On December 18, 2021, we hosted our Human Rights Awareness Event. The conversation about art inspiring social change was powerful. We want to thank our guest speakers Me Me Thin and Kaung Khant Kyaw for sharing about the crisis in Myanmar.
To start our event, we defined human rights are rights that is believed to justifiably belong to every person. We introduced the template that co-founder Rawan Ita-Diaz created, and the significance of the combined hand and bird. Human rights awareness did not even have a symbol until 2011!
Check out Rawan's painting ~ so beautiful!
We also spoke about Pablo Picasso's 'Guernica,' painted in 1937 in response to the Spanish Civil War.
Pablo painted Guernica to boldly show the world how war impacted society and caused devastating tragedies.
Guernica must be closely examined. The animals, human figures, lights, and objects represent sadness, lost hope, technology advancements not serving society and coldness of war. This piece traveled the world during WWII and even during the Vietnam War Era, became a symbol of anti-war protests in the United States.
Me Me Thin was our first guest speaker. She is a student at Lawrence Tech University, and is obtaining her master's degree in architectural design. Having left Myanmar to study in the U.S., she spoke about the current crisis with the military overtaking the government. In response, Me Me used art to spread awareness on the situation in Myanmar. She created this doodle to show how Myanmar used to be, compared to its current state. Me Me found art to be an escape for her as news of her home country worsened. Floral art is used widely in the Burmese culture and is reflected beautifully in Me Me's drawing.
Me Me also created infographics to explain the history of Myanmar and how it evolved to what it is today. Me Me explained what it meant to raise three fingers and spread awareness for pro-democracy protests in Myanmar.
Kaung Khant Kyaw was our second guest speaker. He is 18 years old and only moved from Myanmar a few months ago to study architecture at Lawrence tech University
Kaung gave us an inside look at the life of anti-coup protestors in Myanmar. He painted a vivid picture of the sad but real circumstances of human rights violations by the military in Myanmar.
Kaung wants to move back to Myanmar after receiving his B.S. and help build back his community and country. We were so thankful and impressed by Kaung!
Other artists are also raising awareness to help Myanmar through their art. You can view, purchase, and share about these Burmese artists to spread the message!
You can help Myanmar too. Learn more about Myanmar’s current state and tell your friends and family. The more we can share, the more people will know and can help. You can donate to pro-democracy causes in Myanmar. Here is a good read on how to help anti-coup protestors in Myanmar.
