WART CARTOON Brings Myanmar’s Stories of Conflict and Hope to Bangkok
WART CARTOON, a project bringing together drawings by children from Myanmar and works by professional cartoonists, is in Bangkok on August 19 for a mini exhibition and discussion on cartoons, conflict and peacebuilding.
WART CARTOON: Discussion & Mini Exhibition is being held at SEA Junction in the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre. The event looks at how cartoons, satire and art can respond to conflict and social movements, and what role they can play in peacebuilding.
WART was established in Japan in August 2021, following the February 1 military coup in Myanmar. During the pandemic, the group organized online events to bring developments in Myanmar to a Japanese audience. It also exhibited satirical drawings about Myanmar by Japanese cartoonists in different parts of Japan.
In 2022, WART began collecting drawings from children in Myanmar. According to SEA Junction, they included children who had joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) and refused to attend schools controlled by the military authorities. The drawings were later exhibited in Japan.
With support from Kyoto Seika University’s 2024 Publishing Grant, WART produced WART CARTOON — : Reading Myanmar’s Suffering and Hopes. The book was published on February 1, 2025, the fourth anniversary of the military coup.
It includes work by professional cartoonists as well as children. Kyoto Seika University’s publication records list the two groups separately. According to SEA Junction, the book contains 66 one-panel works.
In 2026, WART CARTOON won the Grand Prize in the Cartoon Category at the 55th Japan Cartoonists Association Awards.
That award helped bring the project to Bangkok. SEA Junction says prize money from the Japan Cartoonists Association award helped fund the mini exhibition and discussion.
The August 19 event brings together Japanese artist and WART co-representative Yoshinobu Dono, Myanmar artist Edo Vader (Be Ru Ma) and Thai artist Mook. The discussion is moderated by Nang Mya Kay Khaing, a Kyoto Seika University researcher and WART co-representative.
Dono also teaches part-time at Kyoto Seika University’s Faculty of Manga. Edo Vader works in editorial cartooning, illustration, animation and painting, while Mook is a member of the Thai collective Art & Solidarity — Silapa.
The event runs from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at SEA Junction and is also being livestreamed online. Visitors can see a selection of WART works in the accompanying mini exhibition.
WART has previously shown drawings by young people from Myanmar. In January 2025, WART Exhibition 2025: Conveying Myanmar Through the Drawings of Young People at Kyoto Seika University presented original works by displaced high school students from Myanmar studying at a migrant school in Mae Sot, on the Thai-Myanmar border.
Sources
SEA Junction — WART CARTOON: Discussion & Mini Exhibition
https://seajunction.org/event/wart-cartoon-discussion-mini-exhibition/
Kyoto Seika University — WART CARTOON publication announcement
https://www.kyoto-seika.ac.jp/news/2025/0304_2.html
Kyoto Seika University — WART CARTOON Wins Grand Prize at the 55th Japan Cartoonists Association Awards
https://www.kyoto-seika.ac.jp/news/2026/0415_1.html
Kyoto Seika University — WART Exhibition 2025: Conveying Myanmar Through the Drawings of Young People
https://www.kyoto-seika.ac.jp/news/2025/0221_2.html
