This Sunday, February 23, 2025, the Italian Embassy compound in Yangon will pulse with creativity as the Italian Culture, Heritage, and Art Fair 2025 brings together artists, architects, and dreamers. Among them is Doh Eain, a social enterprise with a mission to make cities more vibrant, livable, and inclusive. Leading their charge is Nile, an architect, project manager, and freelance artist whose passion for “sense of place” will take center stage. With a string art mapping installation and a thought-provoking panel talk, Doh Eain is set to weave emotions into the fabric of Yangon’s heritage, inviting everyone to see the city through a new, heartfelt lens.
A Life Shaped by Place
Nile’s journey is as layered as the cities she loves. Hailing from Pyin Oo Lwin, a colonial small town in Myanmar, she’s long been captivated by the identity of places—not just their bricks and mortar, but the stories and emotions they hold. “Sense of place is the interaction between the built environment and the users,” she explains, her voice alive with conviction. It’s a concept she’s explored for seven years, from her Master’s thesis on city identity to her work as a contemporary artist in Mandalay and Chiang Mai. Now, as part of Doh Eain’s design restoration team, she bridges the tangible and intangible, spotlighting how time, memory, and people turn spaces into something unforgettable.
For Nile, it’s personal. “There’s a shop we’ve gone to since our grandparents’ time,” she says, hinting at the invisible threads that tie generations to a place. Her work challenges the modern rush to erase and rebuild, advocating instead for restoration that honors both architectural value and emotional resonance.
String Art and Storytelling
At the fair, Doh Eain’s booth will be a hub of interaction, with Nile and her colleague Zayar steering two standout activities. The centrepiece is a string art mapping installation titled Downtown in Memories. Picture this: a large board dotted with nails outlining iconic Yangon spots—not just grand landmarks like the Secretariat, but everyday haunts like tea shops, bus stops, and collective bookshops. Visitors will grab colorful threads—symbolizing memory traces in the brain—and pin them to reflect their feelings: happiness, nostalgia, even sadness. “If you feel happy at the Secretariat, you map it with string,” Nile explains. “It’s about how people feel about a place.”
This isn’t your typical heritage exhibit. While famous buildings often steal the spotlight for their architectural grandeur, Nile and Doh Eain are flipping the script. “A bus stop can be embedded in our memory because we use it every day,” she says. The result? A vibrant, emotional map of Yangon, co-created by fairgoers, proving that identity isn’t just about landmarks—it’s about the intangible bonds we form with the spaces we inhabit.
From 1 PM to 2:30 PM, two Doh Eain directors will host a pod-cast-like talk on the sense of place. Expect a deep dive into how emotions shape our connection to heritage, blending architectural insights with heartfelt storytelling. “We want people to relate to heritage through their own emotions,” Nile says. “It’s a middle ground—everyone’s familiar with feelings, so it’s easy to connect.”
Doh Eain’s Bigger Picture
Doh Eain, a now Singapore-based social enterprise founded by Dutch visionary Emilie, is all about reimagining urban spaces with a human touch. In Yangon, their work spans heritage home restoration, youth education through Young City Shapers, and community-driven projects like the women-led public park in Yankin. “We make cities inclusive,” Nile notes, emphasising their user-centered approach. Rather than imposing designs, they listen to the people who live and breathe these spaces, ensuring every project—from parks to restored buildings—reflects real needs and voices.
At the fair, their message is clear: heritage isn’t static. It’s alive, evolving with the emotions and memories of those who interact with it. “Even a bookshop can become famous if we conserve it with the right mindset,” Nile muses. Their string art map will double as a conceptual installation, a nod to her contemporary art roots while driving home the call to protect Yangon’s soul—not just its structures.
A Day of Connection
Nile’s excitement is palpable. She’s thrilled to share Doh Eain’s vision with the fair’s diverse crowd. “We’re emotional beings,” she says with a smile. “If we just display heritage places like a book, people get bored. This is interactive—it gives them a way in.” By day’s end, the string map will be a tapestry of Yangon’s collective heart, a testament to how love (topophilia) and even aversion (topophobia) shape our urban landscape.
For Nile, it’s also a chance to collaborate. Zayar, from Doh Eain’s property management team, brought her concept to life, proving the power of teamwork. “I cooked the idea, and he carried it out,” she laughs. Together, they’re inviting fairgoers to step beyond passive observation and into active creation.
Living Heritage with Purpose
Nile’s lifestyle is a blend of art, advocacy, and curiosity. Whether she’s sketching as a freelancer or restoring heritage homes with Doh Eain, she’s driven by a mission to preserve what makes a city unique. This Sunday, she’ll be in her element—guiding visitors to pin their memories, sparking conversations about the sense of place, and sipping Italian coffee amid the fair’s festive hum.
Join Doh Eain at the Italian Embassy compound this Sunday, February 23rd, from 9 AM to 5 PM. Admission is free, and the experience is priceless—string a memory, catch the 1 PM panel, and see Yangon through Nile’s eyes. As she puts it, “The end result is highlighting that people’s emotions play a vital role in forming identity.” It’s not just about buildings; it’s about us.
- What: String Art Mapping & Sense of Place Panel by Doh Eain
- When: Sunday, February 23, 2025
- Where: Italian Embassy Compound, Yangon
- Cost: Free entry; food and drinks available for purchase
- Time: 9 AM to 21 PM
- Address: 3 Inya Myaing Road, Bahan township. See here for directions as Google Map is wrong.
Read more features about the participants in the Italian Art, Culture and Heritage Fair 2025
