On this episode, against the backdrop of Myanmar’s Civil Disobedience Movement that arose in the wake of the military junta's coup of 1 February 2021, I speak to acclaimed Burmese artist Moe Satt about his performance- and multimedia- based practice. We talk about how visual arts practitioners navigate censorship and restraints on civil liberties. We also discuss the way in which Myanmar's independent cultural organisations like AMCA are engaging in visual activism, how Generation Z and Boomers alike are splitting up across the virtual and actual domains and joining hands against the junta and, indeed, the importance of hands as symbols of solidarity in Moe's work, which we discuss in detail.

Click here to access the Image Guide+ and view the images and material being discussed in the podcast: https://sites.google.com/view/artalaap-podcast-resources/episode-6.

Credits:

Producer: Tunak Teas

Design & artwork: Mohini Mukherjee

Marketing: Dipalie Mehta

Intern: Aastha Anupriya

Images: Moe Satt

Audio courtesy: Vernouillet by Blue Dot Sessions [CC BY-NC 4.0]

Additional support: Kanishka Sharma, Amy Goldstone-Sharma, Raghav Sagar, Shalmoli Halder, Arunima Nair, Jayant Parashar

References:

Ellen Pearlman 'A Brief History of Contemporary Art in Myanmar', Hyperallergic, 10 July 2017.

Lisa Movius, 'The Artists on the frontline of Myanmar's deadly protests', The Art Newspaper, 1 March 2021.

Nathalie Johnston, 'The Artists Fighting for a Different Future', Frieze, 19 February 2021.

Sarah Cascone, 'After a Military Coup, Artists Across Myanmar Are Making Protest Art to Share Their Struggle for Democracy With the World', Artnet, 16 February 2021.

Hannah Beech, 'Paint, Poems and Protest Anthems: Myanmar's Coup Inspires The Art of Defiance', The New York Times, 2 March 2021.

Ma Thanegi, 'A brief history of Myanmar modern art', Artstream Myanmar.

Yin Ker, 'Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? Premises for Burmese Contemporary Art with Po Po, Tun Win Aung, Wah Nu and Min Thein Sung.', Afterall: A Journal of Art, Context and Enquiry 2018. 46: 26-37.

Nathalie Johnston, ArtReview, 'Myanmar Artists Are Making History', 1 April 2020.

Boris Groys, 'On Art Activism', e-flux Journal #56, June 2014.

Nicholas Mirzoeff, 'The Right to Look', Critical Inquiry, Vol. 37, No. 3 (Spring 2011), pp. 473-496.

Inêz Beleza Barreiros, "Theory is not just words on a page. It's also things that are made": Interview with Nicholas Mirzoeff', Buala, 27 June 2017.