Htein Lin's Prison Art Shown at Ar/Ge Kunst Bolzano

Ar/Ge Kunst in Bolzano opens its 2023 season with 'Die Fliege is a fly in volo', a solo exhibition dedicated to Burmese artist and activist Htein Lin (born 1966). Imprisoned by the military regime from 1998 to 2004 and again in 2022 for his protest activities, Lin transformed incarceration into artistic production, creating works on prison uniforms and fabrics. The exhibition, curated by new artistic directors Francesca Verga and Zasha Colah, features reenactments of Lin's performances by fellow artists who witnessed them, including Amol Patil, Moe Satt, and Chew Ei Thein. Patil's sound installation uses drainage pipes with speakers emitting sounds of textile machines, typewriters, flies, and insects. Moe Satt, imprisoned for 100 days in 2021, re-performed the piece in new blue prison uniforms that replaced the old ones to prevent their use as canvases. Chew Ei Thein produced a video extending the fly personification. The show includes a publication series in Italian, German, and English, designed by Giulia Cordin and Lorenzo Toso with cover illustrations by students of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano. Ar/Ge Kunst also commissioned Studio GISTO (Alessandro Mason and Pietro Lora) to redesign the lighting with a suspended structure for flexible exhibition design. A further activation is planned for April 4, 2023.