We’ve got some pretty cool stuff happening in town this weekend, Yangon — art exhibitions, a film festival that’s screening a movie from 1934, and a pop-up teak furniture shop, for starters. Read on for more deets.
Memory! Film Festival
Date: Nov. 9 – Nov. 18
Venue: Waziya Cinema (formerly the Excelsior) – Bogyoke Aung San Road between 33rd and 34th street
The MEMORY! Film Festival brings 75 local and international films to the silver screen — this year, the program explores the themes of “press and democracy on the silver screen.” Bring your popcorn, sunflower seeds, or whatever else floats your snack munching boat downtown for a show. Best of all: The screenings are all free.
Specifically: Check out Mya Ga Naing at Mahabandoola Park
Date: Nov. 10th, 6 P.M.
Venue: Mahabandoola Park
The film Mya Ga Naing (Emerald Jungle) was directed by Maung Tin Maung in 1934, when Myanmar’s Golden Age of Cinema began. The silent film will be screened in an open-air setting in Mahabandoola Park as part of the MEMORY! Film Festival, and accompanied by the Hsaing Waing orchestra of Hein Tint and the German Jazz ensemble around Meike Goosmann. Mixing elements of traditional Burmese music and Western style and instruments, the artists will follow a composition by Khin Maung — which the director Maung Tin Maung had later added to the originally silent work once the technology became available.
Check out reclaimed teak furniture at Yangon Vintage
Date: Nov. 10 and 11th, 8:30 A.M. – 2:00 P.M. and 8:30 A.M. to 11:00 A.M.
Venue: Near Junction 8 Mile, On Kyaik Waing Pagoda Road
Yangon Vintage, a small furniture business specializing in refurbishing and selling reclaimed teak furniture, hosts a monthly pop-up furniture shop. Visitors can stop by and check out their current collection of vintage custom and reclaimed teak furniture.
Expo: &PROUD Photo/Art
Date: Nov. 8 – Nov. 18
Venue: MyanM/Art, 98 Bogalayzay Street, Botahtaung Township
An excellent (and important) exhibit documenting life in the LGBTQ community in Myanmar: Photographer Grace Baey’s intimate portraits of Yangon’s transgender community will be showcased alongside winners of the &Proud Photo Competition. Artists Thynn Lei New and Richie Htet’s illustrations of the LGBT community will also be displayed in the gallery. See some samples of the portraits and learn more about the project through our interview with Baey here.
There are No Homosexuals in Iran
Date: Nov. 9 – Nov. 18
Venue: Pansuriya Gallery, 100 Bogalayzay Street, Botahtaung Township
In the same building as the &PROUD Photo/ Art exhibit, Laurence Rasti’s photography exhibit highlights the prejudices faced by gay Iranians in Iran and Turkey, where they have fled to “start afresh”. Repurposing what the former Iranian president Ahmadinejad said at Columbia University in 2007, “There are No Homosexuals in Iran” is a vulnerable exploration of identity, gender, community and acceptance.
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