La galerie Retour De Voyage, in L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, presents "the Inner Thread", an exhibition gathering fifteen works by Burmese artist Htein Lin, — including nine created in secret while imprisoned, four painted on blankets, a humorous and subversive pendant reworking the Burmese alphabet, and an installation of sculpted soap bars.
These, marked by pain, irony and memory, raise profound questions about the role of the artist in the face of political repression, imprisonment, civil war, and exile.
Despite the extreme conditions under which they were created, the pieces reveal an unshakable inner strength and a rare resilience.
Creating behind bars : Art as Survival and Transformation
Imprisoned for nearly seven years because of his beliefs, Htein Lin produced a body of visual work in captivity that is both inventive and deeply moving. With no access to brushes or canvas, he developed techniques using whatever he could find : lighter wheels, syringes, soap, nets, fragments of mirror, and scavenged or bartered paint. These makeshift materials became the tools of a quest : to stay alive on the inside, to keep thinking, to remember, to forgive. His practice is rooted in Buddhist values - compassion, clarity, and non-violence.
Htein Lin’s Works in the Exhibition
Portraits of Gentle Resistance
- Self Portrait : One of the first monotypes created in prison. The features don’t aim to depict a likeness but rather explore what confinement carves into body and soul. The beard – forbidden in prison – becomes a quiet symbol of defiance.
- The Door : Initially imagined as a space station, the image slowly reveals ... a prison door. without polemic intent, the artist lets surface what his subconscious never let go : the daily reality of incarceration.
- Mission 1 & 2 : Informed by his science readings in prison, these works evoke space, planets, the infinite. The sky becomes a realm for meditation and mental escape.
- Playground : Inspired by a tender memory of his daughter, this suspended piece evokes movement, lightness, and the continuity of life beyond prison walls.
Women, dance, and memory
Deprived of any feminine presence for years, Htein Lin evokes the figures of traditional Burmese theater through drawing. He remembers the dancers (Anyeint dance), with whom he once shared the stage before his arrest. Through them, He evokes harmony, beauty, and cultural identity — all of which repression cannot erase.
The works Poem of Dancer Thin Thin Kyu, Apyodaw yain, Three Dancers, Dancers from Afar :
are tributes to gestures, to a culture, to a quiet and dignified joy, that has remained alive within him.
Humor as a Gentle Weapon
Htein Lin created a pendant that plays on the Burmese alphabet, from which three letters are missing.
This subtle detail invites viewers to reflect. Far from being a direct denunciation, the work establishes a silent game, a subtle irony meant to provoke thought about censorship.
The pendant is also reproduced on a large canvas.
Displacement, war, the call to awareness
Fiery Hell 3&4 : Painted on blankets, these two works become canvases of protest. They depict the forced exodus of rural populations in Myanmar, fleeing civil war. Women, children, elders, and beasts of burden cross landscapes engulfed in flames. The dramatic red and gold tones, convey the violence of displacement, the heartbreak, and the loss. And yet, they are also visual prayers — for those who, against all odds, keep moving forward., convey the violence of displacement, tearing and loss. And yet, they are also visual prayers — for those who, against all odds, keep moving forward
A Singular Voice in Contemporary Asian Art
Htein Lin was born in 1966 in Burma. A law student, and performance artist, he became a prominent figure in the democratic movements. He has been imprisoned multiple times, lived in the UK, and later returned to Myanmar, — where he is now unable to leave, having been stripped of his passport. He continues to create, opening spaces for listening, remembrance and awareness.
His art stands as both testimony and a path to inner peace in a fractured world.