April  What’s happening in Myanmar? From Putsch to popular protest

The Moore Institute, Centre for Global Women’s Studies and School of Political Science and Sociology at NUI Galway will host a webinar about the protest events in Myanmar following the military coup. The free online event takes place on Thursday, 6 May at 2pm.

The coup d’état in Myanmar, led by the Commander-in-Chief of the military, Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, has brought to a halt the tentative democratic transition in the country. Popular protest continues, taking the military and observers by surprise by its size, unity and innovativeness.

The webinar session will hear from Vijaya Nidadavolu who has been on the ground in Myanmar until recent events obliged her to leave. She will discuss the forces behind the popular protest movement and describe how prolific protest art movement led by youth, including young women in particular, is being used as a form of resistance.

Vijaya Nidadavolu is a Gender and Development specialist with years of experience in using popular culture and media for advancing gender and social justice issues. She has lived in Myanmar since 2015, until her recent departure.

Professor Daniel Carey, Director of the Moore Institute at NUI Galway, said: “The violent suppression of protest in Myanmar has sent shock waves around the world. We have had little chance to hear in an extended way from people with direct experience of what is taking place. The role of protest art in resisting the takeover is very compelling.”

Dr Nata Duvvury, Director of Centre for Global Women’s Studies, said: “A distinguishing feature of the current protests in Myanmar is the presence of young women in unprecedented numbers who are leading new provocative strategies upturning the traditional gender norms of the culture in highly subversive tactics.

“Young women who did not previously consider themselves as political have mobilised in large numbers in the protests. They have taken common symbols associated with women’s domesticity such as pots and spatulas as weapons of resistance in their artwork conveying the potency of the resistance movement.”

To attend the webinar, please register on https://nuigalway-ie.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_xr1aKMFeTF6nIoLIhb3nIQ.

For further information about the webinar please contact daniel.carey@nuigalway.ie.

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