The Survival of Art

Yoko Ono once said, “Art is a way of survival.” While it is likely she was not referring to the role of art within actual life-or-death struggles, but rather the creative urge of the artist, the quotation has a strangely appropriate resonance within Myanmar now, and particular for our upcoming Art Against Tyranny auction event.

The following photos were sent by Burmese artists who had to complete their paintings in hiding, before they were shipped off to New York City, where they will be auctioned off in a fundraiser with all proceeds going to charity. For those artists in hiding, they will be able to directly receive the funds from the purchasing of their work, which can go to support themselves, their family, their community, and help the overall Civil Disobedience Movement continue its democratic stand to not recognize the illegal military seizure of power.

Even though we cannot see their faces due to security reasons, it is truly stunning to think that these artists, producing their creativity in such seclusion, will have their vision and voice represented in the high society of New York City, in a proper gallery, and receiving proper commendation, rather than the immediate condemnation that authorities in their own country would display.