Artist Sein Myint is a renowned figure in the world of Myanmar art. Born in 1945 in the Sagaing Hills near Mandalay, he has made significant contributions to preserving and promoting traditional Myanmar culture through his artistic endeavors¹.

After completing high school, Sein Myint continued his studies at the Mandalay Arts and Science University, majoring in Myanmar language and literature. As a student of the arts, he apprenticed himself to well-known personalities in Myanmar art, including Paw Oo Thet, U Win Pe, and U Lu Tin. He further honed his skills by studying under master craftsmen like U Aye Myint (a master of traditional Myanmar design) and U Win Maung (known as Tampawadi)². Around 1985, Sein Myint became interested in traditional Myanmar tapestry and decided to use it as a medium of expression.

His watercolor painting titled “Irrawaddy River Scene” won a prize at the International UNICEF Painting Competition in 1987, and he donated the prize money to the UNICEF Children’s Fund. In 1989-1990, one of his tapestries was selected to adorn the walls of the main chamber at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The Myanmar government recognized his work by awarding him a prize for infusing folk art with creativity in 1994. Sein Myint was appointed as an expert and consultant on traditional Myanmar folk arts by the Government of the Union of Myanmar in 1995. He held an exhibition on traditional Myanmar tapestries and lectured on the subject at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1996¹.

He has sound knowledge of Myanmar traditional culture and knows Myanmar traditional designs by heart. I notice liberty and breadth in his paintings. And he is also a researcher of Myanmar art, said modernist Win Pe, who is one of Sein Myint’s mentors.

Spirit in Colors, a series depicting Myanmar traditional nats exhibited in 2008, became a milestone in his artistic career. The series was the result of his painstaking research into the history of nats, nat songs and the life of mediums known as nat kadaw in Burmese.

Other artists have also created nat paintings, but Sein Myint’s works are distinguished in terms of color and style, said Tampawadi U Win Maung. “Artists have their own styles. But not all of them are enchanting to audiences. U Sein Myint succeeds in both,” he said.