43 Writers never fail to mention artists. The one I am going to write about now is Bagyi Aung Soe. He is an artist. He has been painting since he was young. He still paints. He is quite old. His hair and beard are turning grey. He can't hear well. In short, he is an old man. But he still paints. If I state, “Artists paint till they die,” I don’t think anyone would disagree. 44 So no one would disagree with “He is the artist,” I guess. I believe speaking about his artworks is better than sharing about his life and experiences. My sister Win Win used to talk about an art teacher very often when I was studying in a school in the city May. She was studying at TTC, which I previously attended at Pyay Road.1 (There was always an art teacher at TTC at that time). She was reading Grade 4, I think. According to her, that art teacher was a very kind-hearted person. She seemed to be very respectful of him; she talked about him very often. She said he was very poor. I had the impression that artists were poor, but what she said was exaggerated, I thought. Still, I had no idea as to who he might be. When I was at TTC (I studied there until Grade 6), my art teacher was U Hla Bau. He died in July 1949 (I often write about him), so I simply assumed that my sister had a new one. I did not try to find out who he was. It was too late when I realised that he was Bagyi Aung Soe. He had just returned from Rabindranath Tagore’s university of Śāntiniketan at that time. 1
TTC refers to the Teacher Training College (Kamayut Township). It is a high school. Trainee teachers have to work there. If a young student says he or she is at TTC, it means that he or she is a student there. Kin Maung Yin and Zaw Zaw Aung, “Bagyi Aung Soe,” in Ideal of Art (Yangon: Shwe Parabaik Sapay, 1997), 43-47. Translated by Pann Hmone Wai; edited by Yin Ker.
1
AungSoeillustrations.org
Kin Maung Yin and Zaw Zaw Aung, “Bagyi Aung Soe,” in Ideal of Art (Yangon: Shwe Parabaik Sapay, 1997), 43-47.