A photo exhibition takes the viewer behind the curtain of Myanmar’s jade industry
Myanmar jade is one of the most beautiful in the world. It is also one of the bloodiest. One of the best mines is in the war-torn Kachin state where ethnic armed groups and the Burmese armed force are at each others’ throats.
“Journey of The Blood Jade”, a photo exhibition held on 16 to 18 May at The Yangon Gallery aimed to show just how bloody the industry is.
Photographer Soe Win Nyein, Ko Zaw, Zaw Moe Htet and Nyan Hlaing Lynn showed some 70 photos and several video clips showing the impact of the jade trade in Hpakant township, Kachin State. The exhibition was supported by the Yangon Journalism School and the Natural Resource Governance Institute.
The photographers pictured excavation sites, jade workers as well as the mark left on the environment after years of extensive extracting.
“We are doing this exhibition with the feeling that we can help protect the environment. It is ordinary civilian’s responsibility” said U Ye Naing Moe, the Director of Yangon Journalism School.
Read Lae Phyu Pya Myo Myint’s full article on Myanmar Times.
