Harn Lay Creates Free Animated Work

By KO HTWE
Harn Lay, The Irrawaddy's illustrator and cartoonist, has created an animated work in video that pokes fun at Burmese junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe, which is now available to all without charge to mark the third anniversary of the monk-led mass demonstration called the “Saffron Revolution.”

The three-minute animated feature was done in cooperation with the Dai Artist Group and can be viewed and downloaded at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifEs53qkjsA.
Harn Lay, 44, an ethnic Shan artist, is a graduate of the Rangoon School of Fine Arts Academy.

“We distribute this work free to mark the anniversary of the Saffron revolution,” he said. “To this day, the regime has failed to apologize to the Sangha, the most revered institution in our country.”

Harn Lay has specialized in satirizing Snr-Gen Than Shwe, the head of the Burmese military junta. His work regularly appears in The Irrawaddy online website and in the monthly print magazine, where he frequently illustrates magazine cover stories and articles. He also exhibits fine art oil paintings, mostly in portraiture and landscapes.

In April, Harn Lay received a Hellman/Hammett grant for his political cartoons and art penned against the Burmese regime.

The Saffron Revolution began after a brutal crackdown on monks in Pakokku in central Burma, after they refused to accept alms from the families of regime officials. Outrage at the attacks on the monks spread to Rangoon and Mandalay, the country’s two largest cities, as well as to other urban areas.

There are more than 400,000 monks in Burma. There are more than 2,183 political prisoners in Burmese jails including 262 monks and nuns, according to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoner—Burma.