Lately I have had the chance to hang out a bit with Burmese artist
Chaw Ei Thein, who is truly a Renaissance woman ! She is based in Rangoon where she runs Soulflower Gallery and a children's art workshop. She paints, does performance art, curates, writes, teaches, dances ....
I first met Chaw Ei at the Asiatopia Symposium where she did an awesome performance piece on the current climate in Burma and delivered a paper on Performance Art in Burma. Before talking with Chaw Ei, I hadn't realised how exciting the developing contemporary art culture in Rangoon is, despite the huge obstacles the artists face. Chaw Ei gave a talk to my students about these challenges and ways that the artistic community attempts to overcome them.
Since reading more about the recent political crackdown in Burma and the censorship of art, I have been thinking about red and how much I take for granted colour and the freedom to use colour. At the moment in Burma, red is considered subversive and consequently any artworks or exhibitions that are predominantly red are heavily censored. It has inspired me to begin collecting red materials to work with .... because I can and because so many Burmese can't.
