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The Calming Bronze Park

Hsu Myat Khin Zaw, Aung Myo Ko & Khine Yu Zin & Tun Aung Kyaw
Myanmar

Kayan ethnic group reside mostly in Kayah State around Demoso and Loikaw. Kayan ethnic group is famous for their own culture, the long neck tradition, that is Kayan women wear bronze neck rings. Wearing the neck rings was initially so painful and some didn’t want to wear them,so they don’t force the descendants to wear them if they don’t want to. Despite of the beautiful land, culture and tradition, people in Demosocouldn’t live peacefully. As there were wars between ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) and Myanmar military for several decades, approximately over 60 years, many Kayan people had to flee to Thailand border.
As they lived in Thailand border, they regard themselves as they are in “Human Zoo” and Kayan people have this kind of emotion because tourist and other visitors had to pay money to see Kayan people. The Kayan people didn’t have much choice, they had to flee there, make a living but other see this situation as a profit.
We would like to propose a project where people can empathize the pain the Kayen people have suffered and learn about their culture, tradition and a recreational space.
Program
o Memorial Park
o Labyrinth
o Museum
o Monument
Site Selection
The site locates in Demoso, Kayah State, Myanmar, on the east side of the Ngwe Taung Dam. The site faces towards Ngwe Taung Dam giving the fascinating views of Kayah State. Kayah is a mountainous state bordered by Thailand (Mae Hong Son Province), Shan State and Kayin State.
The site faces dam view and gets fresh air, natural light and no environmental noise. As there is no much recreational spaces in Kayah State, where locals and visitors can relax, we chose this location to create some interesting spaces.
Labyrinth
The labyrinth indicates the looping process of never-ending civil wars, to give the feeling of suffocation how the Kayan people have felt. The visitors have to struggle in the labyrinth and they will find the way out by following the direction of main building. The material usage will be local materials such as bamboo and thatch, so that the pattern of the labyrinth can be changed after some year.
Museum
After successfully finding the way out of the labyrinth, the visitor will reach the entrance of the museum, which path is a slope to the building. The slope is embedded in the 2/3 of building’s first floor. There’s a statue in the center of the first floor, which is a Kayan woman statue. The statue has 4 faces of a Kayan woman looking up to second and third floor. And there will be statues on each floor looking down to the center of the circle. Because of the human’s unconscious mind, as the Kayan statue is looking up, the visitors will do the same when reaching to the center of the 1st floor. And then they realized that they are being stared at by the visitors from the 2nd and 3rd floor.As in the 2nd and 3rd floordisplaying about Kayan traditions and culture, the visitors will look down the board, as they are looking down to the visitors from the first floor. As soon as they enter the building and reaching to the center, they will empathize the word “Human Zoo”.
Monument
Design according to minimalism. Names of those who gave their lives during the political turmoil will be written on the stone. Water falling down from the stone which mean the blood and sweat they’ve sacrificed will never be forgotten.
Conclusion
We want to promote beautiful culture of Kayan people from this project. Our aim is to empathize Kayan people's emotional trauma and burden in their bad memories. The visitors will understand the disadvantages of war crimes and have awareness on how war crimes can affect people's lives.

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