This talk traces the journeys of artists in 1960s’ Myanmar – artists who became the protagonists for a new generation and whose influence is still felt today. Their energies were typical of the art salon of the West, whilst their output signified all that was modern in Southeast Asia.

Working against the flow of popular tastes and academic postures, a group of artists – painters, writers, lecturers and students – gathered at Rangoon University were sharing ideas, trying new painting approaches and methods, and exhibiting wherever they could. They showed their works in order that the concepts, experiments and outcomes of their trials would form a nexus of new visual forms, which in turn would encourage each artist on to the next.

Focused on using their art as personal statement, they made the art of Yangon turn. These artists instigated new ways of seeing art in Myanmar, despite being cut off from the changing perspectives of the international art scene. Their work is still instrumental to the contemporary scene in Yangon now, and has relevance in the history of international art as it unravels itself.

Artists whose work will be discussed include Aung Soe, Khin Maung Yin, Win Pe, Paw Oo Thett, Nann Waii, Aung Myint, San Minn, M.P.P Yei Myint and others.

Venue: artspace@222, 222 Queen Street 02-­03, Singapore 188550

When: 8 May 2015, 7.30pm - 8.30pm

By: T.H.E.O. Arts Professionals