Myanmar (Burma)

2012 & 2019

Travel through Yangon, Mandalay and Myitkyina in 2012 & four weeks Residency at Alin Dagar Art School in 2019

The first Myanmar Residency was a total of 10 days during Thingyan New Year Festival in 2012. When I arrived in Yangon the capital of Myanmar, I only had the address of one performance artist.  He connected me to a couple of artists in Mandalay the second largest city in the county.

At the Alin Dagar Art Studio in Mandalay, I was given a canvas and acrylic paints. During my painting session, the school children were also watching. They were just quietly observing my action without talking. It’s like the mothers squatting and staring at a knife stroke of a fish seller preparing fish at a local morning market; I love that kind of attitude! Just watching silently. On the next visit, seven years later, I found my painting framed and hung on the wall of Alin Dagar Art School.

A photographer in Mandalay gave me the name and phone number of a photographer in Myitkyina, Shan state. 20 hours of bumpy train ride from Mandalay, I arrived there and visited his photo studio. He set up my working table in his studio. He also invited me to his family-run café restaurant “Kiss me restaurant” which is conveniently located in front of his studio. As part of the Thingyan new year’s festival activity, people threw buckets of water at anyone on a street. So, I was showered numerous times on the way to the studio. The artist and his family always invited me for tea and lunch which is a different taste from Burmese, it is Shan style; less oily, rather close to Chinese. After six days of residency, I gave small watercolour paintings to his family and friends.

Dreamland guest house in Mandalay in Myanmar (Burma) in 2019

The second visit to Mandalay in 2019 to 2020 during the Winter season. The owner’s family of Alin Dagar Art Studio was running Dreamland guest house in the same compound. So, I didn’t have to take a motorbike taxi to the studio from a hotel. I stayed at their guest house and worked solidly in the studio. Four weeks after, I had a presentation of my exhibition at the Alin Dagar Art Studio. Besides artist in residence, I also had a chance to play tennis with local people in the early morning and evening. It was a fulfilling experience!

The view of Mandalay city from the rooftop of the guest house.

Route:  Trip1 Yangon > Mandalay > Myitkyina > Bhamo > Mandalay > Yangon

Trip2 Mandalay < – > Taunggyi