Dreams Under Construction: A Poetic Report on Yangon’s Urban Metamorphosis

Yangon’s recent urban metamorphosis was, and is still, illustrated throughout the city by computer-generated images set on building-site fences. This photo essay¹ started as a record of these fascinating posters. They advertise a mesmerizing future, one that represents the highest standards of a modern lifestyle. The people waiting for the bus in front of them or simply walking along seem to be part of an on going play, that of their ‘dreams under construction,’ as if Yangon was re-imagining itself in a sudden opening to globalization. At the same time, this construction is not yet done. The city at a human scale is still almost as rural as it was.

After decades of immobility during which homes were lighted with candles and getting a telephone was a long and expensive process, Yangon has suddenly entered the area of democracy and globalization, advertising a new Eden of modern luxury and technology. But what is being destroyed inspires an immediate nostalgia. A lifestyle from another time is vanishing. This progress creates an immediate gap: the present has become a recent past, while the new Yangon is not yet. The antiquated Yangon is still the only time capsule that embodies Myanmar identity, values, and the loving kindness and human warmth of its people.

Poster of a future residential building with the Shwedagon Pagoda on the horizon.

My outdoor studio 1 – Burmese people waiting for the bus, with a “night and day” poster of a construction project in the background.

The road to progress.

The ongoing present, between past and future.

Neighbors having a discussion, near a sanctuary for Bobogyi, a Burmese spirit protector of Buddhist sacred spaces (here, a banyan tree).

My outdoor studio 2 – two young Burmese people waiting for the bus.

These ropes with hanging baskets and clips are shaken when deliveries are made. At the other end of the ropes are small bells that alert the inhabitants that the newspaper (or other item) has arrived. Each floor has its ropes, even for buildings taller than ten stories.

The school of fine arts.

Good news.

The glass of water (destruction prior to reconstruction).

A young Burmese painter working at the Shwedagon Pagoda.

A young Burmese lady exploring study options in Japan.

Juxtaposition of a photo of the downtown area with the Yangon River in the background, and of a building in construction inside its green chrysalis.