Noviciation

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

The painting depicts the shaving of the head during a boy's noviciation ceremony, a rite of passage in the tradition of Theravada Buddhism, which is practiced by 89 percent of Myanmar's population.

A graduate of Rangoon University, Co Thiee (b. 1963, Yangon) worked as a signboard painter, illustrator, graphic designer and film director in the 1990s. He turned to painting in 2000, making it his professional career in 2006.

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.