Turban Kid 28

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

Maung Aw's Turban Kids series was inspired by the traditional headdress worn by Shan State's Pa-O children for festive occasions. Maung Aw (1945-2021) yielded to Matisse's influence in the mid-1990s with decorative approaches in simplified forms and flattened colours.

Maung Aw worked in the impressionist manner, and had studied under Saya U Thein Han.

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.