Untitled (Trishaw riders at rest)

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

In this painting made using a palette knife, trishaw riders are shown resting at night while cars loom in the distance, signaling the end of their way of life.

Kyaw Yin (b. 1977, Yangon Region) was born in a village close to Yangon, and grew up in the countryside. He apprenticed under an uncle who was an artist before attending an art school in Yangon from 1997 to 2000. He went on to make decorative seashell paintings, and later joined a Korean company making oil paintings. In 2007, he had the opportunity to study under artist Myint Swe, which set him on a path to start painting seriously in 2016.

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.