‘Myanmar Discourse’ Workshop & Performance Event

Karin Weber Gallery presents ‘“Yangon Made My Heart Beat Fast:” New Contemporary Art from Myanmar,’ a show which explores the blossoming of individual expression, creativity, and the emergence of new voices and viewpoints in an evolving Myanmar.

On Saturday, 18 March 2017, the gallery presents ‘Myanmar Discourse,’ a collage of talks and performances, including a conversation with Robert San Pe, who served as senior adviser on legal affairs to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

His talk “The National League for Democracy (NLD) led Government: Challenges, Achievements and Aspirations” will focus on developments in Myanmar in the aftermath of semi-civilian rule under the ruling party, the NLD.

Melissa Carlson, curator of the accompanying art show and a keen Burma observer herself, will review the evolving Myanmar art scene, including the growing role of female artists who are stepping forward with a louder voice. These discussions will be followed by performance art pieces by two of Myanmar’s leading female experimental artists, Phyu Mon and Khin Thethtar Latt  (“Nora“). Phyu Mon is one of the only female performance artists of the older generation who persevered despite severe censorship by both society and the state. Nora, a rising star on the local Myanmar art scene, is a younger generation artist who is fearless and innovative in her commentary on current Myanmar society.

Workshop Programme, Saturday 18^th March 2017:

16.00     Opening Remarks, Karin Weber Gallery

16.15      “Painting Through the Cheroot Haze: Female Artists and Censorship in Post-1962 Burma” – Melissa   Carlson, Curator

17.00     “The NLD–Led Government: Challenges, Achievements and Aspirations” – Robert San Pe, Myanmar Advisor

18.00     Drinks & Performance by Khin Thethtar Latt (‘Nora’)

19.00     Performance by Phyu Mon

19.30     Artists Q & A

20.00     Close

As numbers are strictly limited for this event, RSVP is essential at [email protected].

About the Speakers:

Mr. Robert San Pe is a partner of a major international law firm and based in the firm’s Hong Kong office. He is of Anglo-Myanmar heritage, has visited Myanmar frequently since 1991, and served as senior adviser on legal affairs to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Melissa Carlson is an independent researcher and curator based in Hong Kong. Melissa’s research interests include censorship, national identity, and painting in Myanmar. She participated in the 2015 ‘Ambitious Alignments: New Art Histories of Southeast Asia’ project, funded by the Getty Foundation and administered by the University of Sydney, where she focused on censorship of female artists in post-1962 Burma.
She has curated a number of exhibitions of Burmese art in Hong Kong, including the 2015 ‘Burma by Proxy: Art at the Dawn of Democracy’ and the 2014 ‘Banned in Burma: Painting under Censorship’ shows. Her paper on post-1988 censorship of visual arts in Myanmar was published in the March 2016 edition of SOJOURN: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia.

About the Artists:

Phyu Mon (b. 1960) is a conceptual artist who creates paintings, installations, digital photography, and performance art that focus on the status of women in Myanmar. Phyu Mon initiated the women-only ‘Blue Wind Multimedia Art Festival’ that debuted in 2009 at the Myanmar National Museum. Her works have exhibited in Japan, Thailand, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Denmark, Spain, the USA, the UK, Italy, and France.

Khin Thethtar Latt (Nora) (b. 1990) is a multi-media artist working in painting, performance and photography. Nora studied with the New Zero Art Space collective in Yangon. Her work focuses on issues impacting her generation, including gender and the environment.