Burma: The Quiet Violence - Political Paintings by Myint Swe

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Text by Shireen Naziree

Burma:The Quiet Violence

Political Paintings by Myint Swe


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98 BURMA: THE QUIET VIOLENCE


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Burma:The Quiet ViolencePolitical Paintings by Myint Swe

Text by Shireen Naziree


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Published 2009 by

Thavibu Gallery Co., LtdSilom Galleria, Suite 308

919/1 Silom Road, Bangkok 10500, Thailand

Tel. 66 (0)2 266 5454, Fax. 66 (0)2 266 5455

Email. [email protected], www.thavibu.com

Language Editor, James Pruess

Layout by Wanee Tipchindachaikul, Copydesk, Thailand

Copyright Thavibu GalleryAll rights reserved. No part o this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any orm or

by any means, electronic or mechanical, without prior permission in writing rom the publisher.


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Foreword 6

Burma: The Quiet Violence - Introduction 7

The Quiet Violence 9

My Outlook and Attitudes Towards Art and Lie by Myint Swe 18

PLATES: Paintings o Daw Aung San Suu Kyi 19

PLATES: Other Paintings 41

Myint Swes Biography 98

CONTENTS


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FOREWORDJrn MiddelborgThavibu Gallery

Thavibu Gallery is pleased to present the collection o political paintings, Burma: The Quiet Violence, by Myint

Swe. The collection eatures 38 paintings that reect the artists concerns about the detention o Daw Aung San

Suu Kyi and the discouraging socio-political environment in Burma. The paintings were executed in Rangoon

between 1997 and 2005 and secretly transported to Bangkok where they have been stored or some years.

However, due to the worsening situation in Burma, it has become necessary to remind a wider audience o

the atrocities o the military junta. And while the paintings o artists such as Myint Swe will not change the

political climate o Burma, we applaud his courage as he and other artists risk their lives and the uture o their

amilies by commenting on their countrys grave and tragic state.

Like many Burmese, Myint Swe is a committed Buddhist who lives by the principles o his aith. He abhors

corruption and deceit: The establishment regards me as a ool as according to the Burmese proverb: You are

our enemy because you do not agree to do according to our wishes.

I wish to express my sincere thanks to Shireen Naziree or writing this catalogue. She is an art historian andindependent curator with particular interest in Burmese contemporary art. Thanks also to Kt Twint Lwin Tuu

who has contributed various papers on Myint Swe. Burma: The Quiet Violence is dedicated to the memory o

Mr James, the late Australian- Burmese riend and mentor o Myint Swe.



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BURMA: The Quiet ViolenceShireen Naziree

INTRODUCTION

In Burma, the beginnings o painting in the Western tradition may be traced back to the late nineteenth

century when new styles, techniques and materials were introduced as a result o the inuences o British

colonial rule that brought about a greater access to and interest in Western artistic trends and cultural values.

Consequently, these trends quietly permeated the existing traditional Burmese painting practices o the period.

By then traditional temple wall paintings, executed with natural pigments and exclusively related to religious themes

that paid homage to the Lord Buddha, started reecting these new Western styles. The result was a diversity that

displayed new techniques and pictorial idioms that included secular environments associated with Buddhism. Artisans

were inusing new interests into the already rich and vibrant artistic practices that existed in earlier royal empires, which

had developed advanced artistic expressions in parallel to the rise o their political power rom as early as the second

century BC. While architecture, sculpture and painting had existed rom times immemorial, it was the depictions o

the Jatakas or the ables surrounding the Buddhas lie journey that became the pantheon that distinguished the

iconographic rules. The rich aesthetic that developed over the centuries since Buddhism was introduced into Burma

rom India in the sixth century enhanced the transcendental religious practices o Buddhism and was exclusively

consecrated or the beneft o the aithul as a means o expressing gratitude and piety to the Buddha.

Although the religious and philosophical ideas in the service o which the artistic tradition o Burma ourished are

not enough to go by in understanding the temperament o modern Burmese art, these ideas continue to remain

the background o Burmese symbolism. Equally signifcant are the artworks themselves, the results o the technical

skill o generations o unnamed artists, who oten worked in guilds under the guidance o court-appointed master

artists who brought their individual sensibilities to bear on their work. It is this essential humanism, persisting invarious artistic orms rom the long centuries o the past up to the present, which Burmese artists continue

to regard as a vital element or their art.

This new visual analysis o Burmese painting practices also led to a new way o perception that was available

only to artists who were either associated with the royal court or the British administration. Many young Burmese

interested in learning the Western type o rendering and drawing in perspectives continued to ollow the age-

old practice o apprenticing themselves in the studios o noted artists. The practice continued to evolve over the

decades and has since become an important tradition in the history o modern Burmese painting.

BURMA: THE QUIET VIOLENCE 7


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Until the early twentieth century, the concept o fne art as distinct rom the other arts did not exist in the

minds o the makers o the earlier painting traditions. Modern Burmese painting had by now come into its own

and ound its intellectual place alongside other cultural discourses that distinguished Burma as the most cultivated

nation in Southeast Asia. Inuential movements and artist groups suraced in both Rangoon and Mandalay, catering

largely to the auent and intellectual middle classes. However, despite the thriving capitalism o the time that

created an interest in international art orms, traces o traditional aesthetics and attitudes continued to persist.

Today, while many artists o the modern era are content to ollow Western examples and try to create their own

individual approaches, they usually continue the tradition o studying under a master painter. It is still understood

that no matter how much a culture adopts certain technologies and liestyles, nevertheless deep cultural structures

remain as guiding orces in creating orms or in relating to the world. This understanding is not advocacy or a return

to the past but rather emphasizes a orm o cultural analysis in order to rediscover certain traditional sensibilities

or use in creating new artistic orms that will be meaningul.

Today, much o the evolution o Burmas contemporary painting tradition attests to the enduring spirit o many

individual artists talents. Although many o them may be downtrodden, yet they remain vigilant, exuberant

and undefled by all the difculties inicted on postcolonial Burma, in particular the oppression o more than orty

years o military rule.

Myint Swe is one such artist, or whom the suering that has arisen rom Burmas questionable political

environment has created the determination to address issues o humanity and dignity. Born in 1956 in Taungoke,

a small town in Burmas western Rakhine State, Myint Swe describes this locale as having an historical and culturalidentity that dates back to the second century, parallel only to the Pyu dynasty o the same era. The artist recalls

an untouched land, separated rom the rest o Burma by the long Yoma mountain range as well as the Irrawaddy

River, where Rakhinese achieved an intimacy with nature as armers and fshermen. However, Burmas military

dictatorship saw ft to triumph over nature in the name o progress when the region was opened up primarily

by road across the mountains and bridges across the Irrawaddy River.

Paradoxically, the improvements in transportation and communications brought about an unwelcome intrusion

by the military as amilies were indiscriminately stripped o their land and crops, pressured into orced labour and

becoming increasingly poorer.

Very much an individualist and socialist at heart, Myint Swe espouses many humanitarian causes particularly

because o his unswerving belies about lie, art and the rights o man. Despite working as a civil servant or a number

o years, Myint Swe was and remains frst o all an artist. Painting has always been his passion; all other media in

which he has worked have primarily been means to make a living.

When he decided to become a ull-time artist in the early 1990s, he realized that acceptance by the larger artistic

community required him to master or at least acknowledge earlier traditional models. Thus, as in the age-oldtradition o apprenticeship, to improve his artistic skills and learn frsthand the techniques o painting rom master



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artists who had the opportunity to study in Europe, he studied under several o Burmas most important senior

artists. Myint Swe believed that through painting he could achieve the power o utterance. The integration o art

and his social conscience would be the key to unlocking the door to his path in lie.

Myint Swe was coming into his own, while the political situation in Burma was deteriorating and the social and

economic rit between the military elite and the general population was growing dramatically.

Raised in the precarious situation o genteel poverty, he became extremely sympathetic to the less ortunate and

was especially devastated to realize the degradation o his ellow Rakhinese who were orced to move to the

urban environment o Rangoon. His deep understanding o Buddhist ethics was translated politically into socialism,

resulting in a undamental socialist philosophy to which he has adhered or most o his artistic career. As a result,

his creativity has evolved in the context o the current Burmese social environment with a need to address issues

o humanity and dignity, identity and equality. Myint Swe is understood to have digested the suering arising rom

a state o questionable governance that has seen his nation become increasingly isolated rom the rest o the world.

THE QUIET VIOLENCE

In the connection between politics and art, we generally assume that i the nature o politics changes, then arts

identity and narrative regarding the political also changes. In addition, where the content o radical discourse is

oten little more than an ascetic condemnation o contemporary industrial society, cultural practitioners questionthe cultural value o their particular discipline and how they may contribute to the political moment through

their art. At the same time, political activity is ever more ocused on new orms o organization, intervention and

communication that turn political activity into an increasingly cultural orm o spectacle.

While these critiques o ree association are purposeul and are situated in a time that is simultaneously present,

recently past and historical, generally applying to the vast majority o the global arena, Burmas modern art

practices remain grounded atmospherically in earlier, more romantic moments and oten in specifcally confgured

cultural spaces. Artists whose works ask questions o the nature o nationhood and are simulations o politics

and democracy, practice in a rightening state o siege; or Burmas defning temperament is hormonal -- perched

between the palpable loss o its past and an almost impossible understanding o its present, with the military

juntas heavy-handed political agenda that has resulted in a sadly impoverished social environment.

With the capital Rangoon as its most visible platorm and given the depth o its past cultural and economic history,

one is conronted by the countrys nakedness that orients itsel towards an environment that is void o any economic

or political instrumentality. What it succeeds in showing is an oppositional state o isolation, absence, discomort

and loss o identity. Most countries gained a new status when colonial dependencies were redefned as points

o cultural transmission and reraction due to the act that colonialism shadowed the most desired o dreams.In 1948 when it gained independence, Burma had already lost much o its prosperity as it had been severely



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impoverished by the destructive Japanese occupation during the Second World War. Ironically, the fght against

British imperialism was replaced by the new imperialism o an authoritarian policy that adopted an ideology posing

every conceivable threat to any democratic system used to basic human rights.

It is the hope o Burmas pro-democracy movements and the international community that new beginnings are

born in the not too distant uture, paving opportunities or an open political dynamic that would hopeully take

the beleaguered country out o its current repressive state. However, the military junta remains intent on holding

supreme power despite the universal outrage at its questionable human rights record, in particular the detention o

Aung San Suu Kyi the uniting icon o a ragmented opposition movement.

Despite continuous condemnation, the military junta remains resilient. When General Ne Win came to power

in 1962, he nationalized the economy, expelled thousands o ethnic Indians and by restricting oreign trade and

tourism isolated the country rom the outside world. Although he stepped down in 1988, he continued to wield

power through a succession o generals until General Than Shwe came to power in 2002 as a result o infghtingwithin the military regime. Today, ater orty-seven years in power and with a new capital in Naypidaw, built

in secret with Chinese expertise, it appears that the generals are very comortable with their state o isolation,

which highlights their indierence to the suerings o the people.

Co-operation by Burmas closest allies and trading partners, China and India, has emboldened the junta to

accumulate continuous and unimpeded power. Although both China and India share centuries-old cross-cultural

bonds with Burma, today the dominance o Chinas presence is omnipresent and expanding. Even scrutiny

by the Association o Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has done very little to stir the junta, let alone that by theUnited Nations. The decision by ASEAN to admit Burma into the association in 1997 was part o a broader plan

o expanding its territorial strength, primarily to promote economic co-operation amongst member states or the

realization o a ree trade area by 2015 that would also include China. India is scheduled to sign a similar pact

with ASEAN in October 2009, urther strengthening its ongoing border trade with Burma.

Despite the policy o nonintererence in the internal aairs o member states, the indiscriminate detention o

Burmas citizens (in particular, Aung San Suu Kyi) has prompted ASEAN to voice concern the most explicit

statements coming rom Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in 2003. Although there have been

sporadic threats o expulsion rom ASEAN, such an event is quite unlikely. While reugees have been pouring out

o Burma or a long time, ASEAN has remained indierent to the rights o these displaced people; it is known that

reugees have been inhumanely turned away rom the borders o Thailand and Malaysia.

The military junta remains unazed by any international threats. By releasing a ew political prisoners rom time

to time when international concerns mount, they use these detainees as pawns in the same manner that North

Korea uses its nuclear arsenal. However, unlike North Korea, the junta is not overtly dependent on international

assistance or ood and other aid. Their slow response and reluctance to accept any orm o assistance rom

the international community during any kind o emergency, such as in the atermath o Cyclone Nargis inMay 2008, reects the negative attitude the junta has towards its own people.



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ASEAN aces constant pressure to adopt a stronger voice towards Burma, but it is obviously not in the economic

interests o member states to adopt such measures. For example, the porous border o 2,400 kilometers between

Thailand and Burma is inhabited by common ethnic groups and the two countries share long-lasting historical

bonds. Trading activities along the border include a thriving black market, particularly in the lucrative gem trade,

drugs and human trafcking.

The booming economic growth o recent years in Southeast Asia has led to an increase in the trafcking o workers

rom Burma into Thailand and Malaysia. Currently, about 200,000 ethnic Rohinyas rom Rakhine State are languishing

in reugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh and working illegally in Thailand and Malaysia. The junta reuses to

acknowledge the Rohinyas as citizens o Burma, partly because o their Islamic aith and their South Asian roots.

Those who remain in Burma are subjected to some o the worst orms o apartheid, including the denial o Burmese

citizenship and restrictions on intermarriage with members o other groups and on movement within the country.

Bilateral trade between Burma and Singapore in 2008 amounted to US$2 billion. Singapore is also Burmas next

largest ASEAN trading partner ater Thailand. Human Rights Watch has cited investments in Burmas lucrative oil

and gas industry by companies rom Australia, China, India, France, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand,

the United States, Russia and the British Virgin Islands. Natural gas accounts or almost hal o Burmas exports.

The countrys export o gemstones, especially jade, to China and Southeast Asia remains very lucrative and has

prompted the United States to initiate sanctions on the import o Burmese gemstones.

Internally, calls or reconciliatory dialogue by the opposition National League or Democracy over the past ew years

have been ignored by the military junta, which has promised a general election in 2010 as part o the road map to

democracy. However, the junta leader, 76-year- old General Than Shwe, appears to have no intention o altering

the current political landscape, let alone allow or any democratic political transition. The deteriorating health o

the aging Aung San Suu Kyi is not encouraging either, while the juntas proposed new laws will bar her rom any

role in governance. These actors are aggravated by the juntas discomort with the mounting discontent and the

growing earlessness by ordinary citizens. In a recent interview, the Burma scholar and historian, Thant Myint-U,

is quoted as saying, The next year or so will be the most important. There is change within the armed orces

leadership. Critics say the new constitution and the elections planned or 2010 will not be democratic. But they

will represent at the very least a massive shake-up o the existing structures o the government.

The unprecedented move by the junta to allow international humanitarian aid or the victims o Cyclone Nargis

and the establishment o an ASEAN operational centre in Rangoon has the potential to bring about improvements

in at least that area o human rights. It is hoped that the proposed ASEAN Charter on Human Rights to be launched

by the end o 2009 will allow the organization to review its nonintererence policy in order to check human rights

abuses perpetrated by states on their citizens. At a recent symposium in Kuala Lumpur organized by the Malaysian

National Council o Women, Malaysias oreign minister Rais Yatim reiterated the importance or all ASEAN

members o continuing to pressure Burma to acknowledge human rights.



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What role can art play in these defning moments? Art and politics share the same medium o gesture, which in

an expanded sense encompasses the same physical maniestations through which people seek to conront each

other and to evoke desired responses, whether through the display o imagery or other orms o artistic expression.

Consequently, criticism helps to boost liberal attitudes and the overall view o society then becomes more inclusive.

Although the notion o political connectedness with art is not new in contemporary society, in Burma reedom

o expression is regarded as a orm o resistance.

Perormance art provides examples o the social unction o gesture. In Mandalay, the parodies by the Moustache

Brothers are dedicated to the reigning political pathos. In Rangoon, perormance art, mostly perormed in clandestine

locations, has become a popular medium o investigation into the social power o artistic gesture. A raw and

passionate anti-establishment sentiment has ignited civic and cultural activism as a select group o artists bravely

takes advantage o every available opportunity and the temporary nature o the expressionism o perormance art.

Censorship o the arts in Burma is exceptionally rigid though it has not completely disabled the potential orsocially explicit expression. Nevertheless, politically charged paintings are only ound in alternate venues, generally

outside Burma.

Myint Swes intimate works deal with the numerous social ills and the overarching devastation that lies beneath the

veneer o traditional archetypes. I am numbing mysel by not acknowledging that a signifcant part o my peoples

collective sel has died. I want to posit the misery and acknowledge what is happening in Burma and although my

works point to obvious issues, I also try to reach to the spiritual, to the infnitude o hope that is always available

in my creative core. My work is an attempt to portray the dimensions o the realities o our socio-political identity.

By exploring the currency o categories such as still lie, portraiture and landscape, each o Myint Swes paintings

is laden with symbolic baggage that exposes the quiet violence in the political ethos that has emerged and

the defance directed against the political choreography imposed by the military junta.

Within these territories o confnement the detention o Aung San Suu Kyi has become an axis that illuminates

the ideological strength o the democracy movement. The painting Waiting or the Last Station (p. 21), with its

treatment o broken brushstrokes, is an example o this disparate situation. It also reects the relationship between

Aung San Suu Kyi and the yearning or the end o an era o containment. The translucency that permeates the

painting becomes in itsel a meditative exercise.

The language o art with its vast and subtle vocabulary and complex syntax can give an insightul expression to

nuanced emotions. The Lotus Beauty (p. 23) is an example where Myint Swe plumbs the depths o his Buddhist

understandings or communication; or the lotus ower is symbolically a ower associated with worship, endurance

and beauty. Similarly, in The Enduring Water Hyacinth (p. 25), Myint Swe does not allow his creative instincts to evade

the ties to his Buddhist belies. The perception o Aung San Suu Kyis intellectual strength and endeavour has been

the inspiration or this and many o his other paintings, conveying messages under her highly noble motives.



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The Rose (1) (p. 27) is another classical idiom where the owers individuality and rhythm represent the truth

that imparts polish to human understanding. Myint Swe is unaraid o using classical idioms, a philosophy that

he believes is a torchbearer o the intellect and enlightenment o his Eastern values.

Although he trained under some o Burmas most inuential painters, Myint Swes technique, colour combinations

and sense o structure are all his own. He has spent years in giving them a maturity in individuality. In this respect,

he has risen above any pettiness and represents his art as his goal and responsibility, which he hopes will gain

him his place in eternity. Every movement by the army against Aung San Suu Kyi gives birth to a response. The

Rose (2) (p. 29) is a reection o her ability and strength in acing opposition; such strength has been the bearer

o revelation and courage. Here the interrelationship between the imagery and the reality highlights cultural values

that are buried deep within Oriental authenticity.

Welcome to Freedom (p. 39) represents Myint Swes prayer or Aung San Suu Kyis fnal release to reedom. In

this painting, he portrays her as a young, strong woman, as he believes that it is her representation o courageand strength that has become the beacon o hope or the Burmese people.

Myint Swes work is contemporary. He is careul not to express himsel personally using simple ormulas in regard

to Aung San Suu Kyi. Instead, he engages the viewer in his dialogue while he plays with philosophical questions

related to her experience. In Dead Lock(p. 33) he raises an awareness o her monumental commitment to her people

and in a manner creates a dialogue in reerence to her cause. The painting evokes both density and sotness with

a tightly knit mesh o tone and space. At the same time, there is a menacing tension in the scale o the fgure

representing Aung San Suu Kyi and the oversized padlock that represents the enormity o her situation.

Myint Swe believes that his art not only interprets his own creative abilities and aesthetic values, but hopes that

it gives birth to a new set o values and responses. He hopes that its silence gives eloquence to the intellect and

perception. In The Gate (p. 35) there are personal memories shrouded in emotion and nostalgia. Aung San Suu Kyis

now dilapidated home on Rangoons University Avenue has become a poignant landmark and symbol o democracy

connoting nostalgia or an earlier time when she would regularly deliver speeches rom a platorm erected near

this gate, undeniably a signifcant chapter in Burmas modern history.

The Lady is Going to Heaven (p. 31) shows a fgure going towards infnity. It represents Aung San Suu Kyi with a

unique admixture and blend o colours and hues that intuitively respond to an interpretation o the divine spirit

through the compositional element o light. Through these reerences, Myint Swe is reerring to the depth o his

Buddhist philosophy in which reverence in this world paves the way towards Nirvana.

In her 1990 landmark speech, Freedom rom Fear, Aung San Suu Kyi reerred to her ather: Bogyoke Aung San

regarded himsel as a revolutionary and searched tirelessly or answers to the problems that beset Burma during

her times o trial. He exhorted people to develop courage: Dont just depend on the courage and intrepidity o

others. Each and every one o you must make sacrifces to become a hero possessed o courage and intrepidity.Then only shall we all be able to enjoy true reedom. Later in her speech, she added: Fearlessness may be a git



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but perhaps more precious is the courage acquired through endeavour, courage that comes rom cultivating the

habit o reusing to let ear dictate ones actions. Myint Swe regards the role o an artist as that o an inheritor

o human values and is thus duty bound to lead in the right direction. His painting Freedom rom Fear (p. 37)

represents the useulness and importance o the creative image in keeping this vital mantra o hope alive. This is also

the title o her book.

The military junta came to power in 1988, the same year Aung San Suu Kyi returned to Burma to care or her

ailing mother, a trip that coincided with mass demonstrations against the government, leaving thousands dead

and one that would end her own reedom. In 1989, she became one o the ounding members o the National

League or Democracy. Like her late ather, Aung San, who played a crucial role in her countrys history; she has

become a symbol o reedom. Aung San was the enigmatic nationalist leader who irted with both communism

and ascism in his struggles to see Burma reed o British colonial rule. In 1947, months beore independence,

he was assassinated along with a number o other potential leaders o a new and ree Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi

was frst arrested in 1989 on charges o inciting unrest and barred rom running or elections called by the juntain 1990 when her party won 392 o the 495 parliamentary seats, a result that the junta reused to honour.

Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990.

Balancing Act: Myanmar vs. Burma (p. 43) is Myint Swes response to the use o both Myanmar and Burma as

the countrys name, or although much o the world has accepted Myanmar as the ofcial name o the country,

it is a much debated issue, as reedom and human rights groups continue to reer to the country as Burma.

The outlook or the Burmese economy remains bleak, despite the countrys arsenal o natural resources, including

rice and other crops, minerals, natural gas and timber. More than hal the population comprises subsistence-

level armers, mainly in the Delta region, and poverty amongst the urban population is dire. Internationally,

Burma is regarded as a high risk destination. The mass protests o 2007 reected the populations dissatisaction

with current hardships and the military juntas decision to increase uel prices. Myint Swe depicts this situation

resulting rom the juntas mismanagement in his painting Myanmar: a Volcano (p. 44), where the letter M has

become a volcano waiting to erupt.

Under British colonial rule, Burmas traditional social structure entirely collapsed and today Burma is one o

the poorest countries in Southeast Asia. With a growing population o 55 million and an estimate o about hal

living below the poverty line, Burma ranks 130 out o 177 in terms o quality o lie according to the UNDPs 2006

Human Development Index. The public sector expenditure on health and education is considered to be less than

US$1 per person per year. Forced confscation o land, violence, and deliberate discrimination against minority

groups are only a ew o the atrocities committed against citizens. This crisis has resulted in up to one million

internally displaced people and a constant ow o reugees across the border, mainly to Thailand.

In Pretty but Poor(p. 47) Myint Swe characterizes poverty through the somber expressions o three young girls who

poignantly convey a sense o hopelessness. Poverty is another example o Myint Swes defant art that conronts thegrave situation o children in Burma. Malnutrition has become a growing problem as both urban and rural amilies



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struggle to maintain their amilies. With a high inant mortality rate (104 per 1,000 live births or children under

fve) it is not unusual or amilies to give up children as young as three years old to monasteries. In rural areas,

it is not uncommon or children to drop out o school in order to care or younger siblings while both parents work.

Embarrassment(p. 59) is another painting related to issues involving children. Poverty(p. 49) has also led to children

being exposed to the destruction o moral and social values. While these are not pretty pictures, nevertheless they

are the voices o dissent. As poverty widens the gaps o morality, it is not surprising that AIDS has beset society.

The AIDS Threat(p. 89) shows the need to expose and redress the structural imbalances that have contributed to its

maniestation in the frst place.

With the situation worsening, children are oten orced into labour. The worst abuse involves children rom ethnic

minority groups who are regularly orced into the ranks o the army as well as recruited by ethnic minority insurgent

groups or the purpose o combat. In urban centres, children are employed as housemaids and manual workers.

Children are being trafcked out o Burma into commercial labour as well as or sexual exploitation. It is estimatedthat about 20,000 are working in Thailand as beggars, street vendors and sex workers. Working along this

trajectory, Myint Swe hopes that paintings such as Child Labour (p. 51) increase the awareness o the bleak uture

or young and impoverished Burmese children. A deeper conceptual engagement within these linkages is reected

in Forced Labour (p. 53), which shows us another level o human abuse whereby villagers are oten randomly and

orceully recruited to work on government construction sites.

Myint Swes paintings, dealing with social concerns, regularly employ an abstract language that reminds the viewer o

the concrete struggles o those who have no voice and are so oten ignored. In the middle o this political destruction

are the results that have degraded the humanity o all those caught in its grasp with or without their acknowledgement.

Thus he can only turn to a discreet language in order to move beyond the loss o identity. Modern City (p. 55)

captures the bitter eects o an isolated society evoking some sort o emotional connection with the persons place

in lie, whether that be corruption, prostitution or the promise o a better uture. The World Upside-Down (p. 57)

is no brighter in its message, as people disregard the laws o nature and put aside their Buddhist principles.

For Myint Swe, the personal has always been the political. Through his own personal history, he has explored

the world o poverty and struggle in tandem with the larger struggle or democracy. By blending the two, he

has developed imagery that has taken control o his representations. He has provided a vision o everyday reality.

Gun Barrel (p. 61) is a view into this psyche where observers can possibly eel the same emotional pain. However,

Myint Swe does not push ormal principles aside in avour o ideas. Vibrant colours are one o the key elements

in his work, including We are Thirsty or Democracy (p. 63). Yet there is more than meets the eye. Behind these

seemingly colourul exteriors lay sadness and uncertainty. While he remains committed to bearing witness to

the political and social costs o his situation, he is also shadowed by an anxiety about the loss o cultural values

which together with the loss o democracy has become a double threat. His painting Cultural Desertication

(p. 65) reects a recurring ear o isolation rom his signs that bear an ominous message.



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Somehow the more Myint Swe varies his work, the more unsettling it becomes. He sees his works as being crucial

or understanding the connection between cultural and ideological positions that the junta would preer to

be out o sight. Similarly, the subjects o his imagery are treated in a way that both conceals and reveals them.

In Development is a LIE (p. 67) the buildings are recognizable, yet the lettering and the fgures are abstract.

They are hidden and obscure, compelling the viewer to contemplate the deeper meaning o his imagery.

Like many, Myint Swe believes that the uture o democracy in Burma lies in afrmative action by the major

powers and at the United Nations. New York is a consciously conceived landscape painting that defnes the need

or productive dialogue between the military junta and democratic voices through the diplomacy o the United

Nations. Stalemate: NLD vs. SPDC (p. 71) is another visual statement that recognizes the utility o the current

situation where the junta reuses to have any dialogue with opposition parties. Might and Right (p. 73) represents

a more philosophical view. Asian legends are ull o imagery on the might o tigers and the wisdom o the tortoise.

In Confagration (p. 75) Myint Swe shows how art can be critical o politics as it orients itsel to comment uponthe juntas mainstream propaganda, which defnes Burmas current socio-political environment. 1988 (p. 77)

represents the backdrop o the fght or democracy. The title aptly describes the historical moment o the uprising,

which started with peaceul demonstrations at the University o Rangoon. University Campus (p. 83) reects

the deep sentimental attachment the artist has with both cultural and political activism. The demonstrations

led to the arrest o many young students and the random imprisonment o political activists, or many o whom

the appalling prison conditions are a psychological death sentence in itsel. There is something revealing and

tortuous about Death Row at Insein Prison (p. 85), as the painting challenges the subconscious in its reection

o the ear o solitary confnement.

As a spectator, Myint Swe absorbs the dynamics o his volatile world. While his conceptual ramework has

consistently been in one way or another a response to the social and the political, his choice o style or a painting

also plays a part in dictating its content. Gunre (p. 79) is an example o how he reuses to be contained within

the parameters o one style o painting, reeing himsel to innovate and fnd new confgurations o expression.

In contrast, he employed the colours and techniques o impressionism in the still lie Flowers or a Hero (p. 81).

Here he aptly shapes an identity or the actual shooting o an unknown person, an image that still resonates today.

At times Myint Swe can be coyly ippant because in Burma cultural practitioners oten use satire to disguise theirmessages. Three Secretaries (p. 87) is an unconventional expression whereby he attempts to create an image in the

viewers mind by the use o text and a non-image approach. The paradox lies in trying to create an image by the lack

o it in the same manner as the clandestine generals 1, 2 and 3 who rule the country are rarely physically visible. Nearer

to conventional expression is Inauspicious Trading (p. 95) where his narrative relates to the exploitation o commerce

by international investors who accord the junta recognition despite the exploitation o resources and labour. In other

works such as The Red Hand (p. 93), the message speaks between the lines and purposely so: the meanings are

layered. These works use wit and irony to remind us o the hardship o human existence and the injustice perpetrated

by dictatorial regimes or almost hal a century.



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Amidst reections on the serious concerns that aict Burma, Myint Swes body o political art presents many

sites o contention, whether in terms o cultural identity, social geography or humanitarian concern. While the

rest o Southeast Asia comes to terms with globalization with new visions and imperatives, Blind Alley (p. 91) is a

reminder that progress in Burma has allen into dystopia.

It is clear that ourteen years o international sanctions and the continuing global concern or the detention

o political prisoners and the abuse o human rights have had very little eect on the junta. However, many

believe that diplomatic engagement is required, as well as more assertive sanctions, particularly with the

co-operation o Burmas Asian neighbours and the United Nations. What will the Future Bring? (p. 97) is part o

Myint Swes emotional struggle to fnd pertinence in his disparate world.

In Myint Swes paintings, we see the struggles o the Burmese people: personal, specifc, caring, evoking the large

issues o his times. The content is not part o an overt political agenda. In its personal treatment, it is evocative

o the tradition o painting that has evolved rom a cultural history. These works show us that the paintedsurace can bear traces o emotional strength. They tell poignant stories reminding us that, as human beings,

many o us are discovering that the world is ull o hope as well as pain and suering.

The quintessential revolution is that o the spirit, born o an intellectual conviction o the need or change

in those mental attitudes and values which shape the course o a nations development. Aung San Suu Kyi

uttered these words in her Freedom rom Fear speech in 1990. Such shared optimism is a starting point and

an intuitive way to look at Myint Swes art.



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My Outlook and Attitudes towards Art and Lie by Myint Swe (1999)

Ibelievethatwithinabeautifulpaintingliesemotionandatheme.Itisimpossibletopaint

without passion and thought.

Thepoisoningofonesmindisthemostdestructivemedicine. VirtueandViceistheprivilegeofeveryindividual.Loveandhateisthechoiceoftherecipient.

Truthisforever.Itneverfadesorweakens.

Manbeautiesandembellishestheworld.Andmanalsohasthepowertodestroybeauty.

Theoriginsofthemostpricelessandbeautifulrubyarerough.Rubiesareburieddeepin

wild valleys and rocky mountains.

Anartistunderstandsthevalueoffreedommorethanothers.

Manbelievesthatmoneybuyshappiness.Asanartist,Icreatemyhappinesswithmyonly

needs paints and brushes.

ArtistictalentisagiftfromGod.Astrongmanmaylift1,000kilosbutheisincapableof

holding a brush.

Apricelesspaintingthatmaybecherishedforalifetimemaybecreatedbythequickand

swit strokes o a brush.

Themoregiftedanartistis,thepoorerheis.

Anartistneedsnolawyers.

Aconjurorcanmisleadasmallgroup.Anartistcaninuenceanentireworld.

Whenanartistuseshisloverasamodel,theycanneverbecomespousesbecausethelover

may become obsessed with her beauty. Whilemostartistsarepatientandobjectivewiththeirart,theyareoftenintolerantin

mundane aairs.

Destructioninwartakesashortertimethansurveyingamap.Whileputtingpainttocanvas

can be rapid, ormulating the idea takes time.

Beanartistandtheworldwillappreciateyourtalent.

Peopleareobsessedwithlove,powerandwealth.Iamanartistandmerelyafool.

Paintersandloversarethesameloverspampereachother,paintingspamperpainters.

Myabilitiesareatributetomylifeexperiencesandmyart.



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CAPITALISM IS DYING! 17

PLATESPaintings of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi


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The Lady is going on a very

long journey. As she sits in

her solitary compartment,

she contemplates the passing

scenery o her commitments

waiting patiently to reach her

destination.


Waiting or the Last Station, 1999 Oil on canvas 90 x 120 cm


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A strong hurricane tries its best to blow away the ragile

Lady and ing her o ar away. Watching with anxiety,

I wonder whether she will crumble like a piece o brittle

wood or melt away like wax. But no! She is earless and

hard as steel. Her head remains unbowed. Oh! You oolish

wind no matter how hard and strong you blow, you can

never destroy her. And though you can win over others,you will never win over her....She is a Lotus Beauty.


The Lotus Beauty, 1999 Oil on canvas 59 x 89 cm


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Characterized by its beauty

and strength and its ability to

stay aoat the Water Hyacinth

is valued or its endurance.

No matter how turbulent the

waters are, the water hyacinth

always oats serenely abovethe surace and is never pulled

down by turbulence.


The Enduring Water Hyacinth, 2000 Oil on canvas 45 x 60 cm


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Everyone loves owers, especially

Roses. A Rose is ragrant and

sot, but beware o its thorns!

Treat it gently....or the harder

you squeeze it, the more pain

you will eel and the more you

will bleed. The Rose is worthyo respect and admiration.


The Rose (1), 2003 Oil on canvas 105 x 120 cm


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The army is abundant as green grass

on the ground. A fre has been ignited

to burn the rare and precious Rose

to death. But she is resilient and her

strength can withstand the ames.


The Rose (2), 2003 Oil on canvas 105 x 150 cm


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The Lady is guided by

the universal principles

o justice and the phi-

losophies o Buddhism.


The Lady is Going to Heaven, 1997 Oil on canvas 90 x 120 cm


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Do you think that she

can open that big

and heavy door with

her ragility? Yes, it is

possible!


Dead Lock, 2003 Oil on canvas 105 x 150 cm


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The Gate outside the Ladys

House where she used to

give speeches and blessings

to the people


The Gate, 2003 Oil on canvas 105 x 150 cm Collection o Larry Jagan


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It is not power that corrupts but ear.

Fear o losing power corrupts those who

wield it and ear o the scourge o power

corrupts those who are subject to it. Aung

San Suu Kyi: Freedom rom Fear, 1990.


Freedom rom Fear, 2003 Oil on canvas 60 x 105 cm


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Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was

temporarily released rom

house arrest in 2001 and

then re-arrested.


Welcome to Freedom, 2002 Oil on canvas 105 x 179 cm


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PLATESOther Paintings


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Balancing Act: Myanmar vs. Burma, 2001 Oil on canvas 90 x 120 cm


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Myanmar - A Volcano, 2004 Oil on canvas 105 x 150 cm


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Pretty but Poor, 1999 Oil on canvas 60 x 90 cm


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Poverty, 1999 Oil on canvas 60 x 90 cm


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Child Labour, 1999 Oil on canvas 90 x 120 cm


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It is a usual practice or the army to

round up villagers in the middle o

the night and orce them into bonded

labour to build roads and work on

government construction sites.


Forced Labour, 1999 Oil on canvas 60 x 90 cm


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Modern cities oer many dierent lie choices, but to live

comortably one requires a good income. In Rangoon,

corruption and vice provide these opportunities. This

apartment building represents the many acets o modern

living here in Rangoon. For example, Apartment One may

be occupied by a amily whose ambitious and avaricious

daughter regularly spends her nights with wealthy men.

Apartment Two may be an illegal gambling den; however,

the amily living there has the police on their payroll.

The daughter o the owner o Apartment Three is seen

every night, being driven o in expensive cars to entertain

rich men who pay her well. Living a very comortable lie

in Apartment Four is the amily o a school principal, who

accepts bribes rom those who strive or good examination

results. In Apartment Five is the wie o a seaman who

regularly sends money home unaware that she is havingan aair with another man. Apartment Six is occupied by

seven prostitutes and in Apartment Seven is the amily

o a doctor who demands exorbitant ees or his services

regardless o the suering that surrounds him. In Apartment

Eight lives the mistress o a high military ofcial. It is

devastating how these people earn their keep. Who is

responsible?


Modern City, 1998 Oil on canvas 90 x 120 cm Collection o the National Art Gallery, Malaysia


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Lie is not air. In this world, men and animals live together, but

man is cruel to animals; he treats them cruelly, making them work,

torturing them and then killing them or ood. Despite the laws

o respect that proess compassion, man has become oblivious. In

a reversal o roles where man takes the place o the animal, he is

certain to become wiser about lie or the rich abuse the poor, the

educated disrespect the uneducated and those in power suppress

the powerless. BUT in this world TRUTH will prevail, or the Law o

Nature is: What Begins must End!


The World Upside-Down, 1998 Oil on canvas 75 x 104 cm Collection o the National Art Gallery, Malaysia


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Our youth and children are being

corrupted as a result o poverty and

the destruction o morals and social

values ollowing the dictatorship here

in Burma.


Embarrassment, 2000 Oil on canvas 90 x 120 cm


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Water and Democracy do

not ow rom a gun barrel.

Only ear and intimidation

ow rom it.


Gun Barrel, 2002 Oil on canvas 105 x 120 cm


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Democracy is as essential as

water or lie.


We are Thirsty or Democracy!, 2002 Oil on canvas 105 x 180 cm


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Cultural Desertication, 2005 Oil on canvas 91 x 120 cm


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Development in Burma is a LIE - symbolized

by the three large letters incorporated in

the building structure. In this painting, the

people are diminutive in scale and dwared by

the buildings since development in Burma is

seen as investing in inrastructure rather than

investing in human development. The painting

on the right shows the broken bodies omothers and daughters symbolizing the rape

o the country by the army.


Development is a LIE, 2003 Oil on canvas 210 x 150 cm (2 panels) Exhibited in the Chiang Mai Art Museum and Dahlem Museum, Berlin


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Two ships are on a collision

course in New York harbour

outside the United Nations

Building. Will they ever

resolve their dierences?


New York, 2003 Oil on canvas 105 x 150 cm Exhibited in the Chiang Mai Museum and Dahlem Museum, Berlin


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Stalemate: NLD vs. SPDC, 2003 Oil on canvas 104 x 150 cm


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Tigers are ferce, wild and cruel

animals that use their power to kill

and devour other animals. Tortoises

are small, timid and harmless. But

they are adept at avoiding danger

and are courageous in conronting

their enemies. They simply retract

and hide in their shells, patientlyaccepting torture while waiting or

the danger to pass. Do not give

up your courage. Truth is like the

tortoise shell; it will prevail and will

protect you rom the tyrants.


Might and Right, 1998 Oil on canvas 90 x 120 cm


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Culture and Education

Organization o Society

National Cause

Forced Labour

Literature

Art

Grid o Electricity

ReligionAgriculture

Transport

Ination

Organization

Narcotics


Confagration, 2002 Oil on canvas 105 x 185 cm


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The student uprising at the University o Rangoon leading to peaceul

democracy demonstrations throughout Burma and marking the start

o the Democracy Movement, known as the 888


1988, 2004 Oil on canvas 318 x 151 cm (3 panels)


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Gunre, 2005 Oil on canvas 160 x 210 cm


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This is about an actual event. Not long ago,

some gunmen shot a man along a roadside

and removed his body but let behind his

spectacles and handkerchie lying in a pool o

blood. A while later a stranger placed a bouquet

o owers beside the dead mans belongings

as a tribute o praise or a hero.


Flowers or a Hero, 1998 Oil on canvas 60 x 90 cm


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Everyone in Rangoon knows the university campus by the Burmese

name Gangaw Ywa. When I was a student there, we had

ten art exhibitions under the banner o Gangaw- Ywa at the

universitys Dome and Judson Building. Exhibitions were organized

by a village headman and a group o ladies known as paddy

planters an avant garde group, who made the campus a happy

and joyul place. Today you only see the leaves shed by the Mohur

trees with their red and blue owers covering the ground and youimagine that you hear the sobbing o its mournul past.


University Campus, 1998 Oil on canvas 45 x 60 cm


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Death Row at Insein Prison, 2003 Oil on canvas 102 x 120 cm


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S Secretary Number One

O Secretary Number Two (is no more..)

S - Secretary Number Three

This painting was executed ater Secretary Number Two was killed in a

helicopter crash.


Three Secretaries, 2001 Oil on canvas 60 x 90 cm


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The AIDS Threat, 2000 Oil on canvas 90 x 120 cm


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D e v e l o p m e n t

in Burma is like

a blind alley - it

goes nowhere.


Blind Alley, 2001 Oil on canvas 60 x 90 cm


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The Red Hand, 2004 Oil on canvas 182 x 107 cm


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International investors and traders continue to do business


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International investors and traders continue to do business

with the military junta only to be exploited and ridiculed by

the international community. We are sacrifcing our lives or

the love o our country and we ask o you: Stop eeding the

plants o poison. Are you only interested in profts?


Inauspicious Trading, 2003 Oil on canvas 107 x 184 cm


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We need the support o the international


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We need the support o the international

community and more assertive action rom

the United Nations to end the destruction

and urther degradation o Burma.


What Will the Future Bring?, 2005 Oil on canvas 324 x 210 cm (2 panels)


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BIOGRAPHY

Myint Swe was born in Taungoke, Rakhine State, Burma,


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in 1956 to U Tun Tin and Daw Shwe Thant. He graduated

with a B.Sc in Zoology rom Rangoon University in

1981 and worked or fve years as a civil servant in the

Department o Fisheries in various states throughout the

country.

He studied at the State School o Fine Arts between

1975 and 1977. He later studied painting under S Tin

Shwe or twenty years. He also studied under U Lun

Gwye, one o Burmas most noted modern-day painters

and in the typical Burmese tradition honours the critique

and advice rom other artists such as U Mya Aye, U Myat

Kyaw and Daw Tin Tin San all o whom were his

teachers at the State School o Fine Arts and at the

Rangoon University Art Association. His work has also

been strongly inuenced by the paintings and philosophieso U Thein Han, one o the most important pioneers o

Burmese modern painting practices. He established Vision

Art Gallery in Rangoon as a platorm or his art.

He has participated in more than fty exhibitions in Burma and has had shows in Thailand in 1999, 2001 and 2002.

In 2004, he participated in the international exhibition Identities vs. Globalisation at the Chiang Mai Art Museum

and the Dahlem Art Museum in Berlin. Myint Swe is married to Daw Nwe Nwe. He lives in Rongoon, Burma.

Museum collections:

National Museum o Myanmar

National Art Gallery o Malaysia



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Burma: The Quiet Violence - Political Paintings by Myint Swe

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Transcript of Burma: The Quiet Violence - Political Paintings by Myint Swe