Maung Day
War-Colored River, 2022
Mixed media on paper
27.5 x 37.5 cm
Copyright The Artist
In April 2022 – almost a year after a series of wars broke out between the Arakan Army and the Bamar Military in the area, Burmese artist Maung Day took...
In April 2022 – almost a year after a series of wars broke out between the Arakan Army and the Bamar Military in the area, Burmese artist Maung Day took a trip to Arakan Land. On this trip through Sittwe, Mrauk-U and other small Arakanese towns, he brought along a drawing book, into which he sketched out the sights of his journey. Upon returning home, he redrew many of these sketches.
Of this drawing, Maung Day writes:
"I made two sketches of a barge in the Gispanadi River. They both are my attempts to capture the political and geographical textures of the land and water. While the other one touches more on the positives, this one peels off the surface of the land to reveal the anxieties around war. When I was there, I observed that there was always a sense of foreboding in the conversations of local Arakanese. They were looking forward to a better future under the AA, but they also feared the worst because they knew a war could break out anytime."
Of this drawing, Maung Day writes:
"I made two sketches of a barge in the Gispanadi River. They both are my attempts to capture the political and geographical textures of the land and water. While the other one touches more on the positives, this one peels off the surface of the land to reveal the anxieties around war. When I was there, I observed that there was always a sense of foreboding in the conversations of local Arakanese. They were looking forward to a better future under the AA, but they also feared the worst because they knew a war could break out anytime."