17 August – 7 September 2024
When my mother had to move out from the Rangoon University staff’s housing, she bought a bungalow near where a few of her friends had already settled.
I was quite delighted, as an emerging painter, to find out that an artist I had long admired was living only a few minutes’ walk away: Paw Thame. a modernist with a boldness of hand and thought. he had already formed a tight-knit group of artists for his ”Peacock Gallery”: a large shed with walls of bamboo mats and a thatch roof, with a scrupulously clean floor of packed earth.
I walked over and introduced myself. What I noticed on that first meeting was his demeanor of calm gentleness although there was also a sense that he’d not suffer fools of any kind.
After a few visits from me he invited me to become a member; I was glad but not surprised because I had guessed that he was not the usual Burmese male type who rarely treats women as equal. The other members I noticed, mostly shared his way of thinking.
Mar Mar knew more of Paw Thame’s work, and did a lot to keep his career on the top of the charts, being a person of dedication.
I was more like a family member because, as Peacock Gallery members, we were a family.
I, in spirit and devotion, am still a member of the Peacock family together with the late sculptor Sonny Nyein who was also Paw Thame’s closest friend, and painters Gyee Saw and Tun Tin, both who had since settled in the United States.
We still love him. We are still proud of him and miss him deeply in our hearts. Paw Thame was, as an artist, a friend, a man of integrity, irreplaceable.
Text by: Ma Thanegi
