28 October – 22 November 2023
Than Kyaw Htay
b. 1978 in Sittwe, Myanmar
Lives and works in Yangon, Myanmar
1997-2000, Studied at State School of Fine Art, Yangon, Myanmar
His recent solo exhibitions
2023, ‘Gazing’ at the Collector Gallery, Yangon, Myanmar
2022, ‘Me and Mrauk Oo’ at the Collector Gallery, Yangon, Myanmar
2020, ‘Silent walks’ at Retour de Voyage Gallery, France
About Silent Moves, 2023
One day I was watching a film called “The dust of the time” directed by Angelopoulos. There was a scene which departed many people standing in front of a big statue, paying respect. It was a high angle shot and I saw many heads and faces pointed towards me. It gave me a strange feeling and I paused to try to work out what it was. I tried to paint what I had felt, but on the first attempt I failed. I kept on trying, but my paintings still didn’t satisfy me.
Some days later, one of my relatives from Rakhine visited to my studio. He was from an island near Sittwe and he told me that many families from the village had moved to Yangon. I ask him lots of questions and he answered with their different stories.
I let these stories sink in and then suddenly I felt the need to pick up my brush again, painting one canvas after another. Satisfied with my creation, I have found what I was searching for. The year 2017 is the twentieth anniversary of my migration from Rakhine to Yangon.
In your native land…
- When you have lost members of your family
- When you have to leave your family to survive
- When the future is uncertain
- When you realize a better life doesn’t exist where you are
- When hopes vanish
- When dignity of all is lost or forgotten
- When lives are threatened
- When the environment is damaged
- When you think any other place must be better and more secure than yours MIGRATION
(Silent Moves) begins,
Migration happens every second all over the world. Migration has become the big issue of the world. Life is migration and it is a past of Samsara.
(Than Kyaw Htay)
