Burma to Myanmar at the British Museum

 

Standing Buddha image offering a myrobalan fruit. Wood, lacquer, gold and glass, Myanmar, late 19th century.
© 2023 The Trustees of the British Museum

 
 

Burma to Myanmar

November 2, 2023 — February 11, 2024

 

From influential superpower to repressive regime, Myanmar – also known as Burma – has seen dramatic fluctuations in fortune over the past 1,500 years.

Experiencing decades of civil war and now ruled again by a military dictatorship, Myanmar is an isolated figure on the world stage today, and its story is relatively little known in the West. However, the extraordinary artistic output of its peoples, over more than a millennium of cultural and political change, attests to its pivotal role at the crossroads of Asia. 

Picking up the thread around AD 450, the exhibition explores how Myanmar's various peoples interacted with each other and the world around them, leading to new ideas and art forms. From the 14th century several kingdoms jostled for power and expanded important links with Thailand, China, Sri Lanka, and traders from the Middle East and Europe, creating a fertile ground for diverse cultures to flourish; a coin issued by King Dhammaraja Hussain (r. 1612–22) of the Arakan kingdom, inscribed in Arakanese, Bengali and Persian, shows the wide reach of his trade and political networks.

Rulers in central Myanmar came to dominate parts of the region between the 16th and 19th centuries, becoming the largest empire in mainland Southeast Asia. A stunning gold and ruby-studded letter sent by King Alaungpaya to George II in 1756 speaks to the empire's wealth and power.

Annexation by the British in the 19th century saw tremendous changes impacting art, culture and society – and contributed to the turmoil faced by Myanmar today. The show concludes by exploring how modern-day artists have defied state censors, marrying activism with artistic traditions in expressions of resistance and hope. 

Interconnected yet cut-off, rich in natural resources such as jade, rubies and teak but with much of the country living below the poverty line, Myanmar is a country that defies categorisation. This unprecedented exhibition offers the chance to see the history behind the headlines.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Exhibition Preview

 

The Golden Letter of Alaungpaya, gold and rubies, present-day Myanmar, 1756.
Photo © Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Bibliothek – Niedersächsische Landesbibliothek, Hannover, Ms IV 751a.

Map showing three Shan states, paper, Myanmar, about 1889.
Reproduced by kind permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University Library.

Nung-Rawang-Kachin blanket, hemp and animal hair, Myanmar, 19th century.
Photo © University of Oxford, Pitt Rivers Museum.

Standing Buddha image offering a myrobalan fruit. Wood, lacquer, gold and glass, Myanmar, late 19th century.
© 2023 The Trustees of the British Museum. 

Ceramic storage jar, Myanmar, 1200–1500.
© 2023 The Trustees of the British Museum

Silver coin issued by Dhammaraja Hussain, Myanmar, 1612–22.
© 2023 The Trustees of the British Museum. 

Textile hanging (detail) with scenes from the Ramayana, Myanmar, early 1900s.
© 2023 The Trustees of the British Museum

 

Explore additional Burmese arts in the British Museum collection

 

Figure (horse with rider), 18th century-19th century
1981,1023.1
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Figure of the crowned Buddha, 18th century-19th century
1919,0717.1
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Stela. Buddha in earth-touching posture on lotus throne with 5 smaller seated Buddhas, above representation of nirvana, 12th century
1945,1017.252
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Figure (worshipping boy) made of lacquered and gilded wood, 19th century
1982,0524.1
© The Trustees of the British Museum

One of five pages of a tattoo manuscript featuring a tiger, a dragon, an elephant, and a Nat-like figure, 19th century
2005,0623,0.5
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Stupa deposit. Cast and lacquered image of the Buddha-to-be cutting off his hair, renouncing his former princely life, 19th century
1995,1107.2
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Figure of the Buddha, 18th century-early 19th century
1880.250
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Tile depicting a pair of standing Māra demon soldiers, around 1479
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Woman's basket (with separate lid) made of vegetable fibre, late 19th century-early 20th century
As1950,03.25
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Seated figure of the Buddha, 18th century
1872,0701.2
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Figure of the Buddha made of gilded and lacquered marble, 18th century
1872,0701.11
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Seated figure of a crowned Buddha, about 1600-1799
1969,0211.1
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Bronze bell, 1800-1860s
As.6017
© The Trustees of the British Museum

One of five pages of a tattoo manuscript featuring tigers, 19th century
2005,0623,0.1
© The Trustees of the British Museum

Smoking pipe-bowl made of brass, 1850-1915
As1935,0408.9
© The Trustees of the British Museum

 
News 14, Exhibitions 3Editorial TeamArt of the Ancestors, Steven G. Alpert, Asian Art, Island Southeast Asian Art, Oceanic Art, Asiatica, Ethnographica, Ethnographic Art, Art Collection, Fine Art, Primitive Art, Indonesian Art, Tribal Art, Eyes of the Ancestors, Dr. Reimar Schefold