Arts
Historically, Burmese art was based on Buddhist or Hindu cosmology and myths. There are several regional styles of Buddha images, each with certain distinctive characteristics. For example, the Mandalay style, which developed in the late 1800s, consists of an oval-shaped Buddha with realistic features, including naturally curved eyebrows, smaller but still prominent ears, and a draping robe. There are 10 traditional arts, called pan sè myo (ပန်းဆယ်မျိုး), listed as follows:
- Blacksmith (ပန်းပဲ ba-bè)
- Woodcarving (ပန်းပု ba-bu)
- Goldsmith (ပန်းထိမ် ba-dein)
- Stucco relief (ပန်းတော့ pandaw)
- Masonry (ပန်းရန် pa-yan)
- Stone carving (ပန်းတမော့ pantamaw)
- Turnery (ပန်းပွတ် panbut)
- Painting (ပန်းချီ bagyi)
- Lacquerware (ပန်းယွန်း panyun)
- Bronze casting (ပန်းတဉ်း badin)
In addition to the traditional arts are silk weaving, pottery, tapestry making, gemstone engraving, and gold leaf making. Temple architecture is typically of brick and stucco, and pagodas are often covered with layers of gold leaf while monasteries tend to be built of wood (although monasteries in cities are more likely to be built of modern materials). A very common roofing style in Burmese architecture is called pyatthat (ပြာသာဒ်), which is a multi-tiered and spired roof.
Read more about this topic: Culture Of Burma
Famous quotes containing the word arts:
“What ails it, intrinsically, is a dearth of intellectual audacity and of aesthetic passion. Running through it, and characterizing the work of almost every man and woman producing it, there is an unescapable suggestion of the old Puritan suspicion of the fine arts as such—of the doctrine that they offer fit asylum for good citizens only when some ulterior and superior purpose is carried into them.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)
“... the creator of the new composition in the arts is an outlaw until he is a classic.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)
“No one is ahead of his time, it is only that the particular variety of creating his time is the one that his contemporaries who are also creating their own time refuse to accept.... For a very long time everybody refuses and then almost without a pause almost everybody accepts. In the history of the refused in the arts and literature the rapidity of the change is always startling.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)