Asia Series Vol.2: Myanmar “Roundabout in Yangon”

Program A: The Maw Naing (performance, installations, video works), Nyan Lin Htet (theatre performance)
Program B: Thxa Soe (live music)
November 13th – November 15th
Venue Asahi Art Square
Dates 11/13 (Fri) 15:00 (A)* / 19:30 (B)
11/14 (Sat) 15:00 (A) / 19:30 (B)
11/15 (Sun) 15:00 (A)*
*Post-performance talk
Box office opens 1 hour before.
Doors open 30 minutes before.
(A) The Maw Naing
Performance, installations, video works
Nyan Lin Htet
Theatre performance
75 min. (TBC, with interval)
Language: Myanmar language (with Japanese surtitles)
Tickets Advance: ¥2,000 / Day: ¥2,500
Unreserved seating
(B) Thxa Soe
Live music
Duration: 60 min. (TBC)
Tickets Advance: ¥2,500 / Day: ¥3,000
Unreserved seating
Tickets on general sale from September 27th, 10:00
Early Bird Discounts
Limited numbers of tickets will be sold at a special discount of around 30% on the following four days:
September 23rd to September 26th
Roundabout in Yangon

Thxa Soe
Thxa Soe

Showcasing three artists from the emerging arts scene in Myanmar

Myanmar is today experiencing massive growth and change. Democratization has been moving forward since Thein Sein became president in 2011, while freedom to assembly, long restricted under the junta, is now allowed. This has led to an increase in public events, making it easier to hold performances in a variety of places. The spread of Internet access is also accelerating the flow of information and international interchange, creating a wide variety of new forms of expression.


These three artists work in different disciplines and fields but all explore issues of Myanmar’s identity. Simultaneously experiencing their divergent work, audiences will be introduced to the intersecting range of the local scene in a similar way to the roundabout junctions commonly found in Yangon.


The Maw Naing has gained attention at global film festivals for his drama “The Monk”. For Festival/Tokyo, he will present installations and video works, as well as his own performance. Nyan Lin Htet leads his own theatre company called Theatre of the Disturbed and creates work that contrasts with the mainstream performing arts movement. He studied contemporary theatre and has translated and adapted plays from the European canon. His own theatre is a highly satirical take on Myanmar society. The musician and producer Thxa Soe, on the other hand, turns to traditional Burmese music for inspiration, mixing his electronic club sounds with folk songs and hsaing waing ensemble instruments used in religious rites and puppet theatre.


The venue will be designed by award-winning architect and artist Fumihiko Sano. In this way, the second installment of the Asia Series will be a truly reciprocal event between different disciplines and styles, and between Japan and Myanmar.

Asia Series

This program was launched at Festival/Tokyo 2014 with a showcase of Korean performing arts. This year, F/T turns to the burgeoning scene in Myanmar. Each time the festival selects a country or region from Asia and spends time researching the performing arts through fieldwork and exchange with local practitioners. The aim is to increase awareness of the complex network of languages, cultures and arts in Asia, and develop interchange among performing arts peers across the continent.

Post-Performance Talk Guests

(1) 11/13 15:00 (Program A) (talk starts around 16:15): The Film Scene in Myanmar
Guests: The Maw Naing + Keiko Sei (curator, media activist, writer)

Internationally acclaimed Myanmar filmmaker The Maw Naing is joined by Keiko Sei, who launched a film festival in Myanmar, to discuss the local cinema scene.

Keiko Sei (curator, media activist, writer)
Since 1988, Keiko Sei has researched media and independent media in Eastern Europe and worked with activists and artists in the region to establish independent media scene, while starting numerous media-related projects, including “The Media Are With Us!: The Role of Television in the Romanian Revolution” (Budapest, 1990), “POLITIK-UM/New Engagement”, (Prague, 2002), and “Re-designing East”, (Stuttgart, Gdansk, Budapest, Seoul, 2009-2013). In 2002, she moved her base to Southeast Asia and continues her activity in the region, especially in Myanmar, where she started film and video education. She teaches in the Czech Republic and Germany, and writes for publications worldwide, including springerin (Austria).



(2) 11/15 15:00 (Program A) (talk starts around 16:15): The Theatre Scene in Myanmar
Guests: Nyan Lin Htet + Atsuko Hisano (Program Director, the Saison Foundation)

Leading avant-garde theatre talent in Myanmar, Nyan Lin Htet, is joined by the Saison Foundation’s Atsuko Hisano, who has recently conducted groundwork research in Myanmar. The pair will discuss why Nyan Lin Htet chose the field of “theatre” in Myanmar, where performance art is rather the mainstream.

Atsuko Hisano (Program Director, the Saison Foundation)
Atsuko Hisano is a program director of the Saison Foundation, a private-sector grant-making foundation, established in 1987 in Tokyo. It is dedicated to contributing to the advancement of the arts, primarily in the fields of contemporary Japanese theater and dance, and to promoting cultural exchange between Japan and overseas. She traveled to Yangon with support from Festival/Tokyo to observe the cultural scene there in 2014. Coincidentally, she was also part of the audience for the international collaboration project “Henna Has Not Menstruated for Five Years, Since Loved by a Spaceman” by Theatre Annees Folles, in which Nyan Lin Htet performed in 2003.

Artist Profiles

The Maw Naing

The Maw Naing

Film director, poet, performer

Born in 1971, he studied film at Yangon Film School and FAMU in Prague. He published his first collection of poetry in 2004. His documentary “Nargis — When Time Stopped Breathing” (2012) and film “The Monk” (2014) have been screened at numerous international film festivals to great acclaim. He also presented work at the Nippon International Performance Art Festival 2009 and the Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale 2014.


Nyan Lin Htet

Nyan Lin Htet

Director, performer, head of Theatre of the Disturbed

Based in Myanmar and France, he started making performance art in the early 2000’s and trained with Japanese theatre company Annees Folles. He established his own group, Theatre of the Disturbed, in Yangon in 2005, adapting the work of Shakespeare, Beckett, Ionesco, Kafka, and more.


Thxa Soe

Thxa Soe

Musician, rapper, electro hip hop music producer

Born in 1980, he released his first album with the group Theory in 2000. He studied electro music at London’s SAE Institute from 2001, while also researching Myanmar music. He returned to Myanmar in 2004 and started fusing traditional folk songs with electronic music. Between 2006 and 2015, he released seven solo albums. His most recent album is “R-Lu, Thar-Ku, Hna-Bu, Gan-du” (2015).

Myanmar: The Basics

Date: 11/3 (Tue) 16:00-18:00
Venue: Hotel Grand City Restaurant Saison
Guests: Katsumi Tamura (Executive Director, Graduate University for Advanced Studies; Professor Emeritus, National Museum of Ethnology)
Rina Igarashi (curator, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum)
Tickets: ¥500 (priority to reservations, includes soft drink)
Language: Japanese only

Myanmar is today experiencing rapid growth as foreign investment pours in due to the recent shift towards democratization. F/T’s second Asia Series program turns to examine this new and exciting scene through the work of three artists. This talk will provide an overview of general social issues in Myanmar, as well as the nation’s unique puppet theatre and other traditional arts, and the arts in Myanmar today in the context of Southeast Asia. The guest speakers are cultural anthropologist Katsumi Tamura, an expert on Myanmar culture and history, and Rina Igarashi, who has a long association with the arts in Myanmar and Southeast Asia.

tamura

Katsumi Tamura

Executive Director, Graduate University for Advanced Studies; Professor Emeritus, National Museum of Ethnology

Katsumi Tamura completed his post-graduate studies at the University of Tokyo and has taught at Kagoshima University, Kanazawa University and the National Museum of Ethnology. As a cultural anthropologist he has specialized in Burma (Myanmar) and the Southeast Asian region.




igarashi rina

Rina Igarashi

Curator, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum

Rina Igarashi is a curator at the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan. She has undertaken graduate studies in cultural anthropology and did fieldwork on kantha embroidery in Jessore, Bangladesh from 1999 to 2000. She supervised the exhibition “Bengali Kantha, Embroidered Quilt: Its Past and Present” (2001, FAAM), afer which she joined the museum. The exhibitions she has researched and organized while working at Fukuoka Asian Art Museum (2003-present) include the solo exhibition of “Niloofar Chaman” (2007), “Collecting India: Fascination with Indian Visual Culture in Contemporary Japan” (2012), “Freedom in Blossom: Gangaw Village and Experimental Art in 1980s Burma” (2012), and more. She also co-curated the Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale in 2005, 2009, and 2014. Her interest focuses on the transformation of art and living visual culture in Bangladesh. She is currently working on artist life history research in Myanmar.



Supported by Hotel Grand City Restaurant Saison

Joseph-Gonzales



Film Screenings (1)

Dates 11/18 (Wed) “The Monk” (screening & talk)
11/20 (Fri) — 11/23 (Mon) 3 Recent Films from Myanmar
Venue Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre (Atelier East)
Tickets ¥500 (priority to reservations)
Language Myanmar language with Japanese subtitles (and also English subtitles for “The Monk”)

Myanmar Film Screenings: “The Monk” (screening & talk)

11/18 (Wed) 18:00
Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre (Atelier East)
Guests: The Maw Naing (director), Aung Min (screenwriter)


As part of the Asia Series Vol.2: Myanmar “Roundabout in Yangon” showcase, F/T is screening a selection of films from Myanmar. “The Monk” is the first fiction film directed by The Maw Naing, who is also presenting work at “Roundabout in Yangon”. The screening features a talk with The Maw Naing and screenwriter Aung Min about the film (in Myanmar language with Japanese interpretation).


The Monk

“The Monk”

Director: The Maw Naing
Screenplay: Aung Min

Director of Photography: Tin Win Naing / Editing: Zaw Win Htwe / Sound Recordist: Sai Kong Kham _ Sound: Jan Richtr
Cast: Kyaw Nyi Thu (Zawana), Han Newe Nyein (Marlar), Thein Swe Myint (U Dahma), Moe San (Yawata)
Produced by FAMU (Vít Janeček)
2014 / Czech Republic/Myanmar / 91 min. / Myanmar language with English and Japanese subtitles


A young boy Zawana enters a small village monastery led by U Dahma. Zawana has doubts if this lifestyle is right for him, but he grows to like the old abbot. The monastery faces financial crisis, monks are leaving, and on top of that U Dahma gets sick. Somebody must take care of him and the whole community. Zawana understands that he has to take the challenge…


Aung Min

Aung Min

Screenwriter, doctor, film director

Aung Min is a medical doctor, writer and filmmaker based in Myanmar who has published novels and a book on contemporary art. He started to write screenplays from 2007. He made his directorial debut with the documentary film “The Clinic”, which features his own clinic. He wrote the script for the feature film “The Monk”, directed by The Maw Naing, which was selected for the International Film Festival Rotterdam, Singapore International Film Festival, and more. He also passes on his skills to his fellow Myanmar filmmakers at the Yangon Film School and elsewhere. From 2011, he has participated in the MIDPOINT training project for young filmmakers, organized by FAMU (Film and TV School of Academy of Performing Arts) at Prague.


Myanmar Film Screenings: 3 Recent Films from Myanmar

11/20 (Fri) — 11/23 (Mon)
Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre (Atelier East)

The second part of the Myanmar film screenings accompanying the “Roundabout in Yangon” showcase of contemporary arts in Myanmar present three recent films, introducing various aspects of Burmese society and culture. The Maw Naing’s “The Monk” (2014) is screened again, along with two documentaries: one about the effects of a natural disaster, “Nargis — When Time Stopped Breathing”, and another about traditional music, “Beauty of Tradition — Under the Sky of Yangon”.


Screening Schedule

Tickets valid for 2 screenings on same day


11/20 (Fri) 18:00 “The Monk”
19:45 “Beauty of Tradition — Under the Sky of Yangon”
11/21 (Sat) 13:00 “Nargis — When Time Stopped Breathing”
14:45 “Beauty of Tradition — Under the Sky of Yangon”
11/22 (Sun) 13:00 “The Monk”
14:45 “Beauty of Tradition — Under the Sky of Yangon”
11/23 (Mon) 18:00 “Nargis — When Time Stopped Breathing”
19:45 “The Monk”


Beauty of Tradition

“Beauty of Tradition — Under the Sky of Yangon”

Directed, Music and Produced by Jun Kawabata
Camera: Harue Malin / Subtitles Translation: Sayuri Inoue / Produced by Project Lamu/Airplane Label / Distribution help and marketing by Uzumasa
2015 / Japan / 105 min. / Myanmar language with Japanese subtitles

This documentary is a unique attempt to document and record traditional music in Myanmar. Performed and filmed in a small studio in a Yangon suburb in 2013, it archives over 100 tracks by local musicians. The photography also includes hsaing waing and scenes from monasteries and festivals, offering a delightful visual introduction to Myanmar to accompany the music.



Maedchen

“Nargis — When Time Stopped Breathing”

Directors: The Maw Naing, Pe Maung Same
Camera: Tin Win Naing, Thaiddhi, Pe Maung Same / Sound: Kyaw Myo Lwin / Editing: Myo Min Khin, Stewart Young ASE / Production Manager (Myanmar): Thu Thu Shein / Project Mentor: Ulrike Schaz / Produced by Lindsey Merrison Film, in association with ZDF Das kleine Fernsehspiel / Commissioning Editor Lucas Schmidt
2009 / Myanmar/Germany / 90 min. / Myanmar language with Japanese subtitles
© Lindsey Merrison Film

In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis raged for hours in Myanmar’s Ayeyarwaddy Delta, killing 140,000 people. Seven days after the storm, the filmmakers made their way to villages that had been utterly devastated. They moved through a world that appeared more surreal than real, where life and death seemed to coexist and survivors talked about the dead as if they were still with them. Their images reflect their own feelings as much as those of the people they met, carefully weaving these emotions into an intimate and poetic film.



Film Screenings (2)

“The Monk” (screening & talk with director The Maw Naing)


11/11 (Wed) 20:30
Venue: Theater Pole-Pole Higashi-Nakano
Guest: The Maw Naing (director)


The acclaimed film “The Monk” is screened for the first time in Japan at Theater Pole-Pole Higashi-Nakano, followed by a talk with director The Maw Naing (in Myanmar language with Japanese interpretation).


The Monk

“The Monk”

Director: The Maw Naing
Screenplay: Aung Min

Director of Photography: Tin Win Naing / Editing: Zaw Win Htwe / Sound Recordist: Sai Kong Kham _ Sound: Jan Richtr
Cast: Kyaw Nyi Thu (Zawana), Han Newe Nyein (Marlar), Thein Swe Myint (U Dahma), Moe San (Yawata)
Produced by FAMU (Vít Janeček)
2014 / Czech Republic/Myanmar / 91 min. / Myanmar language with English and Japanese subtitles


A young boy Zawana enters a small village monastery led by U Dahma. Zawana has doubts if this lifestyle is right for him, but he grows to like the old abbot. The monastery faces financial crisis, monks are leaving, and on top of that U Dahma gets sick. Somebody must take care of him and the whole community. Zawana understands that he has to take the challenge…

Video

Cast & Creative Team

Concept, Cast:The Maw Naing
Direction, Cast:Nyan Lin Htet
Music, Performer:Thxa Soe
Dancers:Khin Nilar Sein, Shwe Yee Win, Chit Su Khaing, Thiri Han
Venue Design:Fumihiko Sano
Lighting Co-ordination, Stage Manager:Hiroaki Tashiro (DotWorks Co., Ltd.)
Sound Co-ordination:Yuji Tsutsumida (WHITELIGHT)
Technical Co-ordination:Yutaka Endo (LUFTZUG)
Translation:Ayako Yamamoto, Saori Hongyo (Myanmar language), Kako Kishimoto (English)
Interpretation:Sonoko Ishii
Photography:Yohta Kataoka
Video Documentation:SAIKOUDO, CO., Ltd.
Production Co-ordination:Luna Matsushima, Orie Kiyuna
Production Assistant:Asami Hori
Interns:Kaede Anasako, Meiko Kawabuchi, Yuuka Hosoi, Aya Matsumura
Co-produced bythe Japan Foundation Asia Center
Presented byFestival/Tokyo
Asia Center