Growing up in Myanmar’s Kachin State capital, Myitkyina, Hkun Sai didn’t think much about being Kachin. That changed in 2011, with the collapse of a 17-year ceasefire between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Myanmar military (also known as the Tatmadaw). At the time, Hkun Sai was 21. 

“When conflict broke out, I understood more about my identity and realised my love for my ethnic group,” he says.

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Cecilia Ja Seng is a Kachin freelance painter and artist living in Myanmar.