Living Flow

Kyaw Shein, U Min Kyaw and servant Ah Ba Nyo

U Min Kyaw Zaw is one of Myanmar's pantheon of thirty-seven nat spirits who are associated with kings and have died violent deaths. His attributes are alcohol, cock-fighting and horseback riding, as indicated by the imagery around him.
There are links between nat beliefs and Buddhism: hence the Buddhist temple represented in the distance. U Min Kyaw Zaw's servant has been tattooed in traditional style across the thighs, arms and chest with repeated motifs, magic diagrams, protective Buddhist imagery and texts and potent animals.
Design 1979, painting early
1990s
Myanmar
Glass, pigment, metal foils, ink Height 50 cm, width 39.6 cm
Donated by Ralph and Ruth Isaacs, 1996

Bulul figure

Made in pairs by the fugao peoples, bulul rice deities are carved according to complex production rituals, a process that can take more than six weeks.
Once activated by being bathed in the blood of a sacrificed pig, they are believed to protect rice granaries and make rice grow.
The figures are inherited by the eldest child of the family.
Early 20th century
Ifugao peoples, Luzon, Philippines Wood, cowrie shell
Height 41 cm, width 16 cm

As 1974

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Seated image of the Buddha Sikhi

The Buddha Sikhi appears in a northern Thai legend dating to the 1400s. The historic Buddha, Gotama, visited the area and gave a sermon while sitting on a black rock. The rock was carved into five statues, afterwards called Buddha Sikhi statues. This image may be named Buddha Sikhi because it is based upon the earlier models. It is inscribed with a dedication by three people expressing the wish that they will be reborn together in future lives until they attain Nirvana.
1540-41
Lan Na (northern Thailand)
Bronze
Height 55 cm
Donated by A. W. Franks, collected by Carl A. Bock, FBlnd.5.a