Mizzima

Legendary Myanmar protestor Sit Nyein Aye’s paintings will be auctioned to raise funds for homeless women and children in Myanmar whose houses were burned down by the military.  

The Norway-based Support Group of the opposition National Unity Government (NUG) and Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) which is a Burmese legislative body in exile will auction three paintings of Sit Nyein Aye who became well known during the 1988 uprising against the military junta.  He died two months ago.  

“The online auction will allow the whole world to participate. It will be easier to fulfil the task of raising funds,” said Wut Hmon, head officer of the Support Group.  She added that her organization had earlier conducted an online auction of a glass painting of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi by a citizen from the UK and local auctions in Norway.    

The Support Group’s expectations are higher from Sit Nyein Aye’s paintings. The first is an oil painting with the themes centered around mindfulness that uses hot colours to represent Myanmar’s culture and the situation in the country. The second embodies the spirit of the 1988 movement, popularly known as "The High-Flying Birds," symbolizing the journey from fear to freedom.  

And the third painting portrays a famous picture from 1988, featuring Ma Win Maw Oo who was shot by the military. In the image, two doctors can be seen carrying her and running, and it is titled "Senseless Crushing of a Flower. The starting price for the first two paintings is $2,000 while it is $2500 for the third.  

The Support Group’s decision for an online auction is a reminder of the need to help people negatively affected by the conflict. According to the United Nations, there were an estimated 1,704,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) within Myanmar as of 6 March 2023, and 1,086,000 refugees and asylum-seekers from the country in neighbouring countries as of 30 June 2022. Last June, in another report, the UN highlighted the restrictions imposed by the military regime on life-saving aid and as many as 40 aid workers were killed in the country since the coup.  

The CRPH-NUG Support Group in Norway was founded as an umbrella organization around a month after the military coup in Myanmar on 1 February 2021. It is officially registered as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Norway. The purpose of the organization is to support the CRPH which represents a group of NLD lawmakers and the members of the parliament ousted in the military coup in 2021.  The NUG was formed by the CRPH.  

In addition, the mandate of the CRPH-NUG Support Group in Norway is to offer assistance to the Burmese community in Norway in integrating with the Norwegian culture, customs, norms, and regulations as well as providing unwavering support to people in Burma who are in desperate need of help after the coup. To achieve the objectives, the Support Group has firmed up partnerships and are already working with 21 ethnic, religious and volunteer organizations in Norway representing different constituencies in Burma. 

The organization plunged headlong into protests against the military coup on 13 February 2021 in front of the Parliament in Oslo. This was followed by demonstrations, awareness programmes about the situation in Burma and fund-raising events at regular intervals subsequently.    

“So far, our organization in Norway has managed to raise 643545 Kroner in 2021, 3813448 Kroner in 2022 and nearly 3 million Kroner during the current year. The funds have been disbursed to functionaries of the civil disobedience movement in Myanmar, internally displaced people, resistance groups and also the NUG directly,” Wut Hmon pointed out.