Politics and the Burmese Artist

On March 4, 2010, Shaun Randol sat with Burmese political artist Chaw Ei Thein to discuss the struggles of Burmese artists inside and outside her home country, the artistic process and her work, and Chaw's hopes for Burma's future. freeDimensional [3]and Adelphi University's Levermore Global Scholars Program [4]helped bring the event together.

This freeDimensional Critical Dialogue took place at Adelphi University's Manhattan Campus. Parts 1 and 2 are below.

Produced by The Mantle. Cinematography and editing by The Mantle’s vlogger, Laura Thies [5]. Graphics by Sarah D. Schulman [6].

As the co-founder and director of the Sunflower Art Gallery in Yangon, Myanmar, Chaw Ei Thein organizes exhibitions and fairs for children and psychiatric patients in Myanmar and Cambodia. She was recently awarded the Elizabeth J. McCormack and Jerome I. Aron Fellowship from the Asian Cultural Council (ACC), and will be an artist-in-residence with the International Studio and Curatorial Program (ISCP) this year. She has also spoken at a number of universities, including School of the Art Institute Chicago (SAIC), Brown University, and the Open Society Institute (OSI) in New York, among others. She received an LL.B. from Rangoon University, Burma in 1994.

More: Chaw's blog [7]; A review of her recent exhibit, Transformed Conversation [8], at Soapbox Gallery