Despite being an imported tradition, comic art had a significant impact on Burmese visual culture. Comic art is a form of visual expression defined by sequences of juxtaposed panels containing stylised images with bold outlines which incorporate text or symbols as an integral part of the narrative. Introduced by members of the British colonial elite, who were also amateur artists, cartooning and comic art was embraced by Burmese artists as a new mode of visual and critical expression. First appearing in the early 1910s, within two decades comics and cartoons emerged as a significant vehicle by which political and social criticism could be made within Burma's restricted public arena. As the number of print publications in Burma grew, from 22 in 1911 to 103 in 1921 and finally to over 200 by the close of the 1930s, comics became a substantial avenue for entertainment, art and discourse.
Origins and influences
The first cartoon published in Burma appeared in the Rangoon Times in 1912. The cartoon was created by Martin Jones, the British commissioner of Burma's railways. It depicted a young Burmese woman who attended a Western party and was subsequently humiliated. Jones published the derogatory illustration under the pseudonym Myauk, the derivation of the Burmese term myauk phyu meaning ‘white monkey’. A term the Burmese used to refer to the British colonial forces who occupied Burma from 1824 to 1948.
Jones along with fellow amateur colonial painters physics professor Kenneth Ward and principal of St. Mathews High School in Moulmien E G N Kinch founded the Burma Art Club in 1913. Their efforts were assisted by Commissioner Hla Aung and his partner Mya May, along with several young Burmese artists including Ba Zaw, Ba Nyan, Tha Dun, Tun Hla, and Ba Kyi. Located on the grounds of the Rangoon Government High School, the Burma Art Club was a colonial art institution with the objective of promoting Western-style painting and drawing, including cartooning, to select Burmese students. It has been suggested by art historian Andrew Ranard that: Among the first initiates to receive training from the establishment were the now notable Burmese cartoonists Ba Gale, also known as Shwe Talay or Shwe Yoe, and Ba Gyan. It is considered that the beginning of Burma's comic art movement was defined by these individuals.
Ba Gale
Ba Gale (1893-1945) was a formative figure in Burma's burgeoning comic art scene. His career began in 1915, after publishing a cartoon in the Rangoon College Annual Magazine at the age of 22. Crucially, he was the first artist to draw and publish a cartoon in the Burmese language, which appeared in Thuriya, a publication run by young nationalists, in March 1917. Earning 10-15 kyat per cartoon (approximately AU $0.17) Ba Gale sought to make cartooning his career. His works subsequently appeared in the Rangoon Times and as part of the editorial pages in other smaller local newspapers.
Ba Gale's style drew heavily from the European tradition of caricature. During his time at the Burma Art Club, he was introduced to and subscribed to the British comic publication Punch, known for its political and social satire. Despite being acknowledged as an adept artist and an astute pictorial commentator, the Burmese public initially found it difficult to understand and interpret Ba Gale's exaggerated and stylised drawing style. Writer and social historian Aung Zaw notes that: