Sonny Nyein has exhibited his steel sculptures at two exhibitions in Chiang Mai this year. Pic: Ma Thanegi

MYANMAR art and culture has come alive in Thailand as 30 Myanmar artists display their work in the Chiang Mai University Museum and Art Centre through July 31.

The university offered Suvannabhumi art gallery owner Mar Mar the chance to hold an exhibition of her favourite Myanmar artists to celebrate her gallery’s third birthday.

Mar Mar travelled the country to personally pick up paintings from such big names as Kin Maung Yin, Min Wae Aung, Tin Win, Kyee Myint Saw, San Minn, Nay Myo Say, Moe Nyo, Min Zaw, Myat Kyawt, Zaw Win Pe, Zaw Min, photographer Sein Myo Myint and sculptor Sonny Nyein.

Nyein’s works in steel were already in Chiang Mai as his solo exhibition had been held in May.

The exhibition also includes some works from Mar Mar’s private collection.
The exhibition, formally opened on the evening of July 10, was attended by more than 200 invited guests.

Nine of the artists from Myanmar travelled to Chiang Mai for the event, which was lauded by visitors as the biggest art show Chiang Mai has ever seen.
The next day, when it opened to the public, nearly 200 art lovers flocked to see the paintings.

Sonny Nyein’s fiercely aggressive works in black painted steel, which stand in the main hall surrounded by canvases, catch everyone's eye as they enter. One of his best is Thorn, an abstract piece that looks like a wounded skeletal creature with a thorn piercing not inwards, but outwards, from its side.

San Minn’s surrealistic and satirical take on society is seen in his paintings of humans with animal heads. In a posed portrait of a wedding couple, the bride has a hen’s head while the groom sprouts that of a tiger. The painting humorously testifies to the battle of wills that often come into a Myanmar marriage right after the wedding.

In Myat Kyawt’s exuberant people fly over the streets of downtown Yangon, while the wild but controlled colours of Zaw Win Pe vividly showcase his controlled depictions of the Shan Hills.

Lu Min’s painting of a corps de ballet (Behind the Curtains) captures the excitement and activity of dancers hurriedly preparing to go on stage, while Kyee Myint Saw’s nun stands completely still in lonely contemplation at Shwedagon Pagoda.

Sandar Khaing’s full figures, with their strong lines and near-solid colours, portray a quiet strength and calm.

This art exhibition was yet another major step taken by Myanmar artists have taken, with the support of Suvannabhumi art gallery, to showing outsiders that a vibrant art community continues to exist here.