Art in solidarity with Myanmar
Very welcome to a talk and a discussion on art and creative expressions of solidarity as part of protests against the military coup in Myanmar with the artist Wai Mar Nyunt , introduced and moderated by Åsa Ståhl.
How are art and creative expressions used in the protests against the military coup in Myanmar? There is a long history of oppression and censorship of creativity, so how are artists currently getting through the heavily disrupted and controlled communication channels? And how are artists outside of Myanmar expressing solidarity with those who are putting their lives on the line?
IMAGE: The three finger salute in the civil disobedience movement has come to be a sign of global connectedness through culture that was hardly possible just a decade ago. Illustration by We Make Art In Peace, collaborative work by artists from Myanmar.
Some of the artistic voices in Myanmar, that were struggling to articulate and analyse the current situation through their particular means, were recently silenced. Early on, after the coup on Feb 1st, artists were calling on the world to follow, understand and engage in what is currently happening in Myanmar.
History repeats itself, says Wai Mar Nyunt with reference to the colonization, independence struggle, militarization, civil war and waves of protests that have been taking place in Myanmar. The people of Myanmar have been able to exercise some civil rights during the past decade, but cultural censorship has still been prevalent. Since the military coup many artists and other protesters sacrifice their safety and security in the struggle for democracy. Art associations write that they know that it’s the people of Myanmar that have to do the work, but they are asking the global community for solidarity.
WAI MAR NYUNT is an artist and film maker from Myanmar currently based in Finland. She will show and contextualize art and creative expressions that have been used in the protests against the military rule – both inside and outside of Myanmar.
If possible, we will be joined by an artist from inside Yangon, Myanmar.
ÅSA STÅHL is a Senior Lecturer and researcher at the design department at Linnaeus University and a former IASPIS grant holder in Myanmar.
ART IN SOLIDARITY WITH MYANMAR is presented in collaboration between the Design department at Linnaeus university and IASPIS, the Swedish Arts Grants Committee’s International Programme in Visual and Applied Arts.
PLEASE NOTE: to attend the event you need to preregister.
Send an email no later than Sunday 11th April to annika.bjorkman@konstnarsnamnden.se or asa.stahl@lnu.se – stating your name and occupation and you’ll receive a zoom-link about an hour in advance of the event.