Veins of the Devil's Valley
Burmese amber, mined in the Hukawng Valley of northern Myanmar's Kachin region, is the only known source of Cretaceous-era amber fossils. But its trade financially supports an oppressive military regime and fuels a human rights crisis, with control often falling to armed groups.
The project explored how the indigenous Kachin people might benefit from the amber trade, analysing their current role through activist reports. It proposed clandestine tunnels and chambers within the rugged terrain, designed to discreetly protect the infrastructure behind amber production.
Animated visualisations of the tunnel network, from the inhabitants' perspective, portray the resilience of the system — while holding the tension of using game engines to represent such severe subject matter.
PROJECT TYPE
Masters Thesis · Royal College of Art
DATE
2022–2023
LOCATION
Myanmar
SOFTWARE
Illustrator · Photoshop · Agisoft Metashape · AutoCAD · Blender · Rhino + Grasshopper · Unreal Engine 5
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Veins of the Devil's Valley
Project type
Masters Thesis · Royal College of Art
Date
2022–2023
Location
Myanmar
Software
Illustrator · Photoshop · Agisoft Metashape · AutoCAD · Blender · Rhino + Grasshopper · Unreal Engine 5
Burmese amber, mined in the Hukawng Valley of northern Myanmar's Kachin region, is the only known source of Cretaceous-era amber fossils. But its trade financially supports an oppressive military regime and fuels a human rights crisis, with control often falling to armed groups.
The project explored how the indigenous Kachin people might benefit from the amber trade, analysing their current role through activist reports. It proposed clandestine tunnels and chambers within the rugged terrain, designed to discreetly protect the infrastructure behind amber production.
Animated visualisations of the tunnel network, from the inhabitants' perspective, portray the resilience of the system — while holding the tension of using game engines to represent such severe subject matter.
