Aung San Suu Kyi

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

Than Htay (b. 1958, Yangon Region, Myanmar) did not receive formal education as an artist, but has learned a great deal from living and working in Japan and Thailand as well as Myanmar. His paintings have been exhibited in major national museums in China, Japan and Korea.

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.