colour scheme
background information
Burma - a little bit of background
Situated in Southeast Asia. It has a long coast on The Bay of Bengal. It is bordered by Bangladesh and India to the west and China, Laos, and Thailand to the north and east.
As a result of its position, its invasions of other countries and invasions of Burma by its neighbours, and colonisation by Britain until its independence in 1948, the Burmese culture reflects other cultures, but has blended them into the distinctive Burmese traditions and culture.
These traditions include:
- Burmese classical, theatrical and folk music and songs
- Burmese musical instruments
- Burmese Lacquerwork
- Burmese dance
- Burmese dramas and plays
- Burmese puppet/marionette shows
- Burmese temples and shrines
- Budddhist religious traditions and artworks
- Burmese stories and plays
- Burmese painting/drawing/decorative works
These are only some of the traditions which make up a varied and exciting artistic culture. For the last fifty years Burma has had very limited exposure to the west, as a result "the artistic traditions of Burma - and indeed the country itself - are little known today either to the general public or to the scholarly community." (Isaacs, R. & Blurton, T. (2001), Visions from the Golden Land, London: British Museum Press.)
