Idealistic Uniformity and Disorder: A study on Artistic Endeavor of Minimalism in Myanmar since 1990s

AUNG MYAT HTAY

“All I can do is be as I am, in the world as it is, and to clearly show that state” – 
Nobuo Sekine (a founder of Mono-ha Art movement) 

This paper aims to study the postmodern and minimal-art practices in Myanmar from the 1990s up to the present day. After the 1988 nationwide uprising for democracy, the 1990s marked the biggest political and social change in Myanmar, and it was also the time when new experiments were being made by Myanmar artists to start a new era of art while they rediscovered their own identity, detaching themselves from the old school of thoughts from Western art. Since the arrival of realism arts from Europe to Myanmar in the colonial era, Myanmar traditional painting styles and techniques had undergone numerous transformations and finally evolved into today’s painting styles. Art takes the form of a stream, celebrating its flexible and transformative nature, and as “streams join together to become the river, which will run into the oceans”. Art also tends to expand towards freedom and vastness of expressions. However, the art never goes the same direction, being influenced by the perception of its own creators. The artistic values and concepts always change. Nevertheless, art represents the cultural identity of human civilizations. 
 
This paper examines the developments in Myanmar art scenes during the transitional period from the 20^th to the 21^stcentury also known as the shift from modernism to postmodernism  in comparison somewhat with the Asia and Southeast Asia, when Myanmar art communities were eager to keep abreast with the global art movements. Since the late 90s, new art movements emerged with a fast pace in Southeast Asia. That was also the time when the Asia Pacific region was breaking new ground, and expanding their presence on the global stage. Even before that period, from 1960s to 1980s onwards, Asia had already been well-prepared to step inside the global economy and start a new era. China, Japan and India came to open their new cultural fronts to the world. As the New World Order^[1] began to spread in Asia, it brought dramatic changes in many countries’ political and social landscapes. The first ASEAN Art Exhibition was held in Manila, Philippines in 1957, and India and Malaysia participated in the exhibition. Since 1980. Fukuoka Art Museum in Japan has been organizing the “Asian art shows”^[2] every five years; 13 Asian countries participated in the first Asian art show. "The 1^st Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art”^[3] was held at the Queensland Museum in Brisbane, Australia in 1993. 57 artists from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and Australia, and a curator from each country participated in that exhibition. In 1999, the 5^th Asian Art Show was held and renamed as the first “Fukuoka Triennial, exhibition of Asian Art"^[4], which exhibited the artworks of Asian traditions, paintings, and many other modern and postmodern pieces by 56 Asian artists. Notably, three artists from Myanmar, Po Po, Nyein Chan Su (NCS) and MPP Ye Myint participated in that exhibition. These art festivals ushered in a new era of art in Asia, and they helped cultivate the development of new arts especially in Myanmar, Vietnam, and Cambodia. This article will highlight some of the new developments in Myanmar art scenes that have arisen along with other art movements in Asia. 

Zero or Untitled Art and the beginning of Ideology Era in Asia:

After 1990, Southeast Asia saw the emergence of new art movements along with the changes in political systems. Initially, such art movements arose to reject the traditional European painting styles, deeply rooted by colonialism. Then, there grew a huge distinction between “traditional ways” and “alternative ways” in creating arts. It is worth to note that some artists who aspired to transcend the old traditional western arts, gave their works a unique name “Untitled” in the beginning of the movement. Early postmodernism movement had never been a smooth process, however; some Southeast Asian countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand managed to institutionalize their new art systems. In particular, they invested their resources in redefining and expanding the term called "Art", and the role of the “Artist"; exploring new roles of arts in relation to society; creating and supporting new and independent artistic platforms. Such platforms were different from conventional art galleries, and among them, community-based art spaces and artist-led initiatives were important alternative art spaces. This paper will discuss these developing alternative art movements and specific ideas rather than the traditional art scene, because minimalism is one of the postmodern ideologies emerging from these alternative art forms.
 
In fact, Asian art movements from the 90s had already emerged and spread even before 1980. In 1974, a group of 20-year-olds led by Zhang Wei (1952- )^[5] gathered in a Soviet-style communal apartment in western Beijing, and founded the first postmodern painter group (an unauthorized underground painter group) called “No Name Group” (Wuming Painting Collective)^[6]. Unlike the communist propaganda arts, their paintings were landscapes and still-life^[7] paintings, in Abstract Expressionism and  Action Paintings. Those young people were inspired by the heroes of western expressionists such as Jackson Pollock and Robert Rosenberg after witnessing their postmodern art movements, and they were fascinated by non-representational art forms (the artworks which do not represent any propaganda values)^[8]. However, they approached the postmodernism with Asian philosophy; they create those paintings as a mean to relieve their “Chi”^[9], the same technique used in writing Chinese characters. 
 
An interesting fact is that their initial works were particularly small; just as the size of the small red book (by Chairman Mao) read by every household of that time. Their works were more than just miniature paintings, and it is important to see other (socio-political) factors beyond. Against the backdrop of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution of China in 1966, it is said that books which had the sizes big enough to put in coats, were the only opportunity (and the only medium easy to carry) for sketching (a forbidden activity). After 1975, Chinese writers, poets and artist groups, including Zhang Wei^[10], endeavored to bring their contemporary artworks to the public by organizing exhibitions.

It can be assumed that postmodernism in China, India, Japan, South Korea and other Southeast Asian countries evolved from modern art concepts during the 1950s and 1960s, infusing the Asian philosophy, traditions and aesthetics with European Impressionism and German expressionism movements such as Avant-garde art, Op art, Pop art, and Neo-Dada, eventually mutating into action paintings, performance arts and color field paintings of abstract expressionism. In the history of art, the ZERO Artist group was formed by young artists from Dusseldorf, Germany in 1957^[11]. After 1960, South Korea witnessed the emergence of young artist groups such as “Origin Society, Zero Group and New exhibition group”. Among Japan's avant-garde movements, the “GUTAI” art group was active and operated near Kobe-Osaka from 1954 to 1972. The Kyushu School (Kyushu-ha) Art Collective was founded in Fukuoka in 1957, and it was active in Fukuoka and Tokyo until 1968. Another renowned Neo-Dada movements were Zero Jigan (Zero Dimension)^[12] and Mono-ha; Mono-Ha movement emerged approximately the same time along with Zero Dimensions, and it started and spread in Tokyo after 1960^[13]. Their artistic concepts centered around unconventional compositions, human existence, human perceptions, actions and movements. Moreover, their works included found objects in nature and Neo-Dada (anti-art) ideas^[14] which were the basic Dada concepts.
 
Dadaism is about the originality of humans in relation to nature and lack of representations and rules. As an anti-art movement, Dada brought surrealism and Flexus and following the Neo-Dada movement is integral as it not only brought back Dadaism, but it also established a new artistic concept in 1950-1960 after the world war II, utilizing modern technologies such as music, dance, audio, video and even literature as new mediums for art. Like the original Dada, Neo-Dada also opposed making art products as merchandise.  
 
In addition, among three main types of Neo-Dada, which are; 
(1) Object-based practices(found-objects)
(2) Performance (Action-based practices) and,
(3) Minimalism (Rediscovering art-making process), the latter paved the way for broader artistic concepts of Minimal Art.

A glance on the backdrop of Myanmar Modern art

One fine afternoon in January 1997, a group of art students who studied painting and sculpture at National University of Arts and Culture entered the Judson Hall (Yudasam Hall for Christian youth) of Yangon University, where an exhibition called “Solid-concepts” by artist Po Po, was being held. To their surprise, the exhibition did not have the appearance of a typical showcase like gallery, rather the exhibition seemed to display the non-art objects. Nothing was put on the wall(panel boards) which were normally used to hang the paintings, and they were left blank. The students did not see any paintings or sculptures in the vicinity; all they saw were pieces of blank mirrors, a wooden box, some cardboard boxes of the same size, a ceiling-like white cloth hung horizontally in the middle of the room and a square piece of cloth underneath it, two twisted bolsters and some other bolsters standing upright. (Some of the artworks from this exhibition will be discussed below.)
 
Those works were real objects, and none of them were created artificially (they possessed none of the attributes we used to identify as “art”). For students like us who assumed art as representational paintings about nature, such an exhibition looks too obscure to understand. However, modern art was not a new thing to us, even we had seen Picaso’s Bull’s Head sculpture, an object artwork created from seat and handlebars of a bicycle; we had seen Jackson Pollock’s large canvases dripped with paint and we assumed that Mondrian’s work of colored rectangles was nothing more than the dynamic contrasts and composition of colors. Despite being familiar with a few modern artworks, it was a bit challenging (for me) to accept that the display of real objects was another form of art. That was one of our foreshadowing experiences regarding postmodern and conceptual art. That exhibition also opened our eyes to learn the contemporary arts of the 21st century in the following decade. 

Zero or Untitled Art movements in Myanmar:

Conceptual art movement arrived in Southeast Asian countries including Myanmar a few years later than the original regions. There was for example a wave of postmodernism and Neo-Dada among art communities in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1974, and many performance art and installations were made by the artists. The Philippines was the forerunner in conceptual art movement among the fellow Southeast Asian countries; its government supported and funded the art sector so that the country could keep up with global art movements and trends. According to historical evidence, postmodern movement in Myanmar initiated around the same period as Philippines, and the earliest movement dates back to 1960^[15]. “Architect Incorporate” AI Group^[16] founded by a group of young Myanmar writers, architects, painters and filmmakers prominent in modernism in Myanmar (including Kin Maung Yin, architect, filmmaker and visual artist as a leading role), initiated their art movements in the 1960s. Modern art of such time was only expressionism and post-impressionism as semi-abstract. In 1985, an artist group in Mandalay upper Myanmar, created their debut exhibition called “Rectangular Lantern” a modern art group show for  semi-abstract and symbolism under influence of U Khin Maung(Bank) and other Modern artists, in which not only modern artworks but also in postmodern styles were exhibited. Then, other influential artist groups such as Gangaw village, Inya Gallery and New Zero group emerged one after another based in Yangon with their initiated exhibitions at some university buildings and private galleries. 
 
An exhibition centered around postmodern concept, was held by Po Po in 1987 (He is also a member of Gangaw Village group) with the name of the exhibition “Untitled” at the gallery hall of Myanmar Art & Artisan Association Central. Then, in 1997, exactly 10 years later, this exhibition was held at Judson Hall, with the title of “Solidconcepts”. 

“Solid-concepts” exhibition embodied the zero or Untitled(no-named) art concept unlike image representations by modern ideas, encompassing the Asian postmodern values such as universality, uniformity and collective consciousness on real objects in nature. 1997 was such a time when modern art concepts and techniques descended from European paintings were popular in Myanmar. Color field paintings by Khin One, created with spray paint, in his solo exhibition called “Metallurgy” were well-known; his techniques in the texture and composition of paintings were quite a phenomenon among Myanmar art scenes. Furthermore, his semi-abstract pieces, interplayed with ethnic symbols were also second to none. There were other experimental paintings similar to Khin One’s color field paintings; however, Myanmar modern artworks at that time were nothing more than abstract expressionism arts. According to Khin One’s writings in his book, it can be assumed that while creating those paintings, he pulled influences from the universe’s opposite but interconnected forces forming a complementary and dynamic system. On the other hand, the phenomenon where people label such abstract and material-less art as “Seidaza Bagyi” (psycho paintings) also points out the attitudes and understanding of Myanmar modern arts. New Zero group was another renowned group of Myanmar modern artists, initiated and led by artist Aye Ko and later it turned into an art space.
 
Major shifts in arts occur at a varying degree depending on the region and its culture. However, Southeast Asia witnessed the similar changes in ideologies and theories in their initial postmodern movements. (A comparative analysis of those changes will be mentioned in the later part). It is imperative to have a comparative view on the development of arts from different timelines along with valid historical facts and positive attitude, for the development of the art research sector in Myanmar. 

Mono-ha and the Asian Minimalism

The philosophy of minimalism emerged in the East and the West successively in different styles. It can be assumed that minimalism was born in Western arts even before the 1950s, and it can be seen in water color paintings inspired by emotional abstract expressionism, and the concept of elimination of excess to simplicity. The idea that Less is More haspredominant in abstract geometric forms and color field paintings; on abstract expressionist artists such as Joseph Albers^[17], Kazimir Malevich^[18], Ellsworth Kelly^[19], Ad Reinhardt^[20] and Mark Rothko^[21] were notable figures among others. Those artists included the basic concepts of minimalism: extreme of abstraction or simplicity or elimination to its most fundamental forms, absentee and emptiness revealed in their artworks, and manifested more on the viewers’ experience (rather than the creation of subjective images). Experts strongly contend that minimalism from Asia and Southeast Asia took inspiration and evolved from abstract modern painting techniques from the West. 
 
However, minimal arts which emerged around the 1960s in response to postmodernism had a relatively new form (as conceptual arts), and were different from former ones. Minimalism started in Asia at the same time as the West, but its concepts were based on eastern philosophies. To mention one significant example, “Mono-ha”^[22] is the minimalism movement in Asia, which emerged at the same timeline as the American minimal art movement. Unlike its counterpart, Mono-ha pulled influences from eastern philosophies, noticeably in its art forms. According to discussions by Mono-ha members, it seems postmodernism in Asia emerged in a different political and social landscape as the western one, and it emerged in response to global historical precedents^[23]. The basic principle of Mono-ha is to contemplate the essence of objects in nature such as rocks, earth, water, metal, iron steel, wood and many more in their original forms and shapes (without human’s interference and alterations), and to explore the interconnectedness of material and site; in another words, “Material State of Mind” (hence the name). This embodies the Zen Buddhism of eastern philosophy, encompassing the simplicity, contemplating the origin of nature, and living in harmony. Its roots also came from the Heidegger-influenced school of thought from “Object Oriented Ontology”^[24] by Graham Harman, that asserts that objects have lives and they exist independently of human’s perceptions and control over them. The difference in concepts between Mono-ha and modern arts is that modern arts is concerned with European individualism, emphasizing on human’s expression and their will to manipulate nature, and regarding arts as consumer products. 
 
Mono-ha can be dubbed as Asia’s postmodernism movement, and it played a fundamental role during the transitional period from minimalism and conceptual arts to contemporary arts. Mono-ha movement was initiated by Lee Ufan, a South Korean painter, sculptor and academic, and Nobou Sekine, a Japanese sculptor, in Tokyo, Japan around 1965. They were soon joined by graduate students from Tokyo University of Arts and other art colleges. In fact, the term “Mono-ha” was not given by the group members, rather it was coined by the art critics.^[25] In direct translation, Mono means one, only or a solid volume. An influential initial work of Mono-ha is Nobuo Sekine’s Phase-Mother Earth, 1968, an installation artwork made of earth and cement^[26]. It was a seven-foot cylindrical hole in earth that the artist dug by hand. Several other Mono-ha artists also volunteered during the digging process. The cylindrical hole looked like a well, and the earth that was dug was picked up by the excavator and rebuilt as a cylindrical concrete tower (on the ground) just beside the hole. The depth of the hole and the size of the cylindrical earth that stood beside it were the same, visualizing the juxtaposition of presence and absence (separation of positive and negative space). In Lee Ufan’s introductory article about this piece, he mentioned Sekine’s work as a direct encounter with nature, understanding the earth in its physical perceptions. That art piece does not intend for visual or aesthetic qualities, rather it aims to provoke the awareness of the interconnectedness of the existence of earth (the material), emergence of site (space) and the standing of viewers (humans). 
 
Mono-ha movement produced several notable works. Among them was Lee Ufan’s Relatum (formerly known as Phenomena and Perception B), 1968/2013. The piece was a stretched, square, glass sheet on the exhibition floor, topped by a huge stone in its center. The stone was lifted and put there by the artist himself; the surface of the glass cracked by the weight of the stone enabled us to understand the relation between things, and the process of close contact and connection. The works of Mono-ha artists held experimental concepts rather than visual and aesthetic purposes, and favored the originality of materials. It rejects the human’s control and manipulation of things and explores the primitiveness of matter. Some art critics wrongly criticized the Mono-ha movement as having commonality and imitation of Western minimal art. In fact, it is obvious that Mono-ha emerged at the same time with European and American minimal artists, on different approaches, and most importantly, it transcended from Asian philosophy and culture. Mono-ha artists seek to discover the material state of mind, authenticity of materials, interdependency between elements and immersion of viewers. Humans were not discriminated either as “viewer” or “creator of art”. They put the focus more on the exhibition space where the humans and objects share co-existence. It helped to have a practical understanding about the power of nature while the country was transforming towards industrialization, and there was the tension between man-made and natural objects. A vivid artwork of Katsuo Yoshida, Cut-off (hang), 1969/ 1986 (Wood, rope, and stone) can be seen as a relevant example. (Please see the next page.)
 
Mono-ha artists simply re-arranged the natural materials, such as stone, wood, sand, glass, cotton and steel plates and created the sculpture and installations with the least authorship of humans. It provided chances to reflect the role of the creator, the artist, and shed light on the interdependency of materials on the surrounding site and the viewers. 

Experiments in Minimalism by Local and Regional Artists

Before exploring the local minimal arts in Myanmar, a brief overview of postmodernism and minimalism movement from neighboring countries should be discussed for a better comparison among the countries’ contemporaries. As I mentioned in the introduction, Asian modernism dates back to post impressionist abstract paintings, color field minimalist paintings as well as conceptual minimal arts influenced by dada-ism and postmodern concepts. Hence, minimalism plays a pivotal resource, which helped to transform modernism to 21^st century contemporary art. In the age of modernism, Myanmar artists focused only on their emotions, egoistic identities and self-expressions. When the art world shifted to minimalism, they paid more attention to the external world and human connections, and emphasized concepts of reality rather than fake visual aesthetics. That was when they became aware of the neighboring countries and the arts beyond the border. 
 
“The times forced us to reconsider our situation as modern artists in Japan, and to think about the significance of being free from American influence”  
– Lee Ufan

In November 2018, Minimalism: Space. Light. Object, the biggest minimalism exhibition in Southeast Asia, was held at the National Gallery Singapore, featuring over 150 artworks from 70 leading global artists from Europe, America, Latin America, Asia and east Asian countries. The exhibition showcased the works of pioneering minimalist artists such as Mark Rothko, Tatsuo Miyajima, Donald Judd, Anish Kapoor, Ai Weiwei, Yayoi Kusama, Tang Da Wu, Lee Ufanand other emerging artists too. The concepts of minimalism from artworks ranged from the minimal aesthetics from Asian philosophy of Zen Buddhism to western minimal arts utilizing New York’s spatial and light dynamics, performance and post- minimalism which were new aesthetics of contemporary minimalism. 
 
The exhibition included works by Southeast Asian artists such as Montien Boonma of Thailand and Po Po from Myanmar, which were inspired similarly by the Buddhism philosophy. Montien Boonma’s notorious work, “Nature’s Breath: Arokhayasala” is the installation, methodically stacking up the square-shaped metal boxes till they reached 8-foot height; in the form of “Sikhara” tower from the Buddhist temple, and lung-shaped bells suspended inside the installation were smothered with herbs. The work was portrayed as the healing space to dispel the diseases. Po Po’s work, namely “Red Cube 1986” was his early work, featuring a mound of granite rocks stacked up on the floor near the wall, above which was a rectangular oil canvas tilted at an angle on the wall. The artist explained in an interview with the gallery that he visualized the canvas as a three-dimensional volume and experimented stacking up the rocks in a way to focus the mind through arranging the natural objects, informed by the Buddhism Abhidhamma concepts. This work is the valid proof that minimalism concepts based on Asian philosophy were deeply rooted even before the minimalism movement emerged in the art world.

There are other significant works where one can learn about Asian minimalism deeply. The National Gallery Singapore, in collaboration with Japan Foundation Asia Center and Korea, held another distinguished art exhibition called “Awakenings: Art in the Society in Asia 1960s–1990s” in 2019, featuring over 140 works by 100 artists. The most influential artist in that exhibition was Tang Da Wu. Tang Da Wu (1943-)^[27] is an iconic figure in Singaporean contemporary arts, and he created performance arts and installations which criticized the corruptive standards of social and political communities from the new world and man-centered dominance. He also protested against the misogyny, cruelty to animals, racism and conservative nationalism found in modern Asian societies through his narratives of mythical stories. His one of the early land arts called “Gully Curtains” (1979) was the traditional decoration, using the earth pigment. 
 
An Indonesian artist called F.X Hasono (1949-) and his famous artwork, a pile of pistol-shaped crackers, could be assumed as a post minimalist art. He named the work “What would you do if these crackers were real pistols?” Here, I would like to refer back to “Temple of the Mind” (1994), an artwork by Montien Boonma (1953-2000) and her Buddhist way of stacking up the cups and bowls. It is the best Eastern way to represent the original state of mind of the materials, and the temple figure aimed to show the repeatedly stacked, non-representative objects and the contemplative nature of Asian Buddhism upon viewing the work. 
 
Taking a glance towards art scenes in Myanmar, the 90s were the times when the political situation became stable after the torrential political storm, and modernism and postmodernism were mixed and could not be differentiated in visual arts. However, we could say that the postmodernism movement had already begun in literature and film. The prominent writer Maung Maung Zaya wrote in his article that “modern arts propose anti-rationalism and they explored skepticism towards one’s consciousness; modernism rejects socialist realism as the latter downplayed its role as idealism; modernism belongs to the present moment while the postmodernism anchors to the succession of modernism, the future; modernism holds the consciousness whereas postmodernism is concerned with ontology.” In the conclusion of the article, he quoted the words of Steve Katz, a contemporary American writer, “We all are in front of the traffic signal lights, and we cross the roads when the lights change colors”^[28].
 
The influence of modernism was more profound and visible in films. “The Apu trilogy”, an Indian drama film, directed by a distinguished Indian director Satyajit Ray, was proudly called as the new modern film of India by the film critics, as it overwhelmed the humanistic expressions and the alternative, new modern approach. It was found that artist Kin Maung Yin, the architect, filmmaker and artist, got inspiration from that film and created his film called “Nha Mha Lat Short Nay Lay dot” (meaning “My lady, please give up on me in this life”. According to the discussions by U Win Pe and Maung Moe Thu, they contended that the film was abstract and the viewers were boring to witness the metaphysics of the film on their own, as the film was made with no alteration or adaptation; rather it recorded the natural occurrence. Hence, I regard that film as the experimental work of first minimalism. (Disclaimer- the later paintings of Kin Maung Yin were purely simi-abstract & modern art.)

From 1990 onwards, visual artists started responding to the postmodernism movement. Some approach postmodernism by experimenting with surrealism while a few others are inclined to minimal art. A distinct form of postmodernism art was performance arts, and not long after that, Yangon witnessed several performance art in galleries and public areas. Street performances by Chaw Ei Thein, Htein Lin and Nyein Chan Su were worthy to be recorded in performance arts history of that time. It seemed there were not many artists in (visual art) who experimented minimalism. Among such few artists, Maung Di, Po Po, Soe Naing, The Naing Maw, Htein Lin and Nyein Chan Su and their works will be discussed in this article.
 
(Disclaimer - This part’s information contained herein do not categorize the artists’ works as either conceptual arts or minimal arts nor affirm that they pulled influences from modernism or postmodernism. The article (and the author) opined that those works were related to minimalism and conceptual arts theories to some extent, the readers are free to analyze and appreciate those works according to their own understanding or judgment.)
 
I discussed three approaches on the development of Myanmar modern art in my previous article: “Art Study: Myanmar Modern Art through the Generation, 1960s”. Here, I would like to summarize from it to those three approaches; – 

(1)Taking the backbone and forms of Impressionism, Expressionism and Cubism which were transcended from traditional Western Modern Art, infusing the essence of Myanmar aesthetics and images. 
(2)Asian modernism - Aimed to rediscover the roots/origin of own values in traditional paintings with modernism approach (as decolonizing concepts).
(3)Abstract and spiritual modern arts along with poetry, literature, music, paintings and sculptures which are influenced by postmodern ideologies such as Dadaism and surrealism.

These three approaches are still adopted in Myanmar's modern art generations. Except the first approach, only the second and third approaches will be elaborated in this article as they seem to be closely related and a mixture of these two approaches are always found in exhibitions. However, they adhere to different theories and concepts.

Maung Di and sense of liberation:

I got a chance to engage in a discussion with Maung Di (1941-)^[29] at Ahla Thit Art Gallery in January 2019, during his “Global Village” exhibition^[30]. Maung Di approaches modernism with the Abhidhamma aspect. He implied that the relationship between the mind and the body can be found through arts. In one of his words, he mentioned that he spent 3 years to fully understand the four noble truths of Buddha’s Dhamma; he also practiced mindfulness and came to understand the elements; water, fire, earth and air as well as the fact that the universe exists on the balance like the skill; he eventually came to realize that reaching the state of zero means reaching the state of perfection of life. His theory could be seen in some of his artworks from the “Global Village” exhibition. 
 
Coincidentally, this aspect relates with a quote from Khin One’s famous book (“Seidaza Pachi”) meaning psycho paintings, “modern means the cohesion of the opposing forces and being complementary by one another”. In his “sense of liberation” (2018) work, Maung Di elaborated, “There are two kinds of freedom in the world: mental freedom and physical freedom. Some people are trapped in their own mind due to the ideologies and doctrines they prescribed. This art piece aims to portray the very idea of this concept”. His piece looks like an iron sculpture: two iron-grids assembled with metal pipes crossing one another (like revolving doors which open and close at the same time). According to his explanation, this piece symbolizes the motif of path towards new modernism, clearly the truth of Asian philosophy as free from the Western Art. Also it can be said that this aspect is similar to Mono-ha’s way of contemplating on the materiality of objects.

Po Po and Negative Space:

Po Po is one of the pioneering Myanmar contemporary artists who first experimented postmodern arts and minimalism, based on the interconnectedness between nature and human ontology. His “Untitled” (1987) solo exhibition was notorious. He vividly showed the aspect of ontology and the essence of physicality by using real objects. His works were experimental works trying to explore the conceptual arts and postmodern arts, similar to the Mono-ha movement. Refinement of his initial ideas from this exhibition can be seen in his “Solidconcepts” (1997) exhibition, held 10 years later. What made this exhibition special was the work called “Negative Space (i)”, which was the combination of installation and performance arts, employing a solid negative space out of empty thin air. In the description of his work, Po Po mentioned that his inspiration came from the bronze goddess sculpture called “Woman Combing Her Hair”^[31]made by a Russian sculptor. The goddess has a void in her face as hollow, and such an art form became the norm for later modern sculptures as we can see Henry Moore’s abstract sculptures with hollow spaces. Po Po’s work “Negative Space”, refers to a square canopy above the head of Buddha statues called “Peik Tan” in the middle of the exhibition space.^[32] He named it “Portrait of an Artist as the Exhibitionist”. I read about the interpretation of this work from Ma Theingi’s article that he sees the body of the artist as the artwork, and that artwork has its own instinct and existence just like any other objects in nature.^[33] Po Po installed Negative Space (Viii) across two walls in the ancient Sri Ketra city (a UNESCO World Heritage Site)  in Pyay in 2007. Most importantly, the artist clearly stated that his artwork “negative space” does not mean a pessimistic view or the opposite of positive. In fact, negative space is like a mold of a sculpture or a reverse form of an entity that exists but cannot be seen.

Array objects of socialist uniformity system:

It seems that the shift from modernism to postmodernism arts in Myanmar was not an evident transition; rather it existed in many forms and also mixed with other socio-political debates. However, visual art has already witnessed alternative forms and ways of expressions since the late 90s. Some modern art exhibitions introduced performance art for promotional or related events. Some exhibitions in Rangoon(Yangon) started hosting Southeast Asia art forums and symposiums which were accompanied by installations and performance arts too. However, there was a strong censorship imposed on Myanmar art scenes, and exhibitions were tightened with restraints. Literature, books, international art exchange programs and other foreign knowledge were the only sources of information that artists imbibed to learn postmodernism concepts, and they endeavored to experiment and create arts based on the only information they got from those sources. There were strong records of performance art scenes on public streets. In addition, records of works by Myanmar artists who participated in international art festivals can be seen in Asia Art Archives. Among those works, some phenomenal works will be discussed below.

Artist Soe Naing (1961-2024)^[34] is an acclaimed Myanmar modern painter. As an abstract expressionist, his expressionistic paintings have a sense of surrealism and they are somehow unique. He studied zoology at university and has a modest and psychological approach to arts. An extraordinary thing about his paintings is that the peculiar and sinister human-like creatures from his paintings have a uniform aspect despite that they are not identical. His idiosyncrasy can be seen vividly in his “Uniform” (2018)^[35] installation artwork; an array of metallic kerosene cups in his work seems to have a direct implication of society during the socialist era. Lamps which have no kerosene oil representa society which was once uniform but its people could not give light to each other.
 
There were similar artworks, constructed in the style of arrayed objects like Soe Naing’s “Uniform” artwork. Among them, Artist San Oo’s artwork named “Let’s Wait Together” (2005, 2018) is well-known. Ten traditional Burmese squat toilet bowls which are made of porcelain are arranged in two rows (each row has 5 toilet bowls). Toilet bowls, with a tap of its own, look ready to use. While analyzing the work’s visual presentation, its use of industrial materials not only reminds us of Marcel Duchamp’s “Fountain” artwork, which was a significant contribution to Dadaism movement, but also encourages us to compare it with minimal arts for example The Ears by Tomio Miki, a Japanese post-modern artist’s work: a repeated array of identical (objects) materials that San Oo and Soe Naing have similar reflections. Their works give strong visual representation of the uniformity found in a socialist society as the artist himself stated that theyrevealed the country’s socio-political situation through arts. Another work of San Oo, who likes to use a strong and solid concrete in his works is “Calm my mind” (2005). Circle-shaped concrete barrels with 2 feet radius are put in different places in an open field. Two pieces of red and black clothes pass through the barrels and they are fastened on each side. It was quite different from the works by other artists, due to its natural state on the ground, and application of real objects such as concrete, and linkage of human minds to the exterior world. I contend that it is quite similar to the Mono-ha concept of Asian minimalism.

There were other installation works that used repeated array methods and approached the religion symbol from a unique minimalist point of view, not from its materiality sense. Among them, Htein Lin (1966-)’s work Thabeik Hmauk(upside down bowls), alms bowls constructed in the manner of a prayer bead chain^[36] was exceptional. That piece was exhibited in the 9th Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, giving a new minimalist aesthetic with a repeated array technique of found objects. Combining all symbols and aspects (religious, political and social) in one artwork, it can be regarded as a visually powerful work. Artist Htein Lin is considered to be a pioneering Myanmar performance artist who had a diverse background and professions during the transitional period from modernism to postmodernism arts in Myanmar. He is also said to be a dedicated artist who commits his life solely to create the arts. He is still actively involved in the fields of literature, performance, painting and contemporary arts, and currently working as a curator. 
 
From 2000 onwards, it was observed that exhibition opening receptions were featured with performance arts, and more and more art galleries started to showcase installation arts along with the paintings. A blend of such installations and modern paintings which evolved from conventional ways, resulted in a peculiar compatibility and gave rise to an aesthetics of disorder or randomness. These were the attempts of Myanmar post-socialist society stepping towards the 21st century. Among such attempts, Nyein Chan Su (NCS)’s installations and The Maw Naing’s black rope installations were truly remarkable. Being close friends and artists who share the same ideas and concepts related to arts, they were the first pioneers who participated in the earliest postmodern movement in Myanmar. They organized countless exhibitions, presenting poems combined with visual arts, video arts, performances and multi-media installations at Studio Square^[37]. Earlier than San Oo, Nyein Chan Su has been creating installation works made of industrial materials since 2000. One of his installation works shown at Fluorescent Art exhibition at Lawkanat gallery was an array of upturned Myanmar squirt toilets on the exhibition floor; the openings enclosed by colorful water bottles, resulted in the form of puppies sitting in uniformity. That work could be considered as a satirical pop art inspired by dadaism, rather than as a minimal art. In other words, it provokes diversity among uniform systems due to the colors used. Other installations from that exhibition used iron barrels and found objects, which were a vivid representation of a disordered society during that time. However, Nyein Chan Su immersed himself in his original art form, expressionistic (semi-abstract) paintings in later days, and created many remarkable canvas paintings until his pass-away. 
 
 
The Maw Naing (1971-) who is Nyein Chan Su’s contemporary had a slightly different approach to arts; he prized more on conceptual arts, utilizing poetry and literature pieces. His installation work of a plastic blind with conceptual poem lines written on it, was exhibited at Studio Square in 2005. It was found that this work was included in his performances, in which he was walking while reciting the poems. That portrayed the artist’s manners and existence. It encouraged us to trace back to an American conceptual artist Bruce Nauman and his work namely “Walking in an exaggerated manner on the Perimeter of a square” (1967)^[38]. In Nauman’s explanation about his work, he said, “If I was an artist and I was in the studio, then whatever I was doing in the studio must be art. At this point art became more of an activity and less of a product.”^[38] Such a concept is considered to evolve from the original concept of minimalist arts, “focusing more on the interpretation between human and the space, rather than creating arts”. Similarly, The Maw Naing contended that his work refers to the human lives confined in a repeated system. 
 
That idea is more clearly portrayed in his work called “Black Rope Episode (1-4)”^[40]. His original work/idea was tightening the objects(like book-shelf) with black cloth, meaning books were restricted. A second version was a performance at Inya gallery where he tied the audience with the rope. He said that he performed it to connect the audience with socio-political situations of that time. In his third exhibition, he wrapped and covered every found objectsuch as chair, computer, monitor, even trishaw and a vase with a black cloak, turning them into formless black objects which just lost their identities. The work’s fourth version appeals to the strongest visual aesthetics. He seems to be theonly artist who could totally transform the limited ceiling of Lawkanat gallery until today. This fourth version was quite astonishing, with the black strings being attached on the white wall of Lawkanat gallery, in a random pattern like a web. This work also has its own implied meaning, like the original concept. It is hard to label this work either as a minimal art or postmodern art, however; in a visual sense, it is certain that this work creates many negative spaces that might exist but can't be seen. I contend that these negative spaces play a pivotal role in this work, and it is a postmodern concept, leading towards minimal and conceptual arts.
 
Here, we can reflect on Po Po’s early concept about negative spaces and also would like to mention a Japanese artist Noboru Takayama for his Underground Zoo’, 1968/2015, a great example with this ideology in material based. And another example as an American minimal artist called Fred Sandback^[41] and  his string installation work called “Untitled” (1997) which has the similar visual presentation as The Maw Naing and Takayama, but they might hold different concepts. Sandback is also a construction of negative spaces (that didn't actually exist) in an actual space between the ceiling and the floor, for the viewers to see by themselves. One difference between their works is that Fred created geometric and three dimensional volumes occupied the space with invisible elements. 

Minimalism or living as nature

Minimalism is defined in many different ways around the world as rediscovered the roles of artists and values of the artworks mainly to make the questions on conventional boundaries between various media. Similar or basically different with the Mono-hamovement in Asia against industrialization and Modernism, when New York-based artists turned their backs on conventional art-concepts of Modernism’s abstract expressionism, minimalism was born, embracing ideas and concepts from the newest century. Vague expressions which were once used to portray the personal emotions, were replaced with geometric shapes, smooth and symmetrical plain objects, which have the exact measurements. In fact, although the evolution of minimalism was intertwined with early European abstract movement, later it transformed into different ideas and concepts. Such ideas were transformed due to the changing political landscapes as well as due to different fields of arts such as literature, music, poetry, films and architecture.  
 
The earliest minimal arts are considered to descend from modern paintings due to their similar characteristics such as repetitions of simple geometric forms, uniformed and monochromatic lines, and some works such as paper cut-outs by Henri Matisse, a master of French modern artist, and color-field Paintings by Mark Rothko and Ad Reinhardt. Repetitions (uniformity), and chaos brashworks of modern art, can be seen in the characteristics of Myanmar paintings not only from the late 90s which represent the socialist era to present days. In addition, the technique of collage which is the basic form of Dada arts, is being re-experimented by many artists nowadays. Minimalist paintings (color field) tend to adhere to monochromes, plain colors, and simplicity whereas minimal arts comply with reduction, lack of excesses or simplicity. In fact, minimalism can also be adopted in life styles and relate with socio-political aspects which are fundamental in modern society. Besides, it paves ways for new mediums such as computer technologies, audiovisual media, nano technologies and their basic functions in creating contemporary arts.
 
To conclude, minimalism refers not only to its basic concepts such as living with mindfulness and simple life with a few essential possessions, but also to eliminating the excessive distractions, and visualizing open or empty spaces which are hidden. So, minimalism is a purpose of life; it is a way of living. In fact, “spaces” should not be defined just as the measurable; it is a broad term and can relate to any mass in the air, water, outer space or time. In addition, according to Po Po’s definition of negative spaces, is not the negation of “positive” (not a minus sign or pessimistic view), rather it is like a mold of a sculpture or an object; minimalism is a hidden area of study (although it exists) and it helps us to understand the new spaces (which is like Relation of Absence). The summary of this article is to pinpoint that although the initial features of minimalism might resemble inconsistency, dismantling, unaltered and crude conditions, revolts, and radical attitudes, in fact, minimalism is neither a resistance nor a destruction. It is simply “accepting the existence of things” in their true forms, and being aware of the infinite possibilities of zero or absence while exploring the connections between human beings and nature. 
 
Translated form Burmese: by Nanda Lin Htin(Cultura Translation Service).
Supported: by Aura Contemporary Art Foundation.
 

Disclaimer - The analysis of the artworks discussed in this article does not intend to affirm and categorize them as postmodern art, minimal art or Dada art. I highly considered the explanations and descriptions from artists while analyzing their artworks, and discussed them according to different timelines. Hence, I sincerely request the readers to read this article with their own judgment, identify the validity of the facts, freely criticize and analyze how it can have the impact on the current era of arts.
 
Acknowledgement: I would like to hereby acknowledge to all artists, the cooperation of many individuals and organizations that generously assist with this paper. In particular: Artists;Maung Di, Po Po, San Oo, Soe Naing, Htein Lin, The Maw Naing, Nyein Chan Su, Min Zaw, Ko Sai(The Key Collection), WE distribution, San Lin Tun, Association for Myanmar Contemporary Art(AMCA), Yuto Yabumoto and Aura Art Foundation, and my beloved wife and daughter for helping things to complete this research paper and all friends.

_{^[1] New World Order relates with the aspects of geopolitics and economics in relation to global security and power struggle among nations after the cold war. Journal The Asia-Pacific region and the new world order, Dennis Rumley, Vol. 70, (DEC. 2003).
^[2] Asian Art Show is the earliest and the biggest art exhibition in Asia in terms of the numbers of the exhibited artworks. https://asianart-gateway.jp/en/knowing/term/1837/ 
^[3] Asia Art Archive. https://aaa.org.hk/en/collections/event-database/the-1st-asia-pacific-triennial-of-contemporary-art
^[4] The 1^st Fukuoka Asian Art Triennale 1999
^[5] Zhang Wei (1952- ) is a Chinese painter, widely considered as an important figure in the development of abstract art in postmodern China. He is one of the founding members of a well-known postmodern artist group in China called “No Name Group”. He continues to create abstract art up to the present day.
^[6] Wuming Painting Collective No Name Painting Association. Their paintings opposed against communist propaganda.
^[7] Abstract Expressionism Action Painting
^[8] Non-representational art forms
^[9] In Chinese philosophy, “Chi” is the technique of controlling the body’s internal energy.
^[10] Right is Wrong: Chinese Art before 1989 by Pi Li, Sigg Senior Curator, Head of Art, M+ Museum Hong Kong
^[11] Zero Artist Group prioritized private vision and painted non-conventional forms with no external representations, focusing on light and speed.
^[12] Zero Jigen was formed in Nagoya in 1963 and they made performances in Tokyo. Their project called “Ritual" was well-known and it provoked criticisms on Japan’s customary beliefs and values.  
^[13] Mono-ha, meaning “school of things”, is a 20th century art movement and also a minimalism movement of Asia. It used sculptures or materials to revolt against traditional representational artworks in which the visual image directly refers to the subject matter of the artwork.  
^[14] Neo-Dada is the new Dadaism. It emerged in response to the original Dadaism, which satirized the monopoly of traditional European arts and condemned the adversities of world wars. Neo-Dada redeemed Dada’s concepts of anti-art and meaningless society, with their new arts. Dadaism began in Zurich in 1915, and was active in Paris, New York and Germany till 1920.
^[15] The first Myanmar modern art exhibition was held at YMCA hall in Yangon, in 1967. Myanmar modern paintings were inspired by Expressionism and Post-Expressionism which were transformed from traditional realism.
^[16] AI group (Architect Incorporate) is the office and the workplace where the first Myanmar modern painters met and gathered.
^[17] Joseph Albers (1888-1976), a German minimalist painter
^[18] Kazimir Malevich (1879-1935), a Russian artist from Ukraine
^[19] Ellsworth Kelly (1923-2015), an American sculptor and a color field painter
^[20] Ad Reinhardt (1913-1967), an American abstract expressionist and minimalist painter
^[21] Mark Rothko (1903-1970), an abstract expressionist and a painter
^[22] Mono-ha means “school of things” and it is a minimalist artists group founded in Tokyo around 1960.
^[23] “The times forced us to reconsider our situation as modern artists in Japan, and to think about the significance of being free from American influence…..” (Lee Ufan)
^[24] Graham Harman is a distinguished professor of philosophy at an institute of architecture in Los Angeles. His “object-oriented ontology” is a theory that explains the speculative realism between the metaphysics of objects and the perspectives of humans.
^[25] It is interesting to note that “Mono-ha” is the term coined by critics and Tokyo journalists. Coincidentally, the term “minimal art” was also taken from the words by a historian writer. The artists never define their works with names; in fact, they refused to accept their works as minimal arts.
^[26] An outdoor sculpture made for the first Kobe Suma Rikyu Part Contemporary Sculpture Exhibition
^[27] Tang Da Wu graduated from Birmingham Polytechnic and Goldsmiths' College, University of London. His works had a diverse array of sketches, paintings, sculptures, installations and well-known performances.
^[28] Tharaphu Magazine, 25 vol; 1996
^[29] Maung Di was born in Pakokku, upper Myanmar. He worked as an illustrator in the journalism industry before he went to theschool of painting and sculpture. Since he left the school, he entered the Yangon arts scene and earned his living as a painter, cartoonist, newspaper illustrator, writer and a poet. He is still active and creating his works. He is one of the important figures in Myanmar modernism movement, along with his contemporaries, Khin One, Bagyi Aung Soe, Paw Thein.
^[30] Some parts of the discussion were mentioned in Silence is Golden: Documentation project 2019. https://aura-asia-art-project.com/en/news/dvd-magazine-silence-is-golden-youtube-links/
^[31] A canopy preached to be donated by Gautama Buddha to the future Arimatheya Buddha, and a square piece of fabric right underneath the canopy.
^[32] A canopy preached to be donated by Gautama Buddha to the future Arimatheya Buddha, and a square piece of fabric right underneath the canopy.
^[33] After the exile: Art in Myanmar, by Ma Thanegi, The Arts Magazine, Jan+Feb 1998, Esplanade Singapore.
^[34] Artist Soe Naing learned from Myanmar legendary painters of realism such as U Loon Kywel and U Thein Han. Then, he was committed to making expressionism arts, and taking reference from Zoology lessons at university, he created metamorphoses offrogs, fish, rabbits into the form of humans.
^[35] This work was the updated version of his original work, which was originally exhibited in the Than Lwin gallery, Yangon, 1994. It was said that the original installation had only 6 kerosene cups.
^[36] The 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT9) 2019, Queensland Museum, Australia
^[37] Studio Square is the first artist-run contemporary art space in Yangon. The artists involved were Nyein Chan Su, Min Zaw, Hein Htet and Ba Khine.
^[38] WALKING IN AN EXAGGERATED MANNER AROUND THE PERIMETER OF A SQUARE is the work filmed by Norman, an American conceptual artist, in his studio in 1967. At that time, video was not a popular medium to create arts.
^[39] An account by Bruce Nawman, “If I was an artist and I was in the studio, then whatever I was doing in the studio must be art. At this point art became more of an activity and less of a product.”
^[40] This work has four versions. The first installation was made at the library of French Institute, Yangon. The second installation was exhibited in Inya Gallery and the third was in Studio Square.
^[41] Fred Sandback (1943-2003) is an American minimalist artist who created conceptual arts using the cotton strings.}

References from books and internet

Books and Catalogs: 
(1) Art Studies, Vol: 1, 2. Report Book, International Seminar, 2014, Japan Foundation Asia Center. 
(2) The Arts Magazine, Jan+Feb 1998, 
(3) 1960s Japan: Art Outside the Box, Kuroda Riji, Josai University, Publishing, 2005 
(4) Curator Book, Condition Report: Shifting Perspective in Asia, Vol.4, Asia Center, Japan Foundation. 
(5) Po Po, Out of Institution, Vulgus Mind Work and The Key Collection Book, 2018 
(6) Catalog of “Seven Decades: Reflection on the Past 70 Years in Myanmar”, 2018 Curated by Htein Lin. 
(7) M.S.O (San Oo) Art Solo Show, Catalog, 2005. 
(8) 1381, “The force of contemporary”, a group of authors, Seiku Cho Cho Publishing House, 2019 
(9) Myanmar Contemporary Art 1 by Aung Min, Published by theart.com, 2008. 
(10) Minimalism: space-light-object, 2018, National Gallery Singapore (NGS), Catalog book page, 198,194 Website and Link
 
Website and Links: 
(1) Ref: AAA Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong, NewYork 
(2) https://www.interactiongreen.com/minimalist-and-zen/
(3) https://www.collecteurs.com/article/monoha-material-state-of-mind
(4) https://factory1611.com/projects/earthwork1979/ 
(5) Silence is Golden DVD Magazine Vol:2 SOCA Contemporary Art Project 2019 
(6) Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things (2015) - Netflix Documentary 
(7) “Talk show by WinPe”, “My lady, please give up on me in this life”, and the articles by Maung Moe Thu and Myoma Sandaya U Thein Maung 
(8) Burmese PoetryFoundation 
(9) https://artandmarket.net/reviews/2018/11/19/a-review-of-minimalism-space-light-object-in-singapore
(10) https://www.nationalgallery.sg/exhibitions/ minimalism-space-light-object#Tour

About the Writer

Aung Myat Htay is an artist and independent curator. He was born in Upper Myanmar and graduated in 1998 with a BFA in Sculpture from the University of Art & Culture in Yangon. He expresses social messages with work that combines a contemporary sense. He is also known as a writer/curator in Myanmar’s art community since 2005. His works include photography, moving image, installation, and even participatory public art. His works have been shown at various locations in Asia, Europe and the US including Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, SYLT Foundation in Germany, and Osaka Kansai International Art Festival 2023. He was an ACC Grantee Artist for New York Residency in 2014. Besides artistic creations, he is the art writer and founder of SOCA alternative art learning program in Myanmar.