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yangon’s artistic revival
can attend. That’s important for us
because we know young people aren’t
learning these things at [government-
run] universities. During the socialist
era, public lectures were rare and
influenced by state-propaganda notions
of nationalism. Anarchy was obviously
off limits!” he says with a laugh.
Aung Soe Min’s insistence on
downplaying commercialism is
endearing: for years he provided free
beer on Tuesday evenings at the gallery.
The number of visitors it attracts these
days made it impractical to carry on
with that perk, but the weekly event
itself has become something of a
fixture on Yangon’s social scene.
Meanwhile, the nightlife scene here
is undergoing a radical transformation.
Gone are the days when there were
only a handful of options; night owls
can now choose from a wide range of
swanky bars and clubs, open-mic nights,
stand-up comedy shows and even the
wildly popular LGBT parties hosted by
a business known as FAB. “The four of
us got together over beers one evening
and started talking about the lack of
possibilities for gay, lesbian, bisexual
and transgender people in Myanmar,”
says FAB co-founder Jan Willem van
Rooij, an expat from the Netherlands.
“And as we were talking about it
we thought: why not start a party
ourselves? We weren’t sure if we could
pull off organising an openly gay party
in Myanmar but decided that we’d just
jump into it and see where it led.”
The inaugural FAB party was held in
February last year. Since then there have
been 19 more, with roughly 300 people
turning up for each edition. The success
of the parties led to the formation of the
business. “We found that we were left
with some money after every party, so
we started thinking about using it for
Yangon’s LGBT community,” van Rooij
says. “Since then we’ve grown into a
social business and are able to raise
funds for the cause.”
PANSODAN SCENE
Located in a renovated
colonial building in the
heart of downtown,
Pansodan Scene is a split-
level space that’s home
to a coffee and juice bar,
hosts regular public events
and even has a piano. You
can kick back with a book
upstairs.
T: +959 513
0846, pansodan.com
RIVER GALLERY I &
RIVER GALLERY II
River Gallery I is located
at The Strand Hotel and
River II is just up the road.
These galleries cater for
a high-end clientele and
showcase Myanmar’s top
names in contemporary
art, as opposed to the
Pansodan galleries,
which focus on emerging
artists.
T: +951 243377,
rivergallerymyanmar.com
NEW TREASURE ART
GALLERY
This gallery in the
wealthy suburb of
Golden Valley is owned
by Min Wae Aung.
Much of the gallery is
dedicated to displaying
his work, which is largely
made up of realistic
paintings of monks with
their backs to the viewer.
Min Wae Aung and the
nine other artists who
helped establish the
gallery work hard to
encourage the country’s
young creatives.
84A
Than Lwin Rd, Golden
Hill Ave, Golden Valley,
Bahan Township;
T: +951 526776
NEW ZERO ART
SPACE
Set up to create a
space for emerging
contemporary artists, this
non-profit gallery also
has an art school and a
residency programme.
T: +959 731 2950,
newzeroartspace.com.
mm
Go-to
galleries
Aung Soe Min, owner of Myanmar’s first contemporary
art gallery, picks his favourite creative spaces in Yangon
STEPS IN THE RIGHT
DIRECTION
Jan Willem van Rooij
is the man behind
the FAB parties
“Yangon has
a fantastic
underground
hip-hop
scene, so
we’ve invited
them to
perform”
