Aung Kyaw Htet - Myanmar Inspirations

AUNG KYAW HTETMYANMAR INSPIRATIONS

SHIREEN NAZIREE

AUNG KYAW HTETMYANMAR INSPIRATIONS

SHIREEN NAZIREE

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Published byThavibu Gallery Co. Ltd.Silom Galleria, Suite 308919/1 Silom Road, Bangkok, 10500, ThailandTel. + 66 (0) 2 266 5454, Fax. +66 (0) 2 266 5455Email. [email protected], www.thavibu.com

Photography by Songgot Kondee, Richard Stowell, Tony The, Ernie Hill,Shireen Naziree, Jørn Middelborg, Aung Kyaw Htet, and the National ArtGallery of Malaysia

Layout by Wanee Tipchindachaikul, Copydesk, ThailandPrinted by Amarin Printing and Publishing Public Company Limited, Thailand

Copyright Thavibu Gallery 2007All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced ortransmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, withoutprior permission in writing from the publisher.

ISBN-13: 978-974-8102-93-1

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Foreword by Jørn Middelborg 4

Acknowledgements by Aung Kyaw Htet 5

Myanmar - A Cultural Landscape 6

Aung Kyaw Htet - A Silent Journey 10

Rites and Rituals - The Art of Aung Kyaw Htet 16

Plates 27

AUNG KYAW HTET - MYANMAR INSPIRATIONS

Table of Contents

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Jørn MiddelborgThavibu Gallery

FOREWORD

Aung Kyaw Htet is a talented artist from Myanmar

[Burma] who has risen from a humble beginning to

become one of the country’s leading artists. He was

born in 1965 in Myaungmya in the Delta region

where the mighty Ayeyarwaddi River flows into

the Indian Ocean. It is a remote area with frequent

floods and very few roads where the vast majority

of the population in the area lives as rice farmers.

He made his way to Yangon and enrolled as a

student at the State School of Fine Arts since he

had an urge to be an artist. He is a devout Buddhist

and grew up in a small village — two factors which

have a strong influence on his art. His paintings of

religious life in Burma show monks and nuns in a

realistic manner, though non-essential objects are

omitted from the paintings in order to focus on the

religious aspects. Aung Kyaw Htet paints the faces

of monks and nuns in great detail to show their

humanity. His works are now found in the perma-

nent collections of museums such as the National

Art Gallery of Malaysia and the National Museum

of Myanmar.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to Shireen

Naziree, art historian and independent curator for

writing this book and thus bringing an important

part of Myanmar contemporary painting out to a

wider audience.

I would also like to thank the collectors who have

placed their paintings at our disposal for inclusion

in the book. They include, amongst others, Dung

Babet, Sandeep Bhammer, Philip Cheong, Ramon

Cierco, Charles Danforth, Sharon Day, Adrian

Dunn, Neil McGreevy, Einat Gross, Ernie Hill,

Mallika Khurana, Liang Xiaohong, Sudha Natrajan,

Herve d’Oriano, Alexa and Onno Poortier, Kristin

Rapan, Gary Rolfes, Manu Sabnani, Nitin Sibal,

Malvinder Singh, Richard Stowell, Sujjain Talwar,

Ziad Abu Zalaf, the National Museum of Myanmar,

and the National Art Gallery of Malaysia.

Finally, I would like to thank Dennis Kon who pro-

vided information on Buddhism and monkhood in

Myanmar and to James Christian for his editing

assistance and with help in finalizing the book.

4 A U N G K YAW H T E T M YA N M A R I N S P I R AT I O N S

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My career as an artist has been both modest and

ambitious. Modest because I aim to offer a brief

glimpse into the rich culture of Myanmar and

my Buddhist heritage. Ambitious, because I have

endeavored to relate these facts through my art

to a broader society beyond my own cultural

boundaries.

For this, I wish to thank my parents, U Lun Hlaing

and Daw Kyi who quietly encouraged me. My

teachers, U Thukha and U Aung Moe who instilled

in me the importance of discipline in art. Daw

Myint Myint Tin from the Yangon Art Gallery

and U Myint Soe from the Summit Art Gallery

who promoted my art. My special thanks to Jørn

Middelborg whom I met on the 10 September

2000 when my daughter Aye That Khaine was

born to me and my wife Kyu Kyu Khine whose

love and integrity continues to be my guiding light

and who blessed me with our son Khan Htet Thu

in September 2004. To Shireen Naziree, the author

of this book for her interest in my work, and to my

friends and family for their faith and friendship.

Aung Kyaw Htet, 2007

Aung Kyaw HtetYangon

A U N G K Y A W H T E T M Y A N M A R I N S P I R A T I O N S 5

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MYANMAR - A CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Nestled between two of Asia’s most important

cultural nations - India and China at its northern

borders, Myanmar is a vast country that languorously

stretches south towards the Andaman Sea encom-

passing along the way a vast and diverse spectrum

of geography that has been enriched by a cultural

history that dates back to the prehistoric stone

age. This diverse and pictorial landscape that

possesses snow capped mountainous regions in

the North, verdant tropical jungles on its Eastern

borders with Thailand and a pristine coastline re-

mains dominated by the central Delta region - a

fertile farming land mass that is nourished by the

majestic Ayeyarwaddi River which forms the main

riverine artery of central Myanmar. The large scale

landscape of the Delta region is also the most

densely populated region of Myanmar, with many

villages so remote and undeveloped that the

Ayeyarwaddi remains its most important communi-

cation and transportation link with the commercial

capitals of Yangon and Mandalay.

Pivotal to the historical development of the cultural

landscape of Myanmar has been the influences of

Buddhism that has over the centuries manifested

itself into the social tapestry of the country.

The importance of Myanmar’s exceptionally rich Bud-

dhist historical landscape has been recognized from

as early as 6th Century BC when Buddha Gautama,

the last of the Buddhas visited Myanmar. Oral his-

tory however, suggests that earlier Buddhas might

also have visited the region at least a thousand

years earlier. One of the most significant events that

relate to Buddha Gautama’s visits to Myanmar is the

arrival of his hair relics, which were enshrined in a

stupa that was ultimately developed over the centu-

ries to become the renowned Shwedagon Pagoda,

which spectacularly reigns over Yangon and has

become one of Buddhism’s most iconic shrines in

Southeast Asia. Another event relates to Buddha’s

footprints near the town of Shwesettaw where thou-

sands of pilgrims visit annually during Myanmar’s dry

season when the footprints are most visible.

Thus the evolution of the Myanmar aesthetic is

testament to Buddhism’s influences and the accep-

tance of its tenets and philosophies through the

various dynasties that have defined the country’s

long and complex cultural and artistic history that

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finally collapsed under British Colonial rule in the

19th century. In this historical sense, the Pyu Dynasty

remains the most visible though earlier dynasties

reigned with equal importance. The Pyu Dynasty,

which primarily reigned in central Myanmar from

the 2nd century until the 10th century had clearly

imported aesthetic standards that originated

within Buddhism’s Indian origins: evidence of which

has been emphasized in the richly embellished

artifacts and architectural reliefs that have been

excavated from important archeological sites as

well as in the classical Pali script. Equally notable

in the cultural history of Myanmar have been the

influences of the coastal Rakhine and the Mon

Kingdoms, which principally reigned concurrently

with the Pyu Dynasty.

As much as Myanmar’s cultural aesthetic evolved

from Buddhism, the forces of socialization that

resulted from Buddhism remains one of its most

important legacies. Amongst the most recognized

is the tradition of novice monks and nuns entering

monastic life - a practice that dates back to the Pyu

Dynasty when it is said that children as young as

seven would don the regulatory cotton robes and

enter monastic life. This positive representation of

early Buddhism in Myanmar lies in the legacy of

the Sangha that refers to the body of monks who

accompanied Buddha Gautama on his journeys

and to whom monks in Myanmar directly trace

their spiritual ancestry. This tradition gave rise to a

defining identity, which further manifested itself

during the Bagan Dynasty in the 10th century.

The rise of the Bagan Dynasty resulted in a renais-

sance that marked a golden age of prosperity

both in political hegemony as well as cultural and

artistic wealth that were largely achieved through

the Buddhist faith. This paramount identity was

propounded by the rich architecture of the unend-

ing amount of temple complexes and pagodas

that were constructed: some of which survived the

ravages of time and continue to dot the landscape

around present day Bagan.

The rich architecture of the Bagan Dynasty, which

lasted until the 13th century, was embellished with

the vibrant skills of the many artisans who typi-

cally expressed their artistic philosophy through

depictions of the Jatakas - sagas of Buddha’s experi-

ences on his journey towards Enlightenment. The

Shwedagon Pagoda, 2007


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Baga

n, 2

007

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intrinsic beauty of this flourishing culture was

further elevated by other artistic forms, which

included the art of lacquer painting - initially intro-

duced by the Chinese, whose invading forces had

overthrown the earlier Pyu Dynasty. Lacquer was

used not only to embellish palace walls, but signifi-

cantly was adapted in the manufacture of everyday

utensils such as the alms bowls used by monks.

The artistic practice in the making of lacquer ware -

often embellished with imagery of the Jatakas

have become an important craft form that contin-

ues today and one that has prompted universal

interest. Today some of the developed world’s

most important museums have Myanmar lacquer

artifacts in their permanent collections.

From within this cultural background that contin-

ues to remain historically important to Myanmar’s

cultural landscape, emerged the following Pinya

and Inya eras when unique artistic sensibilities

developed that were emphasized by a cultural

reassessment of imported foreign influences China

and Thailand that imbued itself on the existing

Buddhist culture.

The last of the Myanmar Dynasties was the Kom-

baung Dynasty that was established in the mid 18th

century. This was an era renowned for its progres-

sive milieu that was symbolized with overt western

influences that included painting. The Kombaung

dynasty had established important cultural centers

such as Amarapura and Ratanabon where ornate

palaces and temple complexes imprinted their power

on the landscape. Though depictions of the Jatakas

continued to be an important expression in tradi-

tional art forms, court painters of the period started

to blend western styles with their own sensibilities

often resulting in secular portraiture of the reigning

nobility that was laced with surreal Edenic qualities.

This modernist cultural aesthetic was particularly

affirmed during the reign of Myanmar’s last mon-

arch, King Thibaw who was eventually deposed by

the British in the latter part of the 19th century.

British Colonial rule affirmed itself in the economic

wealth of Myanmar with little interest in the coun-

try’s cultural history. As a result Myanmar experienced

an abandonment in the arts which were ravaged

by the flourishing trade that characterized the

British rule, the spiritual aesthetic of Buddhism

survived and the close of British colonial rule in

1948 gave Myanmar every reason to be nostalgic

of their undeniably significant historical past.

Buddhism had transcended time and though its

elusive past is seemingly visible in the Myanmar

landscape, the country’s modern day artists and

craftsmen have once again turned to this spiritual

aesthetic for nourishment. In effect the artistic

aesthetic of Myanmar had renewed itself and in

turn the spirit of those who depended upon it for

their well being and remains a vital thread in its

artistic tapestry.


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AUNG KYAW HTET - A SILENT JOURNEY

The reverie associated with Buddhism has remained

a popular narrative in Myanmar’s artistic vocabulary

and its traditions have become the starting point

for a new generation of artists who are using the

language of contemporary art to layer their work

with meaning. For Aung Kyaw Htet - his produc-

tive life as an artist has been the result of a long

journey that has been sustained by his deep faith

that has its realizations buried deep with in Myan-

mar’s Buddhist history.

He was born in 1965 to U Tun Hlaing and Daw

Kyi in Kan Ywa, a small village located on the banks

of the Ayeyarwaddi river in the Delta region.

About 150 miles from Yangon, Kan Ywa - a village

with a population of about 300 people is typical

of the rural communities that dot the Delta, and

Aung Kyaw Htet’s early life was colored with hard-

ship and poverty. With very little material wealth

and like the majority of Myanmar’s population -

Aung Kyaw Htet mined the Buddhist environment

around him for spiritual wealth that ultimately

sustained him through hard times and would ulti-

mately become his muse.

The meager existence that his father, U Tun Hlaing

earned as a paddy farmer was hardly sufficient to

feed his nine children - of whom Aung Kyaw Htet

is the fifth son. As a child, Aung Kyaw Htet had

little opportunity to venture further than Kan Ywa

and as his parents’ lives were primarily devoted to

feeding the family - painting or any form of cultural

activity did not exist in his world. For many of

Myanmar’s rural population, art was conceived as a

luxury oasis for the privileged. Along with the other

children in Kan Ywa, Aung Kyaw Htet attended

the local school and left at 15 years old after

completing the eighth standard.

A quiet and modest personality, Aung Kyaw Htet

most often had to tend to his own needs as a

child. And despite the extreme poverty and hard-

ships - the young Aung Kyaw Htet survived on the

enduring spirit of his family, which he underlined

by moments of quiet beauty that he seeked out

from his physical environment. He enjoyed draw-

ing and with the absence of art materials - his

school slate board most often served as his

canvass. He recalls that his interest in drawing

started as a seven year old and like most children,

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he would draw from memory and the subconsc-

ious. Later improvisational sketches were often

images copied from magazines and book covers.

However these fleeting moments of pleasure were

purely playful explorations for its own sake as he

had no ambition or vision of becoming an artist.

For Aung Kyaw Htet, regular daily visits to the

local pagoda which were eclipsed by the devotion

and beliefs of Buddhism were part of life’s rituals

and like all young boys, he entered the obligatory

monkhood when he was ten years old. Living in

the monastery, he was subjected to the same

rituals and disciplines as the interant long term

monks observed that included leaving the temple

grounds to beg for alms, meditating and impor-

tantly studying the Dharma while obeying all

monastic precepts.

Though the foundations of his religious discipline

had already been laid several years before he en-

tered monkhood - the communion with his faith as

an overwhelming ancient culture was reinforced

through a tradition that dates back to as early as

the Pyu era when boys and girls at the age of

seven would become novices in monasteries and

nunneries. These days the ritual of an adolescent

boy entering monkhood is traditionally marked in

colorful ceremony meant to symbolize Buddha’s

abandonment of his life of luxury. Thus young boys

are dressed in glittering finery before his hair is

shaven off and he dons the monk’s robes.

Kan Ywa Village, 2007

A U N G K Y A W H T E T M Y A N M A R I N S P I R A T I O N S 1 1

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Though Aung Kyaw Htet’s formal education ended

when he left school at fifteen, he never abandoned

his early interest in drawing. A life of rigorous labor

defined Aung Kyaw Htet’s adolescence and ulti-

mately his view on life. As an youth in Kan Ywa, he

worked periodically at a variety of laboring jobs as

primary means to earn a living and help support his

family. He dug ditches, helped his family harvest in

the rice fields and eventually worked on a fishing

vessel that plied the Ayeyarwaddi River.

Following the lead of many of Myanmar’s poor

from the Delta, Aung Kyaw Htet decided to leave

his village on the long and arduous silent journey

in search of economic opportunity and a future.

In 1983, the seventeen year old Aung Kyaw Htet

left his family and followed his destiny to Yangon.

With very little money and with only the blessings

of his parents and an undying ambition to become

an artist - Aung Kyaw Htet embarked on a one and

a half day boat journey to Yangon. Knowing no

one in Yangon, it is hard to imagine what courage

it took for this young man to leave his family and to

question the traditional values of his environment

through his choice in life to chase his dream.

With continuing hardship in the passing years,

Aung Kyaw Htet’s life in Yangon was plagued by

numerous misfortunes that witnessed him having

to return to Kan Ywa on numerous occasions as

work was hard to come by and unknowing of the

rules of living rough on the streets of Yangon, he

was vulnerable to its perils. As his world grew

smaller and smaller, he was at times doubtful

whether he would survive life in the capital or ever

realize his desire to study art. Being poor, Aung

Kyaw Htet could only mine the traditional values

of Buddhism for spiritual wealth that continued to

sustain him through his hard times.

When not working at the bakery in Yangon where

he finally found employment, he devoted his time

to recording scenes of daily life on any scrap of

paper that he could find. By 1986 Aung Kyaw

Htet had saved sufficient money to finally start

realizing his dream of becoming an artist when he

enrolled for evening art classes at the State School

of Fine Arts located in Bahan Township near the

Shwedagon Pagoda. He attended classes at the

school for three years during which he studied

under U Kyaw Nyant and Mg Mg Taik.

Despite the difficulties that he continued to endure,

painting would become his quest for self awareness

and which, he believed, could only be expanded

through formal art training: the integration of art

and his social conscience would become the key

to unlocking the gate to his path in life. Studying

at the academy was most often literal transcrip-

tions of the rudiments of drawing and painting.

A meticulous student, he encountered a vastly

different environment to his past experiences.

Devoid of any personal expressions - he was requir-

ed instead to develop academic artistic skills that

paid homage to earlier masters and depictions


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of paintings that were sculpted in artistic styles

committed to traditional academic values and the

mainstream notions of art.

Academic training was based on copying and draw-

ing on a tightly rendered syllabus that resulted in

students becoming excellent technicians. The dis-

tinctive character of the academy’s teaching was in

preparing students to pursue possible careers in

industries such as traditional lacquer painting and

commercial advertising. He nevertheless benefited

from this first hand exposure to fine art although

he still did not have many opportunities to pursue

any artistic ambitions and despite his life of obscu-

rity in Yangon, he was determined that his art

would be a means to financial security.

Notwithstanding the importance of Mandalay as

the once renowned center for the arts of Myanmar,

Yangon had become the artistic home for many

painters by the second half of the twentieth

century. Galleries that supported the arts were

mushrooming and many artists formed collectives

or became members of these galleries. Nearly all

shared the common experience of training either

at the more prestigious Yangon State School of

Fine Arts where they were introduced to the

formal aspects of fine art. Or, many young painters

furthered their studies under the patronage of a

master painter - a practice that is reflected and

deeply rooted in the traditional art and crafts

practices of Myanmar. In effect, these apprentice

artists most often produced images absorbed from

the painterly styles of their teachers rather than

seeking creativity in individual expression.

Aung Kyaw Htet had neither the financial means

nor the interest to associate himself with any par-

ticular art collective, and a career as a full-time artist

would not manifest itself for a number of years.

After working in a variety of jobs that included

painting number plates for cars and painting bill-

boards, Aung Kyaw Htet secured work as a portrait

Padaung Girl, Charcoal on paper, 39 x 55 cm, 1993Collection of the National Museum, Myanmar


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artist in a gallery in the popular Bogyoke market in

downtown Yangon in 1990. Although most of the

gallery’s clientele were local, he came into contact

with people from diverse economic backgrounds

for the first time. Over the course of the following

three years, he would draw hundreds of portraits

either in charcoal or pencil and though he was

able to paint in his spare time, he had yet to settle

on his own distinctive style.

The three years that he worked as a portrait artist

were years of intensive work filled with enthusiasm

of hope for a better life as the young artist contin-

ued to struggle financially as well as to forge an

identity. But here in Yangon - nestling under the

shadows of the Shwedagon Pagoda, by far the

most important Buddhist site in Myanmar - Aung

Kyaw Htet remained the filial son more than ever

as his devout faith gave him the strength and sus-

taining philosophy to overcome hardship and pur-

sue his own creative goals without the expectation

of material reward despite being pushed to the

limits financially.

In 1993, Aung Kyaw Htet had a breakthrough when

Myanmar’s National Museum acquired one of his

drawings which were shown at a group exhibition

at the gallery of the Myanmar Traditional Artists

and Artisans Organization in Bogyoke Market. This

affirmation of his talent created a greater determi-

nation for him to succeed and he was beginning

to support not only himself but also his family back

in Kan Ywa through his paintings. Yangon was and

remains fertile ground for budding artists with the

regular art shows hosted at any of the numerous

galleries and international hotels.

And like many aspiring artists of the day, by 1994

Aung Kyaw Htet started exhibiting his paintings in

group exhibitions and started painting with oils.

These shows set the professional standards and

included many of Yangon’s best known painters

as well as up-and-coming younger artist. Aung

Kyaw Htet displayed his works in various venues

that included Gallery 77, the Summit Gallery and at

major Yangon hotels such as Traders Hotel and

the Nikko Hotel as well as the state run Myanmar

Traditional Artists and Artisans art gallery at the

Bogyoke market often having to sell his works at

very nominal prices mostly to foreign visitors and

Yangon’s expatriate community. Nevertheless these

sales sustained him as he believed that his prime

motivation for painting was for the sheer joy of it

rather than for financial gains.

1994 was also the year that he was able to relocate

his parents from Kan Ywa to live with him in

Yangon. This productive phase in Aung Kyaw Htet’s

life was made even more gratifying by his marri-

age in 1996 to Kyu Kyu Khine whom he had met

in Yangon in 1993. Working in a supermarket in

Yangon, Kyu Kyu helped to augment the modest

income Aung Kyaw Htet derived from the sales

of his paintings. Despite the couple’s meager but


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happy existence, they willingly supported both their

families. At times, Kyu Kyu became the model for

his paintings and though not an artist herself, she

supported his art through her profound apprecia-

tion of his talent.

By the end of the last millennium, Aung Kyaw Htet

was coming into his own as an artist and he be-

lieves that his prayers were answered when his

daughter, Aye That Khaine was born in September

of 2000 and the chaos in his life was being resolved

through the divine intervention. The day also impor-

tantly marked the start of his international career

as an artist.

Against this backdrop, Aung Kyaw Htet has emerged

as one of the most accomplished painters associated

with Myanmar contemporary art. By embracing the

values of Buddhism and valuing the rich cultural

heritage that it has bestowed on Myanmar, Aung

Kyaw Htet has nurtured his artistic identity that

will not deny him a place in Myanmar’s modern art

history. By 2002 he participated in his first group

overseas exhibition in Bangkok, Thailand and a solo

show in Hong Kong in 2004. His son, Khant Htet

Thu was born in that same year.

Subsequent international exposure that has in-

cluded exhibitions in Singapore and Taiwan. In

addition to Aung Kyaw Htet’s paintings becoming

part of important museum and private collections

and regardless of the optimism and admiration that

Aung Kyaw Htet in his studio, 2007

surrounds his art and the cosmopolitan sensibility

that it has imbued in his career, Aung Kyaw Htet

remains dedicated to his roots and continues to

create expressive paintings as testament to the

dignity and strength of his beliefs.

Aung Kyaw Htet lives in Yangon and regularly

returns to the village of his birth, Kan Ywa once

a year.


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RITES AND RITUALS - THE ART OF AUNG KYAW HTET

In the past decade Aung Kyaw Htet’s art has

addressed the meeting of his culture and personal

nature in the broadest sense. His work is a medita-

tion on his world and the space and things around

it that reflects a consciousness of the materiality

of Myanmar’s deeply rooted Buddhist culture.

Through his art, Aung Kyaw Htet has sought to

stimulate everyday experiences from the common-

place to the exceptional through the fluid status

with which he reconfigures ancient rituals across

time. What is perhaps most interesting is the

manner in which he positioned his work and

practice to reveal the beauty in the simplicity of

his world.

Depicting traditional Myanmar culture in contem-

porary art has almost become a tradition amongst

the country’s modern day painters. At a time when

the traditional boundaries between Myanmar and

the rest of the world are very blurred - the cultural

environment that has been created is challenging

in that it has become an important hallmark of

social wellbeing. Though tradition is a subject that

can be questioned, yet as a starting point it may be

explored as part of an exercise in self - definition

given the fluid and global environment where

technology has collapsed borders and physical

distances. And like in many Asian societies, western

secular culture and the conspicuous consumption

that most often goes along with, the liberal values

of western democracy are often viewed as alien

and decadent and more so in the traditionally con-

servative Myanmar society.

Despite mirroring the popular narrative of the basic

rituals and values that encompass Buddhism in

Myanmar, Aung Kyaw Htet has established for

himself a distinct paradigm that emphasizes his

very individual artistic grammar - for his is a practice

that endeavors to cross cultural boundaries. In

essence, his challenge has been to make art that

is highly personal as well as broadly meaningful

while addressing the experiences of the world he

lives in. In effect - what sets Aung Kyaw Htet’s

subjects apart is that his efforts are not superficial

or self-conscious efforts to showcase his heritage

and tradition as merely decorative art.

Aung Kyaw Htet’s work has also investigated the

potential to extend his subjects with an emotion


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that extends beyond being merely pictorial as his

practice takes on meaning in his now well - known

depiction of novice monks and nuns under the

relentless weight of the ritual practices of monastic

life. More than simply marking a pictorial turn, his

works that date back from the last decade are

consistently inherent in its representation. In oppo-

sition to contemporary taste for “story-pictures” -

complicated, detail laden based on literary sub-

jects, Aung Kyaw Htet has all his life been able to

observe life directly and render these subjects as

strong compositions.

Very much an individualist, Aung Kyaw Htet still

sees himself as an ordinary working man whose

occupation is the expression of life through paint-

ing, which is his passion: all other media within

which he has worked in the past were merely

means to make a living although these experiences

of rigorous labour have molded how he views

his life and art. This has allowed his work to be

sensitive and alive and also to develop his distinc-

tive style of painting that has resulted in art that is

richly detailed and self consciously beautiful and

that could ultimately converse independently in the

history of Myanmar contemporary art.

At first glance, the presence of the identifiably

Myanmar dimension is acutely visible in his work.

However upon closer viewing, it becomes clear

that Aung Kyaw Htet’s portraits and imagery are

suffused with a deeply felt understanding of Bud-

dhist values. His finely rendered portraits of both

family and strangers are monumental - not in the

size of the painting but rather in the scale of the

emotion of the moment. What is noticeably appar-

ent in almost all of his figures is a stillness - as if

they are at peace with the world - a condition that

he associates with the spirituality of Buddhism. The

meditative sense of calm that his paintings evoke

becomes for Aung Kyaw Htet a visual analogue

typical of his own personality and the cultural

environment that he has created in his world.

When Aung Kyaw Htet participated in his first

exhibition in 1991 his early works were all rendered

Young Nun, Mandalay, 2007


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in charcoal, simply due to his limiting financial

condition at the time, nevertheless displaying his

masterly rendering of the discipline. One of the

earliest and most influential guideposts in his life

was his father, U Tun Hlaing whose own life was

devoid of material comfort but whose principles of

truth and honesty became a fundamental social

philosophy for his son.

When in 1994, Aung Kyaw Htet actively started

painting in oils - his family became willing subjects

for his picture making. A later painting of his father

simply titled My Father, 1998 (p.28) reveals an

intimacy that is suggestive of his own emotional

response to his father. This interpretation through

the compositional element is exemplified through

the element of light that highlights the influence

of humanity through the laboring hands of his

father. The painting provides a sense of under-

standing of Aung Kyaw Htet’s early life and place.

Painted from a similar mental vantage point, but

with a softer rendering is Mother, 2003 (p.50). Aung

Kyaw Htet portrays his mother, Daw Kyi bathed

with the same compositional element of light. In

both these paintings, his subjects are humanized

by the portrayal of the essence of his subjects: by

capturing them in thoughtful moments, Aung

Kyaw Htet has recorded intimate moments and

not merely the physical beauty of the scene.

Aung Kyaw Htet’s main subjects are people: for him

these figures have become symbols of mankind’s

presence to identify place in the physical world.

He has been able to observe the smallness of man

in the vastness of the all encompassing spiritual

which become the foundations of his luminist por-

traits - a subliminal spirituality created by the use of

light and compositional elements. In his youth,

Aung Kyaw Htet would observe nature over and

over again - at all times of day and absorb its inher-

ent beauty. Indeed, Myanmar is a land blessed with

an abundance of unspoiled beauty and although

Aung Kyaw Htet does not view himself as a land-

scapist, land and place has been an important key

to his self-definition.

Nuns, Mandalay, 2007


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Aung Kyaw Htet’s Mauyaw Lakee, 1999 (p.29) -

is a celebration of nature in its sublime detail.

He depicts creation with remarkable verism that

suggests that his landscape is Edenic. He strove to

capture the vast and transparent nature of the

scene and in doing so speaks of a divine presence.

The mood of the painting is serenely still and

through the careful arrangement of light and

composition, Aung Kyaw Htet has transformed

the mundane daily activity of villagers fishing into

a sweeping vision of dignity - spelling out the fact

that he has never required any palatial settings

to enhance his own dignity. However, as his figures

load their catch in the foreground of the composi-

tion - underscoring the significance of the human

endeavor, it calls attention to grander things. With

its regular geometry and quiet amplitude as the

water reflects the sky, Aung Kyaw Htet’s landscape

bespeaks solemn dignity.

In another landscape, Floating Market, 2001 (p.38)

set on Myanmar’s famed Inlay Lake in Shan State,

Aung Kyaw Htet exchanged the somber and

subtle intensity of his palette for a brighter one.

Though he continued to retain his love for the

elemental qualities of the daily rhythms - his early

experience as a poster artist is clearly evident in

his careful observations among the crowd of

market vendors. The small drama of activity and

the act of viewing becomes the unwritten impera-

tive of Aung Kyaw Htet’s landscape by inviting the

viewer to see along with his figures.

In the tradition of Theravada Buddhism that is

practiced in Myanmar, the basis and discipline of

the Sangha, the body of monks, have been defined

since as early as the Pyu era by their communal

living in monasteries that is supported by the lay

communities. The importance of the rituals such

as the collecting and giving of alms are deemed

significant to both the monks whose livelihoods

are sustained by donations: normally food on a daily

basis and gifts of robes and utensils on ceremonial

occasions. But importantly the donor gains merit

for offering the donation or gift - an important act

in advancing towards Nirvana or Enlightenment.

Despite the austerity associated with the practice

and the countless rituals that have been handed

down through the generations, the tradition that

once encompassed a history filled with ancient art

forms have now inspired a new aesthetic with

a different approach - the Western practice of

painting, which refers to Myanmar’s practice of

contemporary modern art.

Recent artistic scholarship in Myanmar has found

popular subject matter in the representation of

monkhood especially by the time Aung Kyaw Htet

actively adapted the subject to his own artistic

vocabulary by the late 1990’s when he discovered

a new level of freedom in his art. Since the start

of his career, he engaged his art with ordinary

people going about their everyday lives. For the

same reason he was drawn to painting monks as

part of the elements of his own being and culture.


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Aung Kyaw Htet had always been well aware of

the sameness of subject amongst Myanmar artists

whose interpretations are often defined from an

academic training that did not allow for much self-

expression, resulting often in visual appealing but

very literal translations.

Aung Kyaw Htet has held the point of view that

his art was to be rendered directly from the source

and never as a fabrication of design - thus needing

a direct connection with the monks and their

surroundings. He often recalls his own period

of monkhood when as a young boy he willingly

followed the rigorous rituals. Aung Kyaw Htet

savored the experience, for though he was given

a glimpse of monastic living, he was most appre-

ciative of the comfort of and warmth that was

espoused by the camaraderie of the monks despite

the conformity of rituals.

Over time as he gained a greater emotional inde-

pendent spirit, he was able to infuse his work with

this same emotional content that would become

the foundation of his own standing. More than

ever, he painted young monks and novice nuns

employed in the simplicity of ongoing daily routine

with a depth and authenticity that poignantly cap-

tures the abundant joy of childhood. In these mes-

sages that are impregnated with colour and rhythm

reflect the artist’s own happy reunion with his

youth - reflections of his inner self with the colour

and lines containing his character and message.

Aung Kyaw Htet’s world is that of the private and

emotionally intimate made public by such a cultur-

ally personalized imagery that issues of sentiment

are submerged. Traditionally in the oriental context,

sentiment is an area of nostalgia that is often

regarded as retarding towards creativity. In this

respect, Aung Kyaw Htet could be considered as a

traditionalist and though his art does not possess

the decorative luxuriance of traditional Buddhist

art - but in the same vein, he has created a move-

ment to himself. In his work, his poverty, labor,

traditions, and religion are words that can be used

to grasp his world vision .


Novices, Bagan, 2007

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With this objective as his motivation, his earlier

paintings of monks were aptly portrayed as part

of a cultural landscape through which he relives

a world of apparent innocence regardless of the

whirlwind of complex frictions of the present. It

inspired him to create a body of work such as

Offering Rice I, 2000 (p.31), and Shwe Inn Bin

Monastery, 2000 (p.30) wherein the common

grammar is defined by rituals and objects such

as the lacquer alms bowls and umbrellas and

homage is paid to the everyday rituals. By their

presence, these figures that orchestrate the can-

vasses are most often viewed literally but do initiate

a dialogue with the spectator.

Red and maroon are the traditional colors of

monks’ robes in Myanmar - hues that he often

uses to reinforce the symbolic significance of the

works. This is because, despite the originality of

the plastic organization of his art, which form part

of the personality and history of the Buddhist

culture, their effect is universally easily accessible

and their meaning readily understood.

In much of his earlier paintings, Aung Kyaw Htet

willingly followed the rigorous training guidelines

of the academic system of realist composition -

a predominantly European tradition of painting

introduced into Myanmar during the early twenti-

eth century when talented artists studied abroad

and introduced the academy into the Myanmar

modern art tradition. At The Monastery, 2002

(p.47) is detailed with icons of Myanmar’s cultural

architecture. However, his emotional spirit was

starting to chafe at the academic restrictions of his

art training: he started to pour out his emotions in

his work as in Three Monks, 2003 (p.49) where the

camaraderie amongst the young monks are vividly

expressed. Novice with Puppy, 2003 (p.51) is filled

with tenderness that highlights simple childhood

playfulness. For Aung Kyaw Htet this period was

one rich in experimentation.

He discovered a new freedom in his art, especially

in his ability to explore a variety of styles and

approaches. Certainly his rapport with his subjects

remained ever present - which he started to magnify

with a glowing palette as in Shaving, 2001 (p.33).

Familiar with luminosity of strong light, he would

at times illuminate his canvasses with an incandes-

cence of color that worked with direct mark

making as in Offering Rice II (p.32) was still not

deprived of transparency for at the same time he

could capture the brutal radiance of the tropical light

and the extreme softness of his subjects - a depic-

tion of his mother, Daw Kyi offering alms to a novice

monk - revealing the duality of love and hope.

Parallel to this chromatic harmony were the new

dimensions of his creativity. Within all his works there

are undoubtedly iconographic links to his Myanmar

Buddhist roots, but Aung Kyaw Htet’s work was

taking on a universality and humanism that would

be identifiable by most cultures. Under The Sun,

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2002 (p.40) and The Little Helper, 2007 (p.92) are

typical examples of his ability to capture and render

the elements of his culture in its reality. The symbolic

narrative of the young helper that would reappear

in later paintings is in keeping with everyday reality

of life in Myanmar’s Buddhist tradition.

Aung Kyaw Htet’s more recent scholarship has

focused on the robes of the monks. In ancient

Indian Buddhist fables, when autumn leaves were

shed from trees - their colors changing from yellow

and orange to brown - the season symbolized the

ending of physical existence. Thus yellow symbol-

ized the color of renunciation and as such remains

symbolic to the Sangha or monkhood, with the

elder senior monks most often draped in darker

maroon or ochre robes and the younger monks

donned in brighter hues. A monk’s robe consists

of three garments as is depicted in the painting

Two Novices In Red, 2006 (p.85): an inner waist-

coat, an upper robe and an outer robe that is a

two by three meter length of cotton fabric stitched

in a patchwork of a hundred pieces resembling

the layout of a rice field.

The monks robes - the history of which dates back

to the lifetime of Buddha Gautama himself has

nourished Aung Kyaw Htet’s creativity. The subject

has inspired him to create a new body of work

that has been reinforced through the narrative

function of the intense use of color that despite its

originality of composition remains an integral part

of his culture. The symbolic narrative that he has

created through the ethereal pictorial of paintings

such as in Draping The Robes, 2007 (p.89) as well

as in Monk In Yellow Robes, 2006 (p.88) though

it has become part of a poetic repertoire which

is in keeping with a world past and present, it is

in no way a flight from reality. Instead its unique

translucent qualities it represents his very inde-

pendence from a conformist genre of art for in

this visual poetry is the manifestation of an

ancient custom tinged with the mystic and divine

experience - calm and assured of itself.

Although it is evident that there has been definite

influences in Aung Kyaw Htet’s artistic journey - he

has remained independent and too elusive to be

categorized. Painting is a religion, a rite of passage

and a ritual to be followed everyday for Aung

Kyaw Htet. Each day brings to him a new lesson

and a new challenge to his palette and canvas.

While many might struggle to find beauty in mun-

dane things, he finds in them a spiritual connec-

tion because he does not allow himself to forget

the hardships of his earlier years.

Pursuing the life of a fine artist had been Aung

Kyaw Htet’s constant dream since he was a

young boy in Kan Ywa. The transition from a life

of poverty in rural Myanmar to an internationally

recognized artist has been a journey that was full

of uncertainty. He has achieved his goal through

his devotion and dedication to his beliefs and


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Young NoviceDraping the Robes,

Bagan, 2007

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Youn

g M

onk,

Pen

cil o

n pa

per,

28 x

33

cm,

2007

50-08-131_001-027 new7_W 4/4/12, 4:44 PM24

dreams and remains humble and grounded in the

face of this success.

Drawing

Though drawing was his primary form of expres-

sion early in his career, the medium still holds

a fascination for Aung Kyaw Htet for it allows

him to view his expressions with renewed vigor

that reminds him of the medium’s special rela-

tionship to the human psyche. And though the

immediacy of drawing is an essential part of his

creative process, he continues to find immense

pleasure in its informality. Aung Kyaw Htet devel-

oped an aptitude for drawing very early on in his

practice, which may account for his precise

rendering of his subjects.


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Portraiture

Aung Kyaw Htet’s portraits of ordinary people are

filled with an emotional content that has become

the foundation of his standing. “Unless I have

some emotional connection to the subject, the

painting becomes empty for me - for the purpose

of picturing extends beyond the realistic render-

ing of the outer form.”

Landscape

“I feel a very strong connection with Myanmar’s

past. And in its landscape I feel the influence of

the hands of men, women and the generations

of labor that identify my own presence.” From this

path, Aung Kyaw Htet has been able to develop

a union that he expresses through a sparkling

palette where color and composition becomes

the actual essence of his paintings.

Monks

“The innocence and joy of childhood is a magic

spectacle that has been established in my visions.

The novice monks and nuns who are ever present

in my art represent indelible images of childhood -

they speak of life though the joy in their eyes and

the quiet voices in their hearts.”


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PLATES

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My Father, 1998, 75 x 89 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection

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Mauyaw Lake, 1999, 60 x 90 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection

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Shwe Inn Bin Monastery, 2000, 76 x 91 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection

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Offering Rice I, 2000, 61 x 81 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection

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Offering Rice II, 2001, 60 x 80 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection

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Shaving, 2001, 60 x 80 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection

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Monk with a Joyous Smile, 2001, 75 x 59 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection

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Monk and Dove, 2001, 75 x 60 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection

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Grandmother, 2001, 45 x 50 cm Oil on canvas Thavibu Gallery

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Ethnic Minority Girls, 2001, 60 x 80 cm Oil on canvas Thavibu Gallery

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Floating Market, 2001, 75 x 90 cm Oil on canvas Thavibu Gallery


In the Village, 2002, 60 x 90 cm Oil on canvas Thavibu Gallery


Under the Sun, 2002, 90 x 120 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Ascending, 2002, 60 x 80 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Praying Novices, 2002, 90 x 120 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Afternoon Prayer, 2002, 90 x 120 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Morning Walk, 2002, 90 x 120 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Monk with Offering Bowl, 2002, 90 x 120 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Burmese Beauty, 2002, 90 x 120 cm Oil on canvas Thavibu Gallery


At the Monastery, 2002, 90 x 120 cm Oil on canvas Private collection


Praying Novices, 2003, 90 x 120 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Three Monks, 2003, 85 x 115 cm Oil on canvas Private collection


Mother, 2003, 45 x 50 cm Oil on canvas Thavibu Gallery


Novice with Puppy, 2003, 86 x 112 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Four Novices, 2003, 90 x 120 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Young Novices II, 2003, 60 x 80 cm Oil on canvas Private collection


Young Nuns Studying, 2003, 90 x 117 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Young Nuns, 2003, 91 x 121 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Two Young Nuns Praying, 2003, 89 x 116 cm Oil on canvas Collection of the National Art Gallery, Malaysia


Monks on Side Car, 2003, 86 x 114 cm Oil on canvas Collection of the National Art Gallery, Malaysia


Young Nun with Bowl, 2004, 58 x 73 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Young Nuns at Shwe Inn Bin Monastery, 2004, 115 x 149 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Nuns under the Sun, 2004, 85 x 113 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Two Novices, 2004, 86 x 114 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Monks under the Sun, 2005, 114 x 150 cm Oil on canvas Thavibu Gallery


Praying Nuns, 2005, 115 x 149 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Five Nuns on a Morning Walk, 2005, 86 x 114 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


A Young Nun Under the Sun, 2005, 87 x 114 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Young Nuns in Pink Robes, 2005, 115 x 149 cm Oil on canvas Thavibu Gallery


Praying Under the Sweltering Sun, 2005, 86 x 113 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Two Young Nuns, 2005, 85 x 113 cm Oil on canvas Thavibu Gallery


Praying Nuns, 2005, 115 x 149 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Praying Monks, 2005, 115 x 149 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Early Morning, 2005, 80 x 110 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Young Novices Reading, 2005, 86 x 113 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Early Breakfast, 2005, 86 x 113 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Late Afternoon, 2005, 115 x 149 cm Oil on canvas Thavibu Gallery


Three Young Monks, 2006, 86 x 113 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Young Boy Hitting the Gong, 2006, 86 x 113 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


White Robes, 2006, 86 x 113 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Monks with Fans, 2006, 115 x 149 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Hitting the Gong, 2006, 86 x 113 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Enjoying A Break, 2006, 86 x 113 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


My Old Neighbour, 2006, 61 x 81 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Three Young Nuns, 2006, 75 x 90 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Two Young Monks in Red, 2006, 86 x 113 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Novice in Red, 2006, 86 x 113 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Two Novices in Red, 2006, 115 x 149 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Monks in Yellow Robes, 2006, 115 x 149 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


A Hot Day, 2006, 86 x 113 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Monk in Yellow Robes, 2006, 86 x 113 cm Oil on canvas Thavibu Gallery


Draping the Robes, 2007, 84 x 113 cm Oil on canvas Thavibu Gallery


Yellow Series (1), 2007, 75 x 122 cm Oil on canvas Private Collection


Yellow Series (3), 2007, 86 x 113 cm Oil on canvas Thavibu Gallery


The Little Helper, 2007, 86 x 113 cm Oil on canvas Thavibu Gallery


Monk’s Portrait, 2007, 28 x 30 cm Charcoal on paper Thavibu Gallery

www.thavibu.comThe Silom Galleria, 3rd FloorSuite 308, 919/1 Silom rd.,Bangkok 10500, Thailand

Tel. (662) 266 5454, Fax. (662) 266 5455E-mail. [email protected]

Aung Kyaw Htet - Myanmar Inspirations

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