A Kachin Case Study

MUSEUMS, DIASPORA COMMUNITIES AND DIASPORIC CULTURES A KACHIN CASE STUDY HELEN MEARS PHD 2019 0 Abstract This thesis adds to the growing body of literature on museums and source communities through addressing a hitherto under-examined area of activity: the interactions between museums and diaspora communities. It does so through a focus on the cultural practices and museum engagements of the Kachin community from northern Myanmar. The shift in museum practice prompted by increased interaction with source communities from the 1980s onwards has led to fundamental changes in museum policy. Indeed, this shift has been described as “one of the most important developments in the history of museums” (Peers and Brown, 2003, p.1). However, it was a shift informed by the interests and perspectives of an ethnocentric museology, and, for these reasons, analysis of its symptoms has remained largely focussed on the museum institution rather than the communities which historically contributed to these institutions’ collections. Moreover, it was a shift which did not fully take account of the increasingly mobile and transnational nature of these communities. This thesis, researched and written by a museum curator, was initiated by the longstanding and active engagement of Kachin people with historical materials in the collections of Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. In closely attending to the cultural interests and habits of overseas Kachin communities, rather than those of the Museum, the thesis responds to Christina Kreps’ call to researchers to “liberate our thinking from Eurocentric notions of what constitutes the museum and museological behaviour” (2003, p.x). Through interviews with individual members of three overseas Kachin communities and the examination of a range of Kachin-related cultural productions, it demonstrates the extent to which Kachin people, like museums, are highly engaged in heritage and cultural preservation, albeit in ways which are distinctive to normative museum practices of collecting, display and interpretation. To illustrate the limited and contingent nature of collaborations led by British museums and involving diaspora communities, the thesis presents examples which reveal some of the issues raised by practice in this area over the last two decades. In reflecting on the opportunities for a deeper engagement with young and second-generation migrants specifically, it concludes by recommending the adoption, by museums, of an acculturalist practice, which would enable such institutions to better align themselves with their stakeholders and to articulate the changes in practice needed to serve an increasingly transnational public. Key words: museums; source community; diaspora; Kachin; transnationalism 1 2 Contents Part One: The forming of a diasporic community and culture 15 1.1 Introduction and Methodology 15 Thesis structure 18 1.2 Methodology 20 A note on terminology 25 Acronyms used in this thesis 26 1.3 Literature review 27 Introduction 27 1.3.1 New contexts for old institutions: Museums under conditions of migration and diaspora 29 Migration museums 31 Museums and diaspora 34 Other museum strategies for dealing with global issues 38 Digital technologies and museum dilemmas 41 Conclusion 44 1.3.2 Introduction: Writings on and by the Kachin 44 Texts by non-Kachin authors 44 Texts by Kachin authors and Kachin-led agencies 47 Texts that address histories of migration, displacement and diaspora in terms of Myanmar 48 Conclusion 50 1.4 The Kachin and their recent political history 52 Introduction 52 1947-1961: Independence and the founding of the Kachin Independence Organisation 54 1962-1988: The Ne Win era 56 The development of Kachin nationalism 58 The late 1980s / early 1990s: From crisis to ceasefire 60 1994 to 2011: A ‘not-quite-peace’ drives outwards migration 62 Post-2011: The return of conflict 68 1.5 Making representations: Museum interactions with Kachin communities 70 Introduction 70 Ethnography at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery 1973 – 1991 71 Negotiations over the James Henry Green collection 1991 – 1995 74 Museum work with the Kachin community 1996 – 1999 81 Museum work with the Kachin community 1999 – 2002 88 3 The development of the World Stories Young Voices gallery (2012) 93 Museum work with the Kachin community since 2012 97 Conclusion 100 Part Two: New contexts for an ‘old’ identity 102 2.1 Introduction to Part Two 102 2.2 Making sense of Kachin culture in diaspora 103 2.2.1 Introduction 103 Living in cities 104 The diasporic Kachin church 107 2.2.2 Three Kachin diaspora communities 113 West London 113 The San Francisco Bay Area 121 Kuala Lumpur 132 2.2.3 Conclusions: Kachin culture in diaspora 139 2.3 The printed calendar and the development of a Kachin visual identity 144 Introduction 144 2.3.1 Calendars and the construction of a visual counter-narrative to Burman hegemony 146 2.3.2 The Calendars 149 New Ethno-Histories: A 2002 Nung Lungmi Cultural Committee calendar 149 Exploiting a new graphic medium: A 2004 Kachin Theological College calendar 158 Pan-Kachin affinities: A 2005 Zaiwa Literature and Culture Committee calendar 161 Creating connections with the diaspora: A 2005 Tokyo Kachin Baptist Church calendar 163 ‘Difficulties are Opportunities’ A 2015 Myitkyina Universities Kachin Literature and Culture Committee calendar 165 Conclusion 167 2.3.3 ‘Ko Z’ (Zahkung Hkawng Gyung) 169 Designing for the Kachin community 174 Conclusion 177 2.4 Kachin culture and new media 179 Introduction 179 New Media in Myanmar 181 Facebook 184 2.4.1 Alternative archives: Jinghpaw language music in diaspora 185 Jinghpaw Tingsan 185 4 Bawmwang Jaraw 190 2.4.2 Alternative archives: Crowdsourcing histories 196 #KachinLifeStories 196 Conclusion 201 Part Three: Transforming the museum: Becoming diaspora-appropriate 203 3.1 Introduction to Part Three 203 3.2 How are museums currently serving diaspora communities? 204 Introduction 204 3.2.1 Interactions between United Kingdom museums and diaspora communities 206 The Horniman Museum and Gardens 206 Congo Great Lakes Initiative 210 The Manchester Museum 213 World Museum Liverpool 217 The British Museum: Object Journeys 220 Brighton Museum & Art Gallery 224 Conclusion 226 3.3 What might a diaspora-appropriate museum practice look like? 231 Introduction 231 The imperatives for a diaspora-appropriate museum practice 227 The “distributed museum” and an acculturalist approach to museum practice 234 Online collections and other content 239 Capturing the intangible 245 Expanded modes of record 246 Open up public space 248 Contribute to the resourcing and capacity of diasporic heritage practices 249 Conclusion 251 3.4 Conclusion: Museums and diaspora 253 Bibliographic references 256 Primary sources 258 Secondary sources Appendix 1: Details of interviewees 285 Appendix 2: Checklist of interview topics 286 5 6 List of illustrations Figure 1: Still from the music video for the track Labau hte nga ai amyu, Bawmwang Jaraw and Brang San, Noah Productions, 2014. Figure 2: Examples of James Henry Green’s photographs being used as Facebook profile images (by “Balen Hkakhu” (top left), “Saiga Brang” (top right), “Wunpawng Db” (bottom left) and “Kachin Citizen” (bottom right)). Figure 3: Schematic map of Kachin State, Myanmar. Original source unknown. Figure 4: Models wearing outfits commissioned through Brighton Museum’s Kachin Textiles Project. Photographed by Htoi Awng at the Shatapru Manau (dance festival) showground, Myitkyina, Kachin State, Myanmar, on 22 March 2002. Figure 5: A high-ranking Burmese military officer joins the dance at the Manau (dance festival) showground. Myitkyina, Kachin State, Myanmar. Photograph by the author, 10 January 2011. Figure 6: View of the ‘Celebrating the Manau’ display in the World Stories Young Stories gallery at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. Photograph by James Pike, June 2012. Figure 7: Image of Hparat Panglai Naura, a library and research centre in Laiza, a town on the Myanmar/China border. Photographer and date unknown. Figure 8: Image of the new ‘Kachin museum and art gallery’ (Kachin madun gawk htingnu) built adjacent to Hparat Panglai Naura, which opened in 2015. Photographer and date unknown. Figure 9: Visitors looking at images from the exhibition Kachin Soldiers in the Late 19th and Early 20th Century. Photographer and date unknown. 7 Figure 10: Sarama Roi Ja leads Sunday School for children of the London-based Kachin community, before the church service begins. Southall Baptist Gospel Hall, Southall, West London. Photograph by Georgia Rooney, 23 April 2017. Figure 11: Children read poems at a special Thanksgiving service. Southall Baptist Gospel Hall, Southall, West London. Photograph by the author, 26 November 2017. Figure 12: London Kachin Baptist Church fundraising event held at Southall Baptist Church. Photographs by the author, 1 August 2015. Figure 13: Left: Children perform at an event to mark the 57th anniversary of Kachin Revolution Day. Right: Hkun Nawng gives a speech at the same event. Event held at the Ramada Hotel, Hounslow, 3 February 2018. Photographs by the author. Figure 14: Cake served at an event to mark the 55th anniversary of Kachin Revolution Day. Event held at the Ramada Hotel, Hounslow, 6 February 2016. Photograph by the author. Figure 15: Hkanhpa Tu Sadan, General Secretary of the Kachin National Organisation, uses a photograph by James Henry Green (of Nga Lang La, WAG0166) to illustrate his speech at an event marking the 56th anniversary of Kachin Revolution Day. Event held at the Ramada Hotel, Hounslow,

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