Two groups of people live in the south-east of Myanmar. Formally known as Burma. Living in the rich mountainous landscapes full of teak and minerals.
Together with a lot of other subgroups they are named the Karenni…
It feels like time has stood still. A story that you would normally only read in books about stories of old.
But it is all real, and stills exists…
Myanmar though, is a country in rapid development and that also means fast changes. The purpose of this project is to have a documentation of what is happening right now before globalization hits the country in such a way we might not have a visual imagery of how one of their many cultures once was.
Also the tribes don’t have any real written history of themselves. And a lot of history of them is already lost.
Thynt and Phaw. 78 and 74 years old. And a pair beautiful Kayan grandmothers. When she was very little she met another girl in the village where she lived. Instantly they became best friends…
When we were out they told me their story about how they have met. And how they conceived a plan so they could never be separated…
It was about an hour walk to their favorite rice field. They showed me the way. But despite being at quite the old age. They were so nimble and as quick a young cat.
Collecting the sumac fruit is used to create the red dye in clothing.
Phaw, who is Thyinth’s best friend. Suddenly began laughing when I asked about heir ingenious plan…
Phaw told me, while Thyint was nodding in approval: Our idea was that if one of us would get married. The other one would find a boy from the same village… This so they wouldn’t end up in different places and would end up with different lives…
And so they did... As soon as Phaw got married. Thynt married a boy from the same village... At their age they are still going out. As best friends... Together as one...
The interesting part is that if you compare their society to ours. Things like the friendship of these two ladies is still going strong even at their age. Thynt and Phaw. The two ladies in this short story are 78 and 74.
In our society friendships come and go. Just like the things we buy, it all seems disposable. And on the surface it looks like we somehow have stopped caring about long term human connections. But in the end I just think we forgot how to make them.
Mulon…
Always cooking… She has a stove a the side of her house. She cooks for a lot of people of the village. Her shack also functions as a storage space for food in winter.
A annual soccer tournament is held among the villages in Kayah state. Spectators hiding under umbrellas because of the sun… A sun so strong it would burn the skin in an instant. It’s common this time of year…
One of the matches in Pan Pet. For some matches the army was present just to make sure the teams were not going into a clash.
The head garments the ladies wear from the Pa-O tribe resemble dragons.
I just want to be free… Is what she told me when we talked about life…
Traditional pounding of the rice…
This day bad luck was driven away… The owner of the main house performed a ceremony to get rid of the bad spirits, and bury feathers and bones outside of the village. Food was donated for good luck…
The entire village came out for this occasion…
A pig that has roasted for hours… Ready to be cleaned and shared among each other…
True soulmates that go by the name U La Pyanh and Daw Mu Myint… When I asked U la about he and his wife, a smile appeared that went from ear to ear…
Corn dried in the sun and ready to be bagged. A part of it gets sold and the rest is food for the chickens.