Burma to Myanmar @ the British Museum

Burma to Myanmar is the first major exhibition in the UK to give a good cultural history of the country widely known as Burma until the military junta changed its name to Myanmar in 1989. Burma achieved independence from the British Empire in January 1948, so the exhibition marks the 75th anniversary of Myanmar’s independence.

Seated Buddha, acquired by Captain Frederick Marryat during the First Anglo-Burmese War, 1824 to 1826. Made of lacquer, wood, gold, textile and shell. From central or lower Myanmar. British Museum. Photo by the author

It’s a smallish exhibition, by British Museum standards, up in the Rotunda exhibition space, and bringing together some 130 objects – but it still manages to be pretty confusing. This is for at least two reasons. As with other countries we don’t hear much about in the news and whose cultural products we almost never see, almost everything about the exhibition is UNFAMILIAR. Therefore, there’s a lot of information to take in and process.

The second reason is that the history of Burma is genuinely complicated and confusing. To be very simplistic, you can divide Burma’s history into four parts.

4. Post-independence

Working backwards, there’s the period from independence in 1948 to the present day, mostly marked by military dictatorship, rebellions and repression. This is reasonably understandable because we’re talking about one defined country with fixed borders, and the pattern of military dictatorship is familiar from countless other developing countries, while the rise of Aung San Suu Kyi as leader of the opposition and a sort of Nelson Mandela figure, is reasonably familiar from the news.

3. Second World War

The Second World War devastated the country, loosened colonial control and hastened independence from Britain in 1948. Japan seized Burma from the British and the latter only slowly fought back, fighting with many Burmese nationalists who were promised independence, in what at the time and ever since has often been dubbed ‘the forgotten war’. This, also, is fairly familiar from British wartime books, histories, memoirs etc.

2. British colonial period

Before that came the colonial period, from Britain’s first involvement in 1826 through to the granting of independence in 1948. There were three Anglo-Burma Wars:

First Anglo-Burmese War (March 1824 to February 1826)
Second Anglo-Burmese War (April 1852 to January 1853)
Third Anglo-Burmese War (November 1885)

In each of these small wars Britain seized control of more territory (the exhibition features about a dozen wall labels with useful maps, including one showing Britain’s steady encroachment through the nineteenth century).

For most of that period Burma was not a separate political entity but was ruled as a province of British India. During that long period the British invested in developing the Burmese economy, encouraging arts and crafts to be made for the international market etc.

The British abolished the monarchy and imposed new administrative systems. For the kinds of artists and craftsmen represented here, the British introduced new techniques and materials and encouraged new clienteles. The introduction of the census led to ethnic stereotyping that helped set the stage for the conflicts of today.

Again, this all follows a recognisable pattern and invokes ideas familiar from all the other colonies we managed.

1. Pre-1826: rising and falling ethnic kingdoms

What makes the exhibition challenging is what came before the Brits, the 2,000 years or more from the earliest recorded artefacts through to the first British war. Burma sits at a sort of crossroads of India to the west, China to the east, Thailand to the south and, over its long history, has absorbed influences from all these countries and ones further afield.

But the biggest factor or reason, which I struggled to get my head around, is that the final borders of Burma were only settled at independence in 1948 (even under the British not all the territory within the nominal borders was effectively ruled by the Brits, with the mountains in the north never fully pacified) –and that for over 2,000 years before that, there was no country called Burma, there was a succession of kingdoms and empires which rose and fell, some entirely in the borders of modern Burma, some straddling them, kingdoms based on ethnic groups which fought among themselves or with Indian kingdoms to the west, Chinese peoples to the East, Thai and Laos people to the east, and so on.

From the 14th century numerous kingdoms jostled for power. These kingdoms extended fluctuating control over resources, people and religious authority, and expanded their links with Thailand, China, Sri Lanka, and traders from the Middle East and Europe, creating a fertile ground for diverse cultures to flourish.

Nowadays there are reckoned to be over 100 languages and dialects spoken in Myanmar, a legacy of its extraordinarily complicated, shifting, kaleidoscopic history. There is also religious variety. Although nearly 90% of Myanmar’s inhabitants practise Buddhism, the country is also home to many Christians, Hindus, Muslims and animists.

Examples

Here are some examples from the exhibition wall labels which indicate the detail and complexity of Burma’s changing kingdoms and peoples.

In the 1300s and 1400s, other political centres appeared, including the Hanthawaddy kingdom in lower Myanmar, and Mrauk U in present-day Rakhine State. Shan states dominated regions in the north and east. Highland chiefdoms, linked by complex kinship networks, existed between these various centres. Frontiers and cultures were fluid and political control depended on personal loyalties.

The earliest urban centres in Southeast Asia were occupied by the Pyu peoples from about 200 BC. They had cultural links to Indian kingdoms, the Himalayas, Sri Lanka, China and Dvaravati in Thailand. The Pyu peoples were succeeded in central Myanmar by the Bagan (Pagan) kingdom, which flourished from the 11th to the 13th centuries.

After Bagan’s decline, central Myanmar’s kingdoms (with capitals at Ava, Amarapura, Toungoo and Mandalay), waxed and waned until the late 1800s. Their political sway could stretch from Ahom (Assam) and Manipur in the west, to Ayutthaya, Lan Na and Lan Xang in the east, and extend down the Thai-Malay peninsula, periodically making successive kingdoms the largest empires in mainland Southeast Asia. Warfare and the colonisation of surrounding regions led to the relocation of people into central Myanmar. These population influxes brought new ideas and skills and produced a diverse cultural environment.

Lower Myanmar’s kingdoms: associated with the Mon peoples, kingdoms emerged in lower Myanmar at Thaton, Mottama (Martaban) and Bago (Pegu). Made wealthy from trade, the region’s ports teemed with Chinese, Indian and Southeast Asian traders, and later European, Persian and Abyssinian (Ethiopian) merchants. The area had strong links with Thai kingdoms and Sri Lanka. Invasions from Arakan, Ayutthaya (central Thailand), and central Myanmar resulted in the frequent movement of peoples. Bago briefly defeated the central Burmese kingdom in the 1740s, but was quickly reconquered and its distinct history marginalised.

The kingdom of Bago’s ‘Golden Age’ occurred under Queen Shin Saw Bu (reigned 1453 to 1472) and her successor King Dhammazedi (reigned 1472 to 1492). During this time, the kingdom developed strong ties with Sri Lanka and became an important Buddhist centre.

You get the idea. A blizzard of peoples, kingdoms, maps and history to process and understand, all of which is completely new to the average visitor.

Natural resources

Early on the exhibition shows us that Myanmar has always been rich in natural resources including jade, rubies and teak, cotton and oil. Thus the opening room or space has an impressive teak ‘steering chair’, a heavily lacquered mirror, and some amber earplugs (!).

That’s why the exhibition features, early on, an oil worker’s helmet – not because it is a beautiful object but it symbolises Myanmar’s abundance of resources. Myanmar is one of Southeast Asia’s oldest oil producers, with Chinese records dating Burmese oil wells to the 1200s (!). Originally monopolised by Burmese kings, oil became a major export under British colonial rule. During the Second World War, the retreating British army destroyed oil fields to prevent them from falling into the hands of the invading Japanese. The oil industry has still not recovered from this damage.

Talking of teak, the exhibition has been beautifully designed to convey a Burmese vibe, with each ‘room’ or exhibition space separated not by solid walls but by bannister partitions of dark brown teak wood. Not very obvious in my photo is the way empty parts of wall have projected onto them abstract patterns and designs of, presumably, Burmese origin. Then there’s the tinkling of the zither (see below) – all contributing to a gently subtle Burmese vibe.

Installation view of Burma to Myanmar @ the British Museum. Photo by the author

The name

Before British colonial rule (1826 to 1948), what we know as Myanmar today consisted of many different kingdoms, one of which was called ‘Myanma’ or ‘Bama’. ‘Burma’ became the country’s official unified name under the British. In 1989 the new military regime adopted the name ‘Union of Myanmar’.

Selected objects

King Dhammaraja Hussain’s coin

For instance, a coin shown in the exhibition issued by King Dhammaraja Hussain (reigned 1612 to 1622) of the Mrauk U kingdom in Arakan (now Rakhine State), is inscribed in Arakanese, Bengali and Persian and so shows the wide reach of that kingdom’s trade and political networks.

King Alaungpaya’s golden letter

Rulers in central Myanmar came to dominate parts of the region between the 16th and 19th centuries, founding the largest empire in mainland Southeast Asia. King Alaungpaya (ruled 1752 to 1760) was the founder of the last Burmese dynasty in the Konbaung kingdom. Alaungpaya sent this letter to King George II of Great Britain as a royal diplomatic gesture between equal heads of state. It is made of gold, set with 24 rubies, and was housed in an elephant-tusk case, indicating the power and wealth of his expanding empire. It also graciously permits the British to use a local coastal port. Despite the importance the letter’s sumptuous materials conveyed, George viewed it as a curiosity and never replied, causing great offense. Today this is the only known letter of its kind. The letter is now a UNESCO ‘memory of the world’ object.

The Golden Letter of Alaungpaya (Konbaung period, 18th century) © Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Bibliothek – Niedersächsische Landesbibliothek, Hannover, Ms IV 751a

Ramayana wall hanging

Wall hanging (shwe-chi-doe or kalaga) illustrating scenes from the Ramayana The vibrant scenes exquisitely embroidered on this wall hanging are episodes from the Ramayana, an epic tale that originated in India and was adapted in parts of Southeast Asia. The Ramayana became popular at the Burmese court after the forced relocation of Thai theatre troupes there in 1767 and was performed around the country. Panels like this would have been hung as room dividers or backdrops.

Shell letter

A shell ‘letter’ requesting the development of local infrastructure from 1907 written to the colonial government. The letter, written on pages of silk bound in a large shell and held in place by silver supports, is from the townspeople of Myeik (Mergui) to Lieutenant-Governor Herbert Thirkell White, asking for better infrastructure, including clean water, improved transport links, a bi-lingual science school and a hospital.

Buddhist reliquary

A gold Buddhist reliquary from the 1400s that demonstrates the religious connections between the kingdom of Hanthawaddy in lower Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

Blanket

An exceptional late 19th or early 20th century blanket from the Nung-Rawang people (one of the Kachin groups) of northern Myanmar. Its materials, patterning and weaving techniques demonstrate both the Nung-Rawang’s links with other Kachin groups, as well as their distinct cultural attributes.

Court robes

In a big display case are two striking court robes. One is the high-ranking Burmese military robe for the Atwinwun (Secretary of State). Its ‘cloud collar’ is an adaptation of Thai theatrical costumes based on court dress. In turn, the Thai court had based this collar on Chinese formal robes. The gold and silver embroidery seen here was a technique adapted from Indian textiles, which were a popular luxury import in Myanmar.

The other one dates from the period when kings from central Myanmar repeatedly attacked the kingdom of Ayutthaya (central Thailand), beginning in the 1560s. In 1767 the Burmese destroyed Ayutthaya, and thousands of people were forcibly relocated to central Myanmar, including artists, musicians, and dancers. At the Burmese court, Thai theatre troupes’ performances were greatly admired. Their costumes were copied as a new type of formal court dress, like this robe which includes Thai-style swags on the front-piece and flourishes at the shoulder.

You can see the second of these, along with numerous other examples, on this Pinterest page.

Shan map

A stunning map of several Shan states from the 1880s made to assist the British in the process of drawing hard borders with China. The states of Selan (black) and Nam Kham (red) became part of British Burma, while China’s Yunnan province absorbed Mong Mao (yellow).

Shan Map (about 1889) Reproduced by kind permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University Library

Modern green Burmese python

This iridescent ceramic serpent was produced by Soe Yu Nwe (born 1989), a Chinese-Myanmar artist, during her residency at the famous Jingdezhen kilns in China. The sculpture combines the artist’s Chinese zodiac sign with the Burmese belief that pythons are protectors of the Buddha, visually symbolising her unified identity.

A bust of General Aung San

General Aung San (1915 t o1947), was leader of the Burma Independence Army. He initially supported Japan to hasten independence from Britain, but after Japanese colonial intentions became clear, he agreed to fight with the Allies, provided talks for independence began after the war. Aung San is regarded as the founder of modern Burma, although he was assassinated by a political opponent just before independence.

Cartoons

In the colonial section is a selection of the kinds of crafts the British encouraged local craftspeople to make with a view to a steadily more international, globalising market, chairs and such. I was much more intrigued by a sequence of more modern works:

some watercolours by U Ba Nyan (1897–1945)
a poster advertising Sunlight Soap from an original painting by U Ba Nyan

And some Burmese cartoons! Apparently, cartooning became a highly appreciated art form in Burma in the early 20th century. Two of the main cartoonists were U Ba Gyan and the Muslim artist U Bagale, who satirised British and Burmese alike, while commenting on the unsettled period of the 1920s and 30s which saw rebellions against colonial rule, strikes and boycotts.

Find out more about Ba Gyan on Wikipedia.

Crocodile zither

The Mon people of lower Myanmar had strong cultural links with central Thailand, one expression of which is the crocodile zither. Although zithers exist across Southeast Asia, the reptilian shape is mostly found from lower Myanmar across to Cambodia. In Thailand and Cambodia, these zithers are highly stylised and abstracted. Only in lower Myanmar do they realistically resemble crocodiles. The zither would have had strings that ran the length of the crocodile’s back.

You can see it on the Royal Collection Trust website.

The exhibition features a one-minute audio loop of someone playing one of these zithers accompanied by a clapper and cymbals – the instruments that usually accompany it – performed by Saya Nai Kon Ha Ti from Duya Village, Ye Township, Mon State. To be perfectly honest, after about an hour in the presence of this endlessly looping 1-minute snippet, it began to get on my nerves.

Standing Buddha

Because of religious changes across the Buddhist world, the appearance, hand gestures and body positions of Burmese Buddha images shifted from about the 1840s. They became less elaborate and more naturalistic, and many were inlaid with coloured glass. Seated images in the gesture of enlightenment remained important, but new standing and reclining poses recalled other events in the Buddha’s life.

Storage jar

The kingdom of Bago’s ports handled products like gems, teak, sugar, cotton, rice and cloth from across the region. By the 1500s, their trade networks had extended to Europe and Japan. Sturdy ceramic jars like this, produced for export in lower Myanmar, were used on trading ships, including Middle Eastern and European ones, to store goods, water and food. Major kilns making such stoneware were based at Mottama (Martaban) and Twante near Yangon.

Thoughts

Challenging if not impossible to follow the convoluted pre-colonial history, but a fascinating and worthwhile overview of a country which remains a mystery to most of us in the West. Well done, British Museum.

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