Reincarceration returns to the nucleus of Htein Lin’s vision: the pernicious operations of state-sponsored power, and the myriad ways in which individuals survive its depredations. In 2022, the Myanmar artist found himself back in prison, this time as collateral damage in the military government’s targeting of his wife, Vicky Bowman, a former British ambassador to the country working to promote responsible business. Both were sentenced to a year for alleged immigration offences. Released after three months, Htein Lin’s most recent incarceration follows his early experiences as a political prisoner in the late 1990s, when he spent more than six years behind bars. The present show, comprised of works spanning the decades between the two periods, is a reflection of the broader struggle for liberty and human rights in Myanmar, the travails of a lone individual speaking to the collective tribulations of his people in wake of the military coup in 2021.

Image courtesy of Htet Lin

Artists: Htet Lin

Curators: Louis Ho