Sitt Nyein Aye (original) (raw)

Sitt Nyein Aye (Burmese: စစ်ငြိမ်းအေး, IPA: [sɪʔ ɲéiɰ̃ ʔé]; born 24 April 1956) is a Burmese artist. Sitt Nyein Aye came from a small village, near Nyaung-U Township in Upper Myanmar. He was born Sein Aye (စိန်အေး) to Daw Than Swe and U Tun Pe. His parents were farmers with no money for education. Monks in the village monastery provided the resources needed for him to attend high school. He secretly studied modern art but this was frowned on by his teachers, being dubbed "mad art". He failed to achieve the top prize that would have allowed him to study abroad. Instead he lived on the streets and sold artworks to passers-by.