At the waterfront, by the Wadan Jetty at this southwestern tip of downtown Yangon, one finds bo

At the waterfront, by the Wadan Jetty at this southwestern tip of downtown Yangon, one finds both Transit Shed 1 (TS1) and the Port Autonomy bar, both attracting a hip and international crowd. TS1 hosts the Yangon Pop Up Project, an exhibition and retail space designed by Dominic Leong, formerly with Bernard Tschumi and now, alongside his brother Christopher, of Leong Leong, a New York-based design office. In the words of Ivan Pun, the man behind this project, “this project will be used as a demonstration of the possibilities for downtown Yangon’s rejuvenation and an illustration of how a genuine collaboration by people with distinctive skills and voices – be they local or international, artistic or culinary, urbane or unpolished – can be merged to create not just a moment, but a movement to revive this historic neighborhood to its full potential. Its success, in turn, can serve as a seed for Yangon’s next generation of creators and innovators.” In our book, we want to take a closer look at public cultural space in Yangon, and in what form artistic fora can support the ongoing opening of the country. For the time being, how do our readers like the TS1 (and Port Autonomy bar)?