Art in Myanmar: Unity in Diversity
We were treated to a very special discussion with NUG Spokesperson Dr. Sasa for our episode, Artists Against Tyranny. He spoke about the power of art through the power of diversity, and how the Burmese military has long been against all types of freedom— the freedom to express as well as the basic freedom to be who you are in the world.
“We are determined to build the beauty again, from the ashes of the destruction of the Tatmadaw.”
Host: Dr Sasa, many people in the West have a very particular idea of what art is. But Myanmar art is quite different, and different ethnic groups in different cultures have different types of art and artistic expression. Can you tell us a little bit about the importance of art to identity and to culture for Myanmar people?
Dr. Sasa: Well, let me state first that Myanmar is a multi-ethnic country and a multi-religious country. So there's multiple languages and ethnicities and cultures… and arts. Even the food and the way we dress, even our clothes, all these are unique! It's not all about art and its beauty, but about the beauty of the culture.
Myanmar is a country that I compare to a big, massive garden. There's so many varieties of flowers flowering, in a beautiful garden.
Myanmar itself is an arts country. It is a very diverse country in this way. Take language as an example: the Chin where I came from, we have at least more than 50 spoken languages, and also 50 colorful dresses and arts that each display the identity of the tribes.
But again, it is the military generals in Myanmar for so long, they have a policy, it's a terror policy: that is Burmanization and Buddhistization. So, they want to see one race, one culture, and they have been using that as weapon. So whenever you see the military generals in Myanmar talk about politics, they will always say ‘protection of race and religion,’ which means Burmanization and Buddhistization. This is a policy that many people in Myanmar are aware of already, but I don't think so that the outside world knows much about it. And they want to destroy the rest of the culture, by discriminating against others, they want to destroy all other languages as well. They even use force to bow down in front of their policy.
But we have been standing up for unity in diversity.
So this culture, these arts, are the strength to the nation of Myanmar! And these arts, this identity, these beautiful ethnicities, these beautiful languages and culture are really the greatest strength of Myanmar as a country. You notice the beauty of these identities.
These military generals have an agenda and a policy of destroying all this beauty.
But we are determined to build the beauty again, from the ashes of the destruction of the Tatmadaw for five decades.