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

Aung Kyi Soe (b. 1979, Legaing, Magway Region) studied basic art theories and techniques with D Aung Thein and Aung Thin Oo. He is also a professional photographer. He moved to Yangon in 2003 and ever since has had a love-hate relationship with the city where rapid urbanisation has impacted a wide spectrum of society. Many of his paintings capture the friction in Yangon. He has participated in solo and group shows including in Myanmar, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and New Zealand.

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.