Major Burmese Art Exhibition Opens in Chiang Mai

By The Irrawaddy

July 11, 2007—More than 100 paintings and sculptures by 36 Burmese artists are on show at an exhibition that opened on Tuesday in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.

The exhibition, the largest of its kind ever seen in northern Thailand, was mounted at Chiang Mai University’s art museum in a collaboration between the university’s fine arts faculty and the city’s Suvannabhumi art gallery, the only venue in the city devoted to Burmese contemporary art. It runs until July 30.

More than 300 artists, collectors, students, journalists and art enthusiasts attended the opening, drawn by the opportunity to view the full range of contemporary Burmese artistic endeavor, represented by such leading artists as Khin Maung Yin, Win Pe Myint, Kyee Myint Saw, Min Wae Aung and pioneering sculptor Sonny Nyein. Prices range from US $300 to $17,000.

The exhibition was officially opened by Associate Professor M L Surasavati Suksavasti, the dean of Chiang Mai University’s faculty of fine arts. He told The Irrawaddy he was impressed by the high quality of the Burmese work and viewed the exhibition as “a place for the Burmese artistic community to survive under the tight control of the government's censorship."

The opening ceremony included a brief lecture by the Burmese art critic Ma Thanegi on the history of Burmese contemporary art.

Mar Mar, owner of the Suvannabhumi Art Gallery, said the exhibition was a “dream come true. We Burmese can be happy and proud of our art.”

Thai artist Sutthirat Supaparinya said she was impressed by the range of work on show, particularly by the surrealism of Myat Kyawt and San Minn. Myat Kyawt’s paintings in the exhibition feature people flying above modern Rangoon cityscapes—“I don't know exactly what the meaning is,” said Sutthirat. “But I feel that the people want to have freedom."