The story of Myanmar - how isolated nation was once wealthy trade hub

(31 Oct 2023)
UK MYANMAR EXHIBIT
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
RESTRICTIONS:
LENGTH: 6:47
ASSOCIATED PRESS
London, UK - 31 December 2023
1. Various of face of golden buddha statue, around 1790-1824, from central or lower Myanmar
2. Wide of golden buddha statue
3. Wide of ‘Burma to Myanmar’ exhibition
4. Various of Dr. Alexandra Green, curator, British Museum, looking at Karen tunic made from cotton, felted wool and seeds, before 1863, probably from lower Myanmar
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Alexandra Green, curator, British Museum:
"So it's quite a complex exhibition. We look at Myanmar's history from about 500 to the present. So it's very wide ranging. Part of the reason for the exhibition, part of the impetus behind it, is very much that it was an important colony for the British back in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but yet today, very few people know much about it. So it's an effort to bring the country to the fore in the UK. And this year is a perfect year for that because it's the 75th anniversary of Myanmar's independence from British colonial control."
6. Tilt down to gold letter from King Alaungpaya to George II, inlaid with rubies, archived in George II’s personal library in 1756, made in central Myanmar, mined in highlands
7. Various of gold letter
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Alexandra Green, curator, British Museum:
"So we start the exhibition with a fantastic UNESCO Memory of the World object, which is a gold letter set with 24 Burmese rubies sent by King Alaungpaya, who had just founded the very powerful Konbaung Dynasty. He sent a letter to King George II in Britain, introducing himself and trying to establish diplomatic relations between the Konbaung Empire and the British one. So I think people would be very surprised to learn about the fact that Myanmar had an empire. It briefly, twice in its history, expanded to be the largest empire in mainland Southeast Asia. So it was a force to be reckoned with."
9. Mid of silver bowl (left), 1895, and silver box (right), about 1870-1930, from Shan states
10. Pull focus between silver bowl and silver box
11. Various of Quran box, around 1870-1930, central or lower Myanmar
12. Various of lacquer offering vessel, around 1860-90, possibly Mandalay, central Myanmar
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Alexandra Green, curator, British Museum:
"One of the things I really want to do is to have people understand that although it's a developing country, it's actually extremely wealthy. Its resources are just very poorly - very poorly -distributed. So it's been wealthy. It's been a huge empire in the past. But the other major theme is for people to understand that until 1948, it was not the shape that it is today. And in the past, it was actually separate kingdoms in different parts of the country. So in the past it wasn't a single entity."
14. Various of statue of Shiva on his mount Nadi, about 1850, probably Mandalay, central Myanmar, from British Museum collection
15. Various of carved ivory chair, about 1880-85, probably Mandalay, on loan from the National Museums Liverpool, World Museum
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Alexandra Green, curator, British Museum:
"Even before cost of living crisis and COVID and the military coup in Myanmar in 2021, I had planned to borrow almost exclusively from UK institutions, and that was because it was an important colony for the British. There's so much material here in the UK that is tucked away in museums and hasn't been displayed, it hasn't been researched, it hasn't even been seen. So it was a chance to kind of pull those things out of storage and show them in the UK."
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[@rubyjunrose6522]

Myanmar was one of the wealthiest nations on earth.

[@rosewhispers2887]

Keep them well there.

[@yalinn123]

At where?

[@prayrehphaykawaww4223]

Burma ( Myanmar ) is in south east Asia and its borders are with India, Banglendash in the west and Thailand, Laos in the east and China in the north