Chin State

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

Located in western Myanmar and bordering both Bangladesh and India, Chin State is sparsely populated region with few transportation links, and remains one of the least developed areas of the country. Pho Tun's semi-abstraction style mirrors geologic maps suggesting Chin State's mountainous terrains. People and buffalos waddle through a flooded road.

Pho Tun (b. 1981, Magway Region, Myanmar) studied at Yangon University of Culture from 2001 to 2004. He began his work in semi-abstraction in 2012.

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.