March | 2015 | MARCA | Myanmar Art Resource Center and Archive

We are thrilled to be hosted by our final location in Mandalay – the Jefferson Center. The center is a US-funded educational and cultural library located in the heart of Mandalay, facing the palace of the last King of Burma. We chose this location based on its outreach to young people from all over the region. Not only does it provide books, but also language training, debates, scholarship information, test-taking courses, and debates on politics, human rights and democracy.

We opened on Saturday, March 14 where we were greeted by over 50 students, professionals, artists and our volunteers. The director of the center, Saw Kyin Sein, welcomed us and asked everyone to join in sharing and discussing the books in the coming weeks.

Michelle Wong from Asia Art Archive will be joining us next week in our two-day programme with the theme Art and Politics. Michelle will discuss her own research and work at AAA on the Hong Kong Art History project, and artist Htein Lin will join us in Mandalay to present on his own experiences as an artist and the ways in which he values political messages, in both his life and his art.

Our invitation will be released shortly. Hope you all can join us there!

We’ve had a very exciting run during our Mobile Library: MUAC edition. Over 200 students attend the university, and have clearly enjoyed using the books as reference materials and volunteering to take care of the library and introduce classmates to its contents. The Rector of the University as well as the professors have been generous in their time and efforts to promote our library amongst students.

Nathalie Johnston presented on career opportunities in the arts, and included fundraising, proposal writing, exhibition planning and curating, as well as options in design, architecture, and education. Students were very responsive, with great ideas and insight into what’s possible for them after their schooling.

MUAC focuses its students on 4 main Arts subjects: sculpture, painting, music and dramatic arts. Facilities are few and an emphasis is placed on traditional forms of the arts. However, the school is eager to reach into the contemporary scene and bring more practicing artists into their curriculum studies.

Mobile Library is sponsored by Foundation for the Arts Initiative and Mr. and Mrs. Serge Pun.