Thi Thi Phyo, National Museum Yangon: Summer Programme Week One

Thi Thi Phyo, Assistant Curator, National Museum Yangon

My earliest days at the British Museum…

I am Thi Thi, the assistant curator of the Myanmar Art Gallery at the National Museum Yangon, Burma. It is a great honor to be chosen as the first ITP Fellow from Burma. What an exciting first trip to London!

After spending over 14 hours traveling to London, I was truly glad to see Eirini at the airport. I was warmly welcomed by Becca and Hayk at Schafer House which will be my home base during the ITP 2017. I am lucky enough to have ITP Fellows LiLi, Nurcan, Mariem and others as my flat mates. We took the free day after our arrival  to tour around the city of London; walking around the Westminster area, enjoying the scenery and having a good time at a fish and chip restaurant. London is really welcoming.

On the first day of the programme I saw the British Museum for the first time, and what a marvelous building it is. With it’s massive space, stunning design, architecture and huge collections, I truly got the initial feeling of a thriving environment with its enormous visitor intake, all with different purposes. I was pleased to know more about the British Museum through presentations from Claire Messenger, departmental curators / ITP representatives and a highly inspiring talk from the Director.

Surprisingly, I immediately felt quite familiar with the Department of Asia, where I will spend my departmental time during the ITP. I was pleased to meet all the members of the department, including the head and especially with Alex Green (who I had spoken on the phone with last March).

Lastly I must say the day of fellow presentations and the Welcome Reception were remarkable opportunities – getting to know everyone from across the world in such a short space of time. So far so good and I am really looking forward to the incredible times at the British Museum in the coming days.