From Gold Leaf to Apocryphal Stories: Influences from the East on Late Burmese Wall Paintings

From Gold Leaf to Apocryphal Stories: Influences from the East on Late Burmese Wall Paintings

Date: 13 September 2010 (Monday)
Time: 5:00pm
Venue: Room 2.38, Main Building, HKU

In 1767 the Burmese army sacked the Thai city of Ayutthaya, and multitudes of people were captured and relocated to the Burmese central zone, including artists and theatrical performers. This event has been considered seminal in the emergence of Thai influences on Burmese art, including mural painting. Yet, Burmese deportations of people from the Thai, Lan Na, Sipsong Panna, and Shan States regions occurred on a number of occasions prior to the late eighteenth century attack. In addition, the considerable trade networks and the religious exchanges between monasteries formed alternative routes of communication between Burma, Ayutthaya, Lan Na, Sipsong Panna, and the Shan States. Unsurprisingly, such variant interactions had an impact on artistic production in Burma prior to the destruction of Ayutthaya and the relocation of artists to the Ava region. Influences on Burmese murals in the dry zone range from Central Thai elements of style to stories and methods of religious practice found in the more northern Tai regions. This paper explores aspects of influence on Burmese mural paintings from the seventeenth to nineteenth century period in order to suggest the extent and nature of this impact.

Speaker: Alexandra Green