The Power of the Burmese Artist
It was a thrill to get to talk to Bart Was Not Here. The conversation included such wide-ranging references as Tupac Shakur, J-Me, Jack Kerouac, Monty Python, Ashin Wirathu, Hieronymous Bosch, and so much else. This particular excerpt was so important in how it illustrates his first moment in realizing how rotten and corrupt his government was… and more importantly, that there was something he could do about it. In his artistic mind, or perhaps his child mind at the time, he can only understand witnessing a scene of monks being beaten to death as a cartoon fight scene. Yet this moment sent him on a path to not only examine the evil of the ruling leaders more deeply, but also realize how even someone as young and unaccomplished as he was at the time could actually go on to fight back and resist, in hopes of building a better society.
“Artists can... coach you how to react and how to process these emotions and give you somewhat of an answer.”
Bart Was Not Here: I was around for the 2007 Saffron revolution. I actually saw a killing as well. When I was in sixth grade, I was in my class, taking a test, probably a geography test or something or math during daytime. My school is on Alaung Pya Pagoda road. You can actually see the main road from my class, which was on the corner of the building. We heard a bunch of Buddhist chants, like mettā, from our class, and we knew that the monks were marching with the flags and all that. We were glued to the window, looking at the scene: there was a batch of soldiers heading towards them, and they met face to face. And then out of nowhere, another batch of soldiers popped out from behind the protesters! I think they were inside the office compound, that's now a company office, and they just popped out from that compound and they sandwiched the protesters. It was almost like a cartoon scene where two cartoon characters fight, and then it's just a ball of dust, and you see the fist and you see the feet and all kinds of exclamations… it was just like a ball of smoke. And when it became clear, I saw a pool of blood ropes, monks’ robes, slippers. And more blood. That's it.
At that time, a lot of people were listening to VOA and BBC Burmese, other Burmese programs, through radio and bootleg satellite dishes. And I remember watching DVB every day, the were airing the protest updates.
That was the first time questioning authority for me. Well, I've always gone against authority all my life. But that was like the first time realizing that this is not the normal kind of government that I was living in! Before that, I didn't really mind any of it. And I didn't know any of it at all, as I didn't read the newspaper. That was the moment when I was introduced to the idea of, if you don't like someone who's ruling you, you can fight back! Or you can ask for something better or protest. And that was a wake up call.
Host: That's incredibly powerful. I want to look at the role of the artist in the present moment in Myanmar, and ask why it is that the military has so much hatred or fear, or some combination of the two in terms of artists. Now, they're killing poets, they're arresting actors, some of the greatest hip hop stars are underground, and the list just goes on and on. I mean, you're in exile. Why are artists been so targeted by this regime?
Bart Was Not Here: The general population will not follow a newsman, or a headline from a journal. But I think artists can package it so well, to the point where they can actually coach you how to react and how to process these emotions and give you somewhat of an answer. And it's not just art, or politics, or this kind of revolution that uses art in that kind of way. Religion packages. Religion is powerful as it is only because of art. Let's just say Christianity, right? It’s literature, it’s art, it’s architecture, and it’s general ambience, and performance of a priest or pastor, and songs, hymns. So, religion packages itself into the zeitgeist. And I think it works in other things as well. It's how products use art and entertainment from to market. It's how politicians pander to people using influencers and celebrities and stuff like that. So the these are tools that are at your disposal. And you can use it as a propaganda, you can use it as anything because art is art. So you can apply anything you want to that and you can create a path for people to think, for people to walk. And they really fear that path, and they really fear the ones who are creating the path, because that can lead to their grave, right?
Host: Flipping the question the other way, what do you feel is the role of the artist at the moment in Myanmar?
Bart Was Not Here: For me, for me, personally, art in general, I think it's needed. It's not just during a protest, it's needed all the time! Like God is good all the time, art is good all the time, and art is needed all the time. It’s not just for the protest, and the movement and the revolution. But for me, personally, I sell my art, and I fund whoever I want to fund. And I think it's the best way for me to contribute. Because I'm creating artwork, which raises awareness, and it consoles my people. And it helps people to process this experience. And on top of it, I can take that artwork, and I can sell it and it becomes a fund. And then I send that money off to people who are in the field. So it's a win-win for me.