Framing scenes, Folding images.
Theatrical operations at the royal palace of Mandalay, Burma 1880-1885
The 1880s not only mark the final annihilation of the Burmese empire at the hands of the British colonisers but also the end of the mye waing, a circular stage on which musical dramas (pyazat) were presented at the royal palace. This talk will trace the shift from theatre 'in the round' to a theatre 'in the cube' by interrogating the specific techniques of appearance in these two media milieus. The circular performance space was not only a curiosity to colonial observers but their accounts of it reveal an eagerness to find their own History reflected in it. The primary sources for the theatrical arrangements at the Burmese courts are water colour paintings on thick fan-folded paper (parabeik). These paintings not only depict dramatic performances but are themselves performative: they have to be unfolded, an operation that not only directs the viewer's gaze but that itself processes appearance and sets up relations of showing and seeing within the image.
Donnerstag 1.12.22 | 17:15 Uhr | Raum E.002 (Hörsaal Agnes Muthspiel), Unipark Nonntal
