Htein Lin, Myanmar resilient artist

Biography

Present on the Burmese art scene for over 35 years, Htein Lin is : a painter, writer, actor, filmmaker, performer and visual artist. Known for its meaning-laden installations and powerful performances, he embodies art as a form of resilience, testimony, and - occasionally - a touch of well-aimed irreverence.

International Recognition

Htein Lin's work is held in several major museum collections including :

• Asia Society Museum (New York)
• M+ Museum (Hong Kong)
• Red Cross Museum (Geneva)
• Singapore Art Museum
• Haus der Kunst (Münich)

He also participated in major artistic events around the world : The Venice Biennale (2007), Singapore Fringe Festival (2010, 2012), Miami Art Fair, Art Basel, Kochi Biennale (2012), Singapore Biennale (2016, 2017), Asia-Pacific Triennial (Brisbane 2019), Gwangju Biennale (2024), and more

Engagement as a Lifeline

Htein Lin was born in Burma in 1966. Student in law at university, he joined the Burmese Student Democratic Front very early on. Forced to flee in the jungle with the democratic front of Burmese students, he was first arrested and tortured in 1991.

In 1994, he completed his law degree and began a career as a comedian – poet. In 1998, political dissent caught up with him again, and he was imprisoned until 2004.

While incarcerated, he began creating some of his most iconic works. With no brushes, he painted using his fingers and broken objects on prison uniforms «borrowed» from the drying lines. He produced hundreds of paintings and more than 1000 drawings alongside soap sculptures, of curled-up inmates in their cramped cells.

A Life of Resilience and Transmission

Released in 2004, Htein Lin was introduced to the Great Britain ambassador who helped him to safeguard his prison artworks in a Dutch museum. A few months later, The two were married in the UK and returned to Myanmar in 2013.

During the country's brief democratic opening (notably after Aung San Suu Kyi’s party won the election in 2015), Htein Lin continued to poke fun - sometimes quite cheekily - at power structures and corruption. His “Recycled” series transformed destroyed artworks into papier-mâché canvases, painting over them anew. What others saw as waste, Htein Lin saw as potential. Upcycling, in his case, became a life philosophy..

A Key Voice in Contemporary Burmese Art

Htein Lin co-organised Yangon’s first contemporary art festivals : «Yangon My Home» (2015 and 2017), and later, «Seven Decades», a historical exhibition tracing 70 years of Myanmar story through art. He is also co-founder of the Association for Myanmar Contemporary Art, launched in 2021 to support local artists.

In 2021, following the military coup, both he and his wife were arrested for participating in anti-junta protests. Released three months later, he was placed under a travel ban, while she was deported to the UK.

Htein Lin now lives in southern Shan State, where he has set up a studio and art space to support emerging Burmese artists. His creative output remains as prolific and politically engaged as ever.

His recent series address urgent themes: the devastation of civilians displaced by war (« Bloody Hell », a Burmese echo of Picasso’s Guernica), or gender inequality (« Skirting the issue », exhibited at Galerie Retour De Voyage in 2022.)

Aesthetics, for Htein Lin, never comes at the cost of truth. His practice, deeply rooted in Buddhist spirituality and Vipassana meditation, blends memory, forgiveness and transformation.