nobody who’s been paying attention to Myanmar that the country’s art scene is, like seemingly everything else, booming. The country is undergoing dramatic changes in politics, economy, culture, and it’s openness to the world, and this is clearly reflected in the arts. It was only a matter of time before Myanmar got its own art festival, and that time is now. Following the success of last year’s event, the Yangon Gallery has decided to make the Monsoon Art Festival a permanent annual event.
The festival just opened on the 28th of August and will run through October 28th. The second installment of the fest will will feature ten rotating exhibitions, including photography, music and dance, painting, fashion, film screenings, and panel discussions. The Monsoon Art Festival is a great opportunity for both locals and those new to Myanmar to immerse themselves in the country’s dynamic and exciting arts scene.
The festival begins with a show from artist Pe Nyunt Way entitled “Shwedagon”. The exhibition will feature 20 paintings all showing different perspectives of Myanmar’s most famous religious landmark. One painting portrays the renowned pagoda as a small golden speck in the distance, over an endless sprawl of dark urban rooftops. Others take the viewer inside to Buddha images and praying monks in neat rows. Still others show a medium angle: Shwedagon seen at night though a bedroom window, or from above over the city’s traffic. Taken together, the exhibit shows the importance of religion to the artist and his country, as well as the omnipresence of the pagoda in Yangon life. “Shwedagon” runs through September 1st.
A particularly exciting exhibition will run from September 5th to 9th. “Yangon Circle Project” will feature photographs of the Yangon Circle Line train, which carries locals around the city in an endless loop. For tourists, there may be no better way to see local life – in any city, anywhere else – than the Circle Line. With Yangon modernizing at breakneck speed, the train’s days may be numbered, and that’s the impetus for this photographic documentary project.
Led by photographer Kyaw Kyaw Win and featuring a special guest artist from Japan, “Yangon Circle Project” will show the work of 15 emerging artists. Each participant has turned their lens on the iconic train line to offer their own unique perspective. The show will also have a panel presentation.
The rest of September will see a showcasing of the fashion designs of Mogok Pauk Pauk, a discussion held by women artists about their careers and their place in the country’s art scene, screenings of old Myanmar films, and a group exhibition of the works of visiting artists from Mandalay.
October kicks off with Mandalay Thein Zaw giving a traditional dance performance. This will be followed by a solo painting exhibition by artist Zay Yar Aye entitled “Scent of Myanmar”, a second group photo show called “Streets of Myanmar, and a displaying of vintage manuscripts of classic works of Myanmar literature and poetry.
All of the events and exhibitions of the 2015 Monsoon Art Festival are free and open to the public. Many of the artists will donate all or a portion of earnings from the sale of their work to help the victims of the recent devastating flooding in Myanmar, and donations will be accepted as well. The festival is sponsored by AYA Bank.
Myanmar has always had the unique mix of factors that make for great art: a proud but sometimes tragic past, hundreds of unique tribes and cultural histories, a richness of traditional art, music, and dance, and a countryside that is much too beautiful for mere words to describe. With the country now quickly opening up and modernizing, that rich tradition of art is being passed on to a new generation of artists. They will surely respect the past, but as artists always do, they will also mold their work to their own perception of the changing world around them. This new arts festival will give both locals and outsiders an opportunity to meet these artists, and share in their experience.
08 August 2015
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