INSPIRE Seminar Series: Inspiring Myanmar - Chuu Wai, An Artist with Baggage

This INSPIRE seminar with Chuu Wai took place on 15 September 14:00-15:30 CET.

To watch the recording of the seminar, please click here.

In this seminar Chuu will present some of her work and artistic practices and talk about her experience as an artist in a repressive society. Chuu is known for an artistic practice that focuses on the conditions for women in modern Myanmar. Through her use of traditional and handcrafted materials, she paints strong and confident women, and challenges the traditional role Myanmar society has historically attributed to women. The thematic focus of her work and her devotion to the situation of her peers in Burma has led her to become a leading figure of the young Burmese art scene.

Following the 2021 Coup in Myanmar, Chuu was instantly and creatively involved in the pro-democracy demonstrations against the coup through her "Write for Rights" initiative.

Her political artistic activism forced her to flee from Myanmar to seek refuge in France. Before she fled, she managed to smuggle out her artwork and send it to Ukraine, where she planned to settle down and start anew. Political events again interfered in her life as her art got stuck in Ukraine due to the war. Chuu is now based in Paris, where she continues to develop her artistic practice to support the revolution against the military in Myanmar.

Read more about Chuu Wai on her website: https://chuuwai.com/

Marte Nilsen is part of the INSPIRE team. Her research focuses on how opposition groups in Myanmar and Thailand use popular culture and art to challenge the legitimacy of the authoritarian state. The role of local cultures and religious and spiritual knowledge is of particular interest.

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