Face to Face

After the mother was gone, i was left to my own devices in Yangon, proven to be a hermit these days, i spent a couple days chilling aout and roaming around drinking coffee and people watcing. I went and visited my friend Pyay Way who runs a gallery here. We decided that we were going to have an art day. He was going to invite some of the artists that display work in his gallery, and we were going to share stories, and create together.
A week later we all met up on a rare sunny day and sat outside under the colourful umbrellas doing portraits of each other. It was a great day, a few hours drawing, chatting smiling and meeting strangers. We had lots of people come up interested in what we were doing, and wanting a free portrait, and it was a highlight when a man in military uniform asked for his done.
After a couple hours scribbling, we returned to the gallery for some performances live painting and installation. It was great sharing and learning with these artists.
I had a few questions i wanted to ask them, and as they could not speak english, Pyay way said that he would translate for me.
It began as what i thought may have been a short excercise with short answers, the question was, "What made you first interested in art?" and the storys came a rolling, it may have also been the whisky and chilled atmosphere we had going on, but we got stories till 11pm about their chilhood, their first drawings, inspiration, their battle to remain as artists, and the difficulties of being an artist under a military regime. They were amazing stories, and i felt truly blessed to have been given this gift of history from their voices and decoded and sent to my ears by Pyay Way.
Here are some photos of the day, it was great and full smiling.
Thankyou Pyay Way, Nawaday Alley. xx