Dagon Tara - Painting, Storytelling, and Artistic Expression

About 40 years ago, there was a dispute in the Writers' Association about the definition of a writer and their members. Eventually, the Writers' Association's constitution was amended. It began by defining a writer as someone who wrote fiction.

At that time, the composition of the Writers' Association was unclear, as there was a general mix of journalists and writers. It is natural for any country to have its governing constitution amended and expanded as historical events and forms of life expand.

In addition to novels and poetry, this literary genre has been expanded to include biographies, historical documents, etc. In the past, only literary forms such as poetry, drama, and drama were included in literary genres. Then, why is the At-Kapat-Patti literature considered as literary genre today?

(b)

Biography has existed since ancient times. However, as the eras of literary history changed, the nature of the body of work that wrote biography changed.

We see that there are groups of writers, groups of novelists. There are not many people who write biographies, I would say groups of writers. There can be various groups in writing biographies. There should be. I wrote a small book called “Ko Aung Kyaw’s Story” in 1940. It was published at the unveiling ceremony of Bo Aung Kyaw Kye’s statue that year. At that time, I was the head of the University Union’s propaganda department. I used to describe the story of the Aung Kyaw movement in a certain way. Actually, I am not a close friend of Ko Aung Kyaw. I just know him. He is at Jupsin College. I am at University College.

The book contains a little bit of the Ra Sahan movement. I have never written about it before. At that time, we celebrated the day when Ko Aung Kyaw was killed as Martyrs' Day.

After the war, I started to paint less and less in the portrait genre. I painted portraits with feelings. Feelings, personal feelings, artistic feelings, etc.

I often write about historical figures. Historical figures are only those that I define as historical figures. They can also be the same as those defined by the public. I write about political leaders such as Aung San, Ba Hein, and Ba Swe. Many of them are close friends of mine. In addition to political leaders, there are also many people from the field of literature and art. Among the painters, U Ohn Lwin and Aung Soe. Among the writers, Maha Swe, Thein Pe Myint, Ye Htut, Ban Maung Tin Aung, Tint, and Pho Kywe. Among the editors, Shu Ma Wa U Kyaw. Among the musicians, Hay Ma Ne Win, etc.

I have written a few poems under the title "Phat Khan Picture Frames". This type of group work is not a complete picture of what each person feels like, like a group of pictures. I write a picture frame of the people I meet while I am passing by. I may not be alone in a poem. I may write in pairs or threes.

(B)

The historical background of the portraits I paint is always present. The people I came into contact with in the historical period I lived through. I can't forget the historical background. I have always believed that I should depict real events. That's why when I paint people, I often paint the historical background in which they move and see their image. I think it's fair to say that my portraits are a compositional concept. When painting political figures, their historical background is important.

I believe that a political leader is unique to his era and to him alone. Therefore, when I describe political leaders, I tend to describe their historical era very carefully.

In the creation of a writer, the historical era is not insignificant, it is important. I see that his literary era is related to the historical background. When I created the portrait of Master Maha Swe, I created it only after the war. In fact, Master Maha Swe was involved in the anti-colonial movement before the war. When I reached the post-war era, I criticized his political ideas. I couldn't.

When I was writing about novelist Ye Htut, I remembered Ye Htut's pre-war novels and wrote them. When I was writing about painter U Ohn Lwin, I was feeling his nationalistic, Burmese style of painting.

Painting Ko Aung Soe and the artist Pauk Sa, I was close friends since childhood. At that time, he did not have a clear style of painting. However, later, we called his abstract painting a modern painting style. The young people loved it. When he passed away, I could not help but write. The stories of my friendship with him also touched and moved me.

I usually paint people while they are alive. Some I paint after they have died. For some reason, I paint them while they are alive or after they have died, but there are also those who I can't paint. I can't, I can't.

Literary Journal, 21, September, 1994.