A network of contacts keeps the Suvannabhumi gallery well stocked and passes on paints, paper, canvases and other artists’ materials difficult to find in
Burma.
In 10 years of collecting, Mar Mar has “discovered” several young artists and helped put them on a successful career path. When she first bought the work of Myat Kyawt and Zaw Win Pe, their paintings were fetching 30,000 kyat (less than US $30); today they sell for $3,000-5,000 on the international art market.
Two of her most successful artists, Pe Nyunt Way and Win Pe Myint, sell to collectors and galleries in the US and Europe and regularly exhibit overseas. Others, such as Kyee Myintt Saw, have won major international awards.
A young lecturer at Rangoon’s University of Culture, Moe Nyo, is among the most promising of Mar Mar’s prot?g?s. Moe Nyo, 29, has participated in 20 group exhibitions since 1997 and mounted his first solo show in 2003. “He’s sure to succeed,” says Mar Mar.
Her enthusiasm embraces established artists and newcomers alike, and her continued sponsorship of less successful artists keeps them working, hoping to hit the big time one day. One of her favorite artists, 69-year-old Kin Maung Yin, is handicapped and has to work on the floor of his modest studio.
The goodwill she has built up within the Burmese artistic community has paid dividends, personally and professionally. “They talk there of a three-tiered price structure,” said a friend. “The highest price is charged for work bought by foreigners, less is demanded from Burmese purchasers—while Mar Mar is charged least of all.”
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