Burma Art Club

Burma Art Club or BAC (Burmese: မြန်မာပန်းချီအသင်း) was an art institution in Rangoon (Yangon), Burma which was established in 1913 or 1914 or even 1918 according to various sources. The club was located on the premises of the Rangoon Government High School. It afforded a twofold opportunity: first, it was a means to develop the British colonial painters' own talents and second, they were able to teach Western style painting to others in Burma.

BAC was founded by amateur British colonial painters. This included Kenneth Martin Ward, Professor of Physics at Rangoon University; Martin Jones, Railways Commissioner who drew for the Rangoon Times, and E.G.N. Kinch, the principal of Saint Methew Teachers Training College. They were assisted by Commissioner Hla Aung, his wife Mya May, and young Burmese artists such as Ba Zaw, Ba Nyan, Tha Dun, Tun Hla, Saya Saung and Ba Kyi.

History

Early years

Ward became BAC's first president with architect Tha Tun acting as Secretary. Hla Aung and Mya May arranged for the teachers and students to stay at their residence. They also allowed Ward to teach art at the Boys Buddhist School, which was owned by them. Daw Mya May became known as "the mother of Myanmar artists". BAC offered several courses such as still-life and portrait painting, as well as outdoor and indoor paintings on weekends. While the Burmese painters affiliated with the club accepted realistically painted nudes as art, very few of them attempted to paint nudity themselves. The club was known to concentrate on system and method, earning it the nickname of "Labyrinth of Technique" amongst those in the art circle.

Myanmar

Myanmar (myan-MARⁱ/miɑːnˈmɑːr/ mee-ahn-MAR,/miˈɛnmɑːr/ mee-EN-mar or /maɪˈænmɑːr/ my-AN-mar (also with the stress on first syllable); Burmese pronunciation: [mjəmà]), officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and also known as Burma, is a sovereign state in Southeast Asia bordered by Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand. One-third of Myanmar's total perimeter of 1,930 km (1,200 miles) forms an uninterrupted coastline along the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The country's 2014 census revealed a much lower population than expected, with 51 million people recorded. Myanmar is 676,578 square kilometres (261,227 sq mi) in size. Its capital city is Naypyidaw and its largest city is Yangon (Rangoon).

Early civilisations in Myanmar included the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu city-states in Upper Burma and the Mon kingdoms in Lower Burma. In the 9th century, the Bamar people entered the upper Irrawaddy valley and, following the establishment of the Pagan Kingdom in the 1050s, the Burmese language, culture and Theravada Buddhism slowly became dominant in the country. The Pagan Kingdom fell due to the Mongol invasions and several warring states emerged. In the 16th century, reunified by the Taungoo Dynasty, the country was for a brief period the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia. The early 19th century Konbaung Dynasty ruled over an area that included modern Myanmar and briefly controlled Manipur and Assam as well. The British conquered Myanmar after three Anglo-Burmese Wars in the 19th century and the country became a British colony. Myanmar became an independent nation in 1948, initially as a democratic nation and then, following a coup d'état in 1962, a military dictatorship. While the military dictatorship formally ended in 2011, most of the party leaders are former military officers.

Burma (film)

Burma is a 2014 Tamil crime thriller directed by DDharani Dharan and produced by Sudharshan Vembutty under the banner Square Stone Films. It features Michael Thangadurai and Reshmi Menon in the lead roles, while Sampath Raj, Atul Kulkarni, Karthik Sabesh and Madhu Raghuram play supporting roles. The music was scored by Sudharshan M Kumar, while cinematography and editing were handled by Yuva and Vivek Harshan. The film released on 12 September 2014.

Cast

Production

World War II postal acronyms

World War II postal acronyms were first used to convey messages between servicemen and their sweethearts back home. They were usually written on the back of the envelope.

The acronyms, possibly including some more recent additions, are: