Democratic Voice of Burma

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• Europe-backed journalism school opens in Rangoon
• Thai Army spokesman says refugee return will be a ‘long process’
• Fifty charged after protest for media freedom
• Bullet Points
• Curfew in Mandalay disrupts business as usual
• Burma’s Fledgling Contemporary Art Market

Europe-backed journalism school opens in Rangoon Posted: 14 Jul 2014 07:00 AM PDT Burma's first private journalism school in more than half a century opened its doors in Rangoon on Monday morning, poised to prepare aspiring reporters for the country's turbulent media environment.  Courses began on 14 July for 15 students recruited from both private and state-run media houses. "This is an historic moment," said Thiha Saw, chairman of the school's board of directors, at the groundbreaking ceremony. "I'm very proud of this institute, and I'm thankful to all of our friends, international friends, who made it happen." Founded in May of this year by 39 in-country media houses, the Myanmar Journalism Institute (MJI) says it aims to provide independent, professional multi-media training to Burma's emerging fourth estate. The school will initially offer a part-time diploma programme to a small selection of working journalists, but expansion plans are in place. Eventually, he said, MJI would like to open schools in all of the country's major cities, and offer full-time study for students with and without prior experience. The institute has an eight-member directorate comprising professionals working in print, broadcast and digital media, though all are affiliated with officially registered media houses, which excludes many of Burma's most long-standing media service providers and some smaller, ethnically-focussed news organisations. The project, while locally owned and managed, is funded by a consortium of international backers, who receive funds from the Danish, French, German and Swedish governments. Members include Deutshe Welle, Fojo Media Institute and International Media Support . UNESCO plays a supportive role, but is not financing the project, according to vice-chairman and Mizzima editor Soe Myint. Since the consortium began envisioning the project about two years ago, the context has changed significantly. Ambassadors of both France and Germany, present at today's groundbreaking ceremony, upheld their support for the school based on the urgent need to professionalise Burma's media sector. They both, however, were clear in their criticism of the government for its worsening treatment of journalists, which reached a tipping point last week. Related Stories Fifty charged after protest for media freedom Unity verdict slammed at home and abroad Bullet Points "I have to say, as a true friend of Myanmar [Burma], I was shocked, I was shocked, to hear about the recent sentence for journalists, investigative journalists, a sentence of ten years plus hard labour," said Christian-Ludwig Weber-Lortsch, Germany's Ambassador to Burma. He was referring to the case of four reporters and one CEO of Unity Weekly news journal who were convicted under the Official Secrets Act after publishing an investigative report alleging that a mysterious military facility was used for the production of chemical weapons. The government denied the allegations but charged them under the 1923 law nonetheless, and courts slapped them with what many see as a disturbingly heavy-handed punishment. To make matters worse, 50 journalists who protested the judgment on Saturday in Rangoon may face charges for unlawful assembly. "Ladies and gentlemen, we live in the 21st century," said Weber-Lortsch. "The free-flow of information, and competition of ideas, is essential to the development of any country," he added. "We need the checks and balances of free media, to properly inform the general public and monitor governments." During the decades of military rule preceding President Thein Sein's nominally civilian government, media was tightly controlled by a censorship board and channeled through state-owned media enterprises. Very few journalism courses were on offer, and all of them were state-backed. The new government has been widely praised for a series of quickly instituted media reforms, including the disbandment of the censorship board in August 2012. But a series of arrests and other forms of intimidation targeting journalists over the past two years have cast doubt on the sincerity of press progress in Burma.

Thai Army spokesman says refugee return will be a ‘long process’ Posted: 14 Jul 2014 05:12 AM PDT A Thai Army spokesman denied reports on Monday regarding the Thai military's intentions to repatriate within a year roughly 130,000 Burmese refugees living in border camps. According to a 14 July report in the Bangkok Post, an unnamed source from the Thai Royal Army's 9th Infantry Division said that the military, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and rights group Mae Fah Luang Foundation have conducted interviews with the roughly 130,000 Burmese refugees living in Thailand's nine border camps to find out who wishes to return, resettle in another country, and remain in Thailand. The unnamed source also said that the repatriation process would take at least a year. Col. Weerachon Sukondhadpatipak, a spokesman for the Thai Army, told DVB that the repatriation is not something that will happen immediately as the government is still sorting out the details. "I don't think this [repatriation] will happen at this moment. It is an issue we need to solve, but it doesn't mean we are sending the Burmese people back to Myanmar," Weerachon said. "It is a long process that needs to be discussed with all concerned parties." "It would be difficult [to send all the refugees back] within one year," he added. Iain Hall, senior coordinator for UNHCR, said the two governments have been discussing the repatriation of the refugees for years, but there is no set time frame yet for when this will happen. "People may share a view, but there is no plan, there is no document, there is no start date or no end date for voluntary repatriation – although there is all good intent, which is the legal and natural intention towards helping refugees secure their durable solutions, including for the government of Myanmar to welcome home its citizens one day when the time is right," Hall said by email. "But the time is not [right] yet for promoting voluntary return." Hall added that the refugees should have the choice to return to their home states if they wish to do so, but many remain very "cautious", as the Burmese government has not concluded peace negotiations with the armed ethnic groups. "If refugees don't have too much confidence in the peace process, then that must be fully understood by everyone involved," he said. Related Stories Bullet Points Bullet Points Burmese refugees banned from leaving camps in Thailand "The Royal Thai Government has consistently reassured us that any refugee returns to Myanmar must be voluntary and conducted in safety and dignity. UNHCR is not aware of any changes in this government policy, or of any government time frame to repatriate refugees," Hall reiterated. Naw Baw Nyaw, a refugee staying in the Umpiem Mai camp – which borders Karen State – said that although everyone wishes to return home to Karen State, the security situation remains precarious. "It is not at all safe for us to go. There have been no developments with the ceasefire, and we don't know how genuine it would be," she said. "Moreover, there has been no progress in the talks taking place between the armed groups and the government." Naw Blooming Night Zan, the second secretary for the Karen Refugee Committee, said that no systematic procedures are in place to collect data on the camps' populations, and that both governments are unlikely to advance on repatriation until that process has been completed. "Even if they plan to repatriate the refugees, I don't think they would do it blindly," she said. "We believe they will consider the current situation and on meeting international standards."   For more background: http://www.dvb.no/dvb-video/burmese-refugees-banned-from-leaving-camps-in-thailand-myanmar/42161 http://www.dvb.no/dvb-video/thai-officials-ponder-repatriation-of-refugees/41704 http://www.dvb.no/dvb-video/thai-officials-meet-on-repatriation-of-refugees/41603

Fifty charged after protest for media freedom Posted: 14 Jul 2014 05:00 AM PDT Over 50 journalists and their supporters have been charged for protesting illegally after they attempted to take their calls for media freedom directly to Burmese President Thein Sein. The demonstration was held on Saturday, one day after five media workers from the now shuttered Unity Weekly journal were sentenced to ten years in prison with hard labour. They were found guilty of exposing state secrets after a January report alleged the existence of a "secret chemical weapons factory" in Magwe Division. Thein Sein was due to meet reporters after discussing Burma's developing arts scene with local celebrities at the Myanmar Peace Centre (MPC) in Rangoon. Journalists covering the press conference arrived at the MPC wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan, "Stop Killing Press." They were stopped from entering by police. Instead, they lined up in front of the building, laid down their cameras and taped their mouths shut in silent protest. Aung Thura, chief reporter at popular news journal 7-Day Daily, said the protest was to express their disappointment with the recent verdict concerning Unity Weekly. "We want to express our disappointment with the ten-year sentence handed to the Unity Weekly staff and with the current oppression of media freedom," he said. "In protest, we are not covering the Myanmar Peace Centre event." More than 50 participants have now been indicted for protesting without permission – a charge that Burma’s authorities regularly employ to stifle rallies. Related Stories Europe-backed journalism school opens in Rangoon Bullet Points Unity verdict slammed at home and abroad Maung Maung Oo, deputy superintendent of Kamaryut Township police, confirmed the charge. "We are taking action under Article-18," the officer told DVB on Saturday. "There are about 50 reporters facing charges." Saturday’s crackdown marks the largest group of people charged under the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Act, a law enacted by Thein Sein's government. It is not the first time journalists have been slapped with the charge, as they fight for the right to report in the face of a perceived curtailing of Burma’s media freedoms. Zaw Htet Htwe of the Interim Press Council, told DVB last week that the Unity verdict could be taken as an indication that all media are at risk of prosecution in Burma "at any time". "The government will not tolerate us touching upon issues about the nation, about government policy or politics," he said.

Bullet Points Posted: 14 Jul 2014 04:44 AM PDT On today’s edition of Bullet Points: Over 50 journalists and their supporters are facing charges for protesting illegally after holding a silent demonstration outside the Myanmar Peace Centre on Saturday. Seven people have died when a six metre wall of earth collapsed on their home in Tachilek on Sunday morning. The Thai military has denied there is a set time frame for the repatriation of refugees to Burma. Burma's Ministry of Finance has pledged to introduce a “citizen's budget” to improve transparency.   Watch Bullet Points on DVB TV after the 7 o’clock news.

Curfew in Mandalay disrupts business as usual Posted: 14 Jul 2014 01:38 AM PDT Thet Tun Oo, a resident of Mandalay's Chan Aye Tharzan Township, woke up on Monday morning to news of Germany's spectacular victory in the World Cup final. "I read about it in a news journal," he said. He and thousands of other football fans around the city had been unable to watch live World Cup matches at teashops and sports bars for the past week and a half, following two nights of inter-religious clashes that left two dead and more than a dozen injured. A curfew – imposed under Article 144 of Burma's penal code – went into effect on 3 July, relegating the city's residents to their homes from nine in the evening to five in the morning. With the city under strict lockdown at night, businesses throughout the city have been impacted. The Shwe Oh teashop, located north of the city centre, is usually open 24 hours a day – which, during World Cup season – should mean a windfall for its owner, Tin Wai. Before the curfew was imposed, his shop was routinely packed with neighbourhood sports fans well into the early morning, as the satellite television subscriptions needed to watch the games live from home are unaffordable for many. But re-runs air during working hours, and Tin Wai's regulars haven't been showing up. "During the day, we're basically breaking even. Because of the curfew, I am losing two lakhs (US$200) every night," he said. "My employees work in two shifts – one daytime, one nighttime. Now, both are working during the day, and of course I still have to pay their salaries." Despite this, he feels that the curfew serves a purpose. "Because of the curfew, the problems have been getting better. But from my perspective, it's having a really bad impact," he said. Related Stories Burma Business Weekly Bullet Points Ethnic Karen sentenced to 10 years for Taungoo bombing Tourist arrivals to Burma have skyrocketed over the past few years, and Mandalay –with its plethora of religious and royal sites and its central location between Bagan and the Shan Hills – has been at the epicentre of the tourist boom. The riots and curfew haven't dented demand, claims Richard Mayhew, general-manager of the Mandalay Hill Resort, one of the city's top hotels. "It was really a one-day event, and it hasn't impacted tourist arrivals," Mayhew said. "We've had to adjust our staffing because of the curfew, but foreign visitors are still coming, and local guests are still eating at the restaurant." Mandalay's night markets are a crucial node in the supply chains that keep the city's restaurants and groceries stocked with fresh produce. Commodity merchants interviewed by DVB claim that while rice prices have remained stable, some customers have begun to stockpile supplies, fearing that the situation may deteriorate once again. Nge Nge, a produce wholesaler, normally sells long beans and mustard greens at a night market along Mandalay's riverfront. Since the curfew went into effect, the market has opened earlier, but the vendors only have five hours every day to conduct business. The shorter opening hours have also forced farmers who sell to the wholesalers – who would normally conduct business in the afternoon – to meet their customers in the morning, condensing the business day and making it difficult for them to leave the city before it shuts down. But the curfew hasn't had a significant impact on Nge Nge’s bottom line. "We have regular customers, so our business hasn't been affected that much," she said. Robbed of the luxury of time, she began to pre-package vegetables into weighed, plastic packages at home, in a bid to shave precious seconds off of each transaction. "We need to be fast: as soon as the customers come, we have to be able to sell them what they need," she said. Some customers, unable to make it to the market during its modified opening hours, opt to have their purchases delivered by motorcycle. Taxi drivers, too, are feeling the strain. "Because of the curfew, drivers that usually work the night shift have to work during the day, which makes it difficult for day-shift drivers to get passengers," said Ngwe Soe, who can usually be found parked outside Mandalay's central train station when he’s not ferrying around customers. "Usually, I'd make 6,000 kyat ($6) in the morning, but the other day, I only made 500 kyat for the whole day." The city's trishaw drivers have seen increasingly difficult times over the past few years, as an increase in motorcycle taxis on the city's streets has provided them with new competition. The curfew has made their lives more difficult than usual, but few are feeling the effects of the clashes as hard as Maung Aye. For the past few years, he has waited for customers most mornings at the corner of 82nd and 27th streets in the heart of Mandalay's Muslim quarter – directly across from the tea shop at the epicentre of last week's riots. "Most of my customers are Muslims, and they are not moving around so much these days," he says. "Many of the shops are not open at all." A Muslim business owner, who did not want to be named, said that while the neighbourhood still felt tense, calm has mostly been restored and he felt the risk of further violence was low.

Burma’s Fledgling Contemporary Art Market Posted: 13 Jul 2014 11:07 PM PDT A growing interest in Burmese contemporary art is providing new opportunities for artists to gain international exposure, while the lifting of censorship laws in 2012 has enabled local galleries to exhibit avant-garde works that previously wouldn't have seen the light of day. However, developing a thriving contemporary art scene in Burma will take time because market prices remain undervalued, training in contemporary art is non-existent and the number of fakes being produced is on the rise. The National Museum in Rangoon was established in 1952 and has twice been relocated to bigger sites. It currently occupies a five-storey building and has two large art galleries. The owner of Pansodan Gallery, Aung Soe Min, described the museum's fine arts collection as "very good" – albeit somewhat dated. During the 1950s and early 1960s, its gallery director purchased the works of famous artists such as U Ngwe Gaing from the family estate after the artist passed away. "The director made some really good decisions, but after General Ne Win came to power [in 1962], the gallery wasn't in a position to make decisions, so the collecting stopped. It hasn't really resumed and there's not much understanding of contemporary art," Aung Soe Min said. Bizarrely, up until a decade or so ago, Burmese people themselves were unwelcome in private galleries. The sought-after clientele were foreigners, who were assumed to possess both an appreciation for art and deeper pockets. "Gallery owners just couldn't believe that a Burmese person would actually want to buy a painting. I remember going to a gallery about 13 years ago and when I asked the price of a painting, I was simply told, 'Never mind.' I couldn't understand it," he said. Undervalued art and weak infrastructure "Even if we exclude China and India, where prices are stratospheric, I don't think there's any other country in Asia where it's possible to buy a large canvas by a top artist for under US$15,000 or $20,000," said Gill Pattison, the owner and curator of The Strand's River Gallery and River Gallery II. Pansodan Gallery (PHOTO: Jessica Mudditt) According to Aung Soe Min, fine art prices have trebled over the past five years, which he attributes to the rise in the number of foreigners visiting the once-isolated country and a growing interest among local collectors. However, with an average inflation rate of 5 percent since 1999 and the cost of living spiraling ever upwards, the vast majority of Burma's artists have yet to find any breathing space. Phyoe Kyi, 38, has struggled to make a living as an artist for almost 20 years, despite having cultivated a strong reputation in mixed media. He is among the only artists in Burma who works with silkscreen: one such collection on Shan paper and canvas was featured at ts1's opening exhibition in April (the gallery is owned by Ivan Pun and has quickly established itself as one of the city's edgiest spaces). However Phyoe Kyi, who lives in Taunggyi, Shan State, told DVB that it's almost impossible to compare prices in Burma with other countries in the region because local art dealers are such a mixed bunch: Some are kind and fair while others are brazenly profit-driven. "In 2001, a dealer in Yangon [Rangoon] bought one of my paintings for just $15 and then sold it to a collector abroad for $600,” Phyoe Kyi said. “During that whole year, I sold more than a hundred paintings but I ended up with just $2,000 – which was a whole lot less than the dealer.” Pattinson added that such buying practices makes it difficult for artists to learn how to properly market and sell themselves. "Like every education system in Myanmar, our art courses aren't so good.” "Artists have no opportunity to learn about the business side of things, such as how to package themselves as artists or the type of galleries they target. That means that artists either pick it up by osmosis or they don't. It's very difficult for them because most aren't business orientated and don't want to be," said Pattison. The country's only two art schools – the University of Culture in Mandalay and the State Fine Arts School in Rangoon – are under-resourced and offer no instruction in art career management. Admissions to the State Fine Arts School are few: Only around 15 graduate each year. Most of the teachers are self-taught and classes are limited to watercolour, acrylic and oil painting. "Students get a very thorough grounding in depicting Myanmar's [Burma's] heritage items and religious icons – they all come out knowing very well how to depict Budddhas, temples and traditional motifs," Ms Pattison said. "Like every education system in Myanmar, our art courses aren't so good," Aung Soe Min said with a shrug. Another factor that has traditionally worked against artists' ability to make a living is the fact that private art collections were rarely considered a status symbol among the Burmese elite. And during the decades Burma spent under military rule, it wasn't unknown for a high-up official to acquire a piece of artwork gratis. "There was nothing that could be done to prevent it because these kinds of people were all powerful," Aung Soe Min said. For the most part, preferences remain strongly in favour of more traditional themes, such as serene landscapes or the well known combination of monks, parasols and pagodas. Paintings which contain a nationalistic element are also popular, Aung Soe Min said. Fortunately, he's noticed a significant increase in the number of local collectors in recent years, although most remain unfamiliar with contemporary art. "The art market was absolutely tiny in the days before reforms – things have certainly improved. But while we're now seeing a lot of people turning up to exhibitions, I don't think there's been a significant rise in sales," said Ms Pattison. Predicting market trends Pundits in the art world predict that Burma's art market is poised to follow in the footsteps of China, whose contemporary art market took off in the 1990s following a wave of economic reforms that began in the late seventies. Today, China's top contemporary artists can earn tens of millions of dollars for a single painting. River Gallery II (PHOTO: Jessica Mudditt) "Finally, curators from major museums all over the world are coming and meeting with Burmese artists – this is the first step in increasing market value," said Nathalie Johnston, gallery director of ts1. Ms Johnston, who wrote a thesis on performance art in Burma at the Sothebys Institute of Art in Singapore, described art valuation as a "strange and nebulous market". Factors often taken into consideration include an artist's reputation in terms of who has bought their work, where it has been exhibited, and who has written about it. "I'm sure that there will soon be a rise in sale and market value in Burmese contemporary art. In fact I think there already is – it's night and day if we look back five years," she said. Another means of gauging market value is simple supply and demand. In Burma, supply is limited because "the number of accomplished artists who have that magic combination of creativity and technical skills is small," Ms Pattison explained. She said that investing in Burmese contemporary art could become a good portfolio in years to come. "There are maybe 10 or 12 Burmese artists who are really special and in a league of their own, and their work is definitely undervalued. Look at this big canvas by Zaw Win Pe, for example [which costs $11,000]. He is one the most original and accomplished artists in Burma and I'm quite sure he'll be featured in art history books a hundred years from now," she said. The end of censorship? The lifting of harsh censorship laws following the transition to quasi-civilian rule in 2011 has given artists greater scope to exhibit their work, which is the natural precursor to making a sale. During military rule, exhibitions were screened by censorship boards prior to public openings. Artwork that was deemed unacceptable to authorities – such as nudes – were simply confiscated. Phyoe Kyi’s silkscreen on Shan paper and canvas at ts1 (PHOTO: Jessica Muddit) "Even during the socialist era, there was a lot of good art being created – many artists kept on doing what they wanted to do. But the end product would hang on someone's wall at home – it would never be shown in public," said Aung Soe Min. Ms Pattison used to keep certain paintings in the gallery's back room: They were reserved for trusted customers rather than public display. "The types of paintings I'd keep in the back room included nudes, those which were overtly critical of the regime or showed great poverty and desperation," she said. When Ms Pattison launched River Gallery II in late 2013, she selected a fiberglass installation (the first of its kind in Burma) that would without a doubt have fallen afoul of censorship laws. Aung Ko's "Ko Swe" or "Golden Men" featured half a dozen naked men in a loose circle of various poses, with some pointing golden pistols. In the centre lay a man whose full frontal genitalia was impossible to ignore. "It certainly tested the boundaries of nudity – but no one fainted," Pattison said with a laugh. However, there are worrying signs of backsliding in newfound artistic freedoms. Johnston said that members of the Special Branch Police visited ts1 prior to a performance art exhibition last month. "I told them there would be ten women performing for 15 minutes each – but I didn't know what they would be doing – the point of performance art is that you're not supposed to know," she said. "I'm really shocked and depressed about what's happening; that Burma could be returning to the old ways," Johnston added. Fakes on the rise Unfortunately, as Burmese artists start to gain the financial recognition they deserve, others keen to cash in their success are producing fakes. According to Ms Pattison, it's a phenomenon that's becoming increasingly common. "A lot of the big names are fakes. It happens all the time and there are no efforts to stop it," Aung Soe Min said. One source told DVB that there are small stables of artists in Rangoon employed to copy artwork by well known names. For the meantime at least, the practice is far less rampant than in China and Vietnam – Johnston told DVB that there is a city in southern China with several factories producing copy-cat works. Tun Win Aung, 39, is one of Burma's most celebrated contemporary artists. His solo and collaborative work with his wife Wah Nu have been exhibited everywhere from Tel Aviv to Brisbane, as well as New York's Guggenheim Museum. "Wah Nu and I have seen other works that are very similar to ours. There have been times that we were absolutely sure that they were copied from our originals. While some people are simply doing it for inspiration, others are attempting to copy the works of late artists and that's a big problem," he said. Tun Win Aung said that fakes are sold at Bogyoke Market as well as a handful of galleries in Rangoon. "Be aware of the artists that are being shown in reputable galleries and then if you see something that's a bit of a bargain, you should probably assume that you are getting what you paid for," cautioned Ms Pattison.

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