Army Land

Credit Line: Gift of Ian Holliday 2023, Collection of SMU

Yan Naing Oo's (b. 1979, Yangon) painting depicts a stretch of flat rural land by title ascribed as military-owned. Since the passing of the 1953 Land Nationalisation Act, which permitted the government to seize and re-allocate land for public purpose, land grabs and corrupt practices have reportedly been widespread. Demands by farmers for the return of confiscated land have escalated to Parliament since the reformist government under President Thein Sein.

The SMU Art Collection has over 70 paintings from Myanmar donated by Ian Holliday. A specialist in Burmese politics, Holliday assembled the Thukhuma Collection which comprises of Burmese paintings largely dating from the transitional decade of the 2010s, presenting multiple artistic perspectives on a society in reform. On display at School of Social Sciences and Li Ka Shing Library, the gifted paintings depict the people, culture and land, from the streets of Yangon and rural peripheries to political icons and indigenous deities.