Curators will discuss 'The Art of Burma'
at NIU museum gallery in Chicago

Curators of “The Art of Burma,” a stunning display of artworks from two of the top Burmese art collections in the United States, will lead a tour and give a public talk about the exhibition from 4 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, at the NIU Art Museum Gallery in Chicago.

The exhibition runs through Oct. 29 and is free and open to the public.

On display are sculptures, lacquerwares, palm-leaf manuscripts and tapestries dating from the 7th through 19th centuries. The artworks were selected from the vast collections of the Center for Burma Studies at NIU and Denison University in Granville, Ohio.

“The Art of Burma” examines the transmission, protection and sponsorship of Buddhism in Burma, as seen through visual art and artifacts. During their presentation, co-curators Catherine Raymond of NIU and Alexandra Green of Denison also will explore the nature of collecting cultural art and artifacts in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Significant collections of Burmese art have been formed in the United States over the past 150 years. Denison University amassed its collection from alumni who were missionaries to Burma , while NIU accumulated its collection primarily from American scholars and American foreign diplomats posted in Burma .

“Collectors of Burmese art were originally colonials and missionaries, but after independence in 1948, diplomats and scholars predominated,” NIU's Raymond said. “Since the Center for Burma Studies was created in 1986, NIU has received major donations from diplomats and scholars who were interested in the art of Burma. These donors knew their collections well and thankfully were familiar with the history of their donated pieces. Konrad and Sarah Bekker were the first ones who initiated the Burma Art collection at NIU and created the core of our extensive collection.”

Burma (Myanmar) is a country with disparate geographical areas and types, ranging from mountainous regions to flood plains, from heavy forestation to semi-aridity.

Moving down from southwestern China in the 9th century, the Burman people entered the area encompassing present day Burma, displacing and absorbing the previous occupants, the Mon and the Pyu. The country borders India, Bangladesh, China, Laos, Thailand  the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea and naturally became a center for routes of exchange. Today the country is ethnically diverse, with a population of 43 million people.

The collection of the Center for Burma Studies at NIU is on exhibit for the first time in Chicago thanks to the generous support provided by the Sally Stevens Fund for Excellence in the Arts. This exhibition is funded in part by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, the Friends of the NIU Art Museum, the Burma Studies Foundation, the Arts Fund 21, the Denison University Art Gallery and the Denison Club of Chicago.

The NIU Art Museum Gallery in Chicago is located at 215 W. Superior, 3rd Floor, and is wheelchair accessible. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

For more information, visit or call (312) 642-6010. For more information on the collections, see www.grad.niu.edu/burma or www.denison.edu/artgallery.

9-26-05