The beef about the Obama piece in Yangon by Night have got way to much attention in national, international media and social forums. Some arguing it was a flirt with the media due to timing of Obama´s visit, some might say it is a tribute (as the writer does) or it is just a wall painting plain and simple. Toy or writer, you judge. In my opinion the only good part in this story is the actual outcome. The execution of the second piece was way better then the first one and the result is pretty good and I become happy when I look at it.
Graffiti in Myanmar is quite a new phenomenon (Dear journalists, it is NOT a result of the country opening up; it is just a comfy shortcut for you when you write the articles) and what makes me happy these days is that we can actually talk about Myanmar graffiti and street art. And this is where concept and long tradition of beef/battle in hip-hop becomes interesting. We can back stab each other, pissing on each other’s timelines and we can go over each other’s pieces in the streets, it is all part of the game. It might look childish, and I feel sorry for anyone´s piece being painted over, but what it actually does is improving us as artists, as vandals, it triggers us to become bigger and better because by the end of the day graffiti is all about style.
You can read (in English) an interview with the writer that did the piece in Myanmar Times
