Myanmar is synonymous with ethnic conflicts, brutal military repression and insurgencies. The ongoing civil war against the junta has been described as the longest and one of the most violent conflicts in the world today with a growing humanitarian crisis.

This book celebrates the spirit of defiance, resilience and enormous courage of the Burmese people in the face of the military regime’s extreme violence. It is a window into the world of Burmese resistance and the myriad cultural expressions that it has taken ever since the February 2021 coup. Crowdfunded by the Burmese diaspora, but largely ignored by the international community, this is a resistance where every cultural form – poems, songs and even tattoos – has been explored as a weapon.

 The regime has tried to ban these songs of resistance, and persecuted and even executed artists, musicians and poets. But as poet Khet Thi (1986-2021) said, before he was killed by the junta, “You try to bury us underground, because you don’t know that we are the seeds.”