Ordinary People

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

Min Zaw's Ordinary People has an unpretentious simplicity that makes the image immediately beguiling. On closer look, it begins to intrigue. So similar are the figures in features and attire that little distinguish one from another; they are ordinary people, and each is an everyday man—but they have lost their individuality and identity. With folded arms the men return the viewer's gaze, as it they too are assessing as they are being assessed.

Min Zaw (b. 1972, Yangon) graduated from Yangon's State School of Fine Arts in 1994, and the University of Culture in Yangon in 1998. He was a finalist in the 2002 ASEAN Art Award when it was first extended to include entries from Myanmar, and a founding member of the Collective Studio Square which was established in Yangon in 2003. He has exhibited regularly in Singapore since 2000.

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.