Yadanar Win on Myanmar's Coup, Exile, and Diaspora Art Activism
In April 2021, Yadanar Win, a multimedia artist hailing from Yangon, Myanmar, sought refuge in Germany with assistance from the Goethe-Institut following the military coup on February 1, 2021, which displaced the National League for Democracy and placed power in the hands of Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing. During her quarantine in Myanmar, she observed the stillness preceding the protests. As a member of the performance art collective 3AM, Win mobilized artists in Yangon to back the demonstrators. After a widely-shared performance, she departed Myanmar on April 20, 2021. In Europe, she curated the exhibition 'Insight Out/ Myanmar Kunst & Realität' in July 2021 and performed in Paris in September 2021, promoting the Civil Disobedience Movement while condemning Myanmar's political situation and ethnic discrimination.
Key facts
- Myanmar's military coup occurred on February 1, 2021, deposing the National League for Democracy.
- Yadanar Win fled to Germany in April 2021 with help from Goethe-Institut and is now in exile in France.
- Win is a member of the performance art collective 3AM, which includes Ma Ei and Ko Latt.
- On February 18, 2021, Win performed a three-hour protest piece in Yangon with blood and signs.
- The military shot protesters in Yangon on February 27, 2021, killing 18 people.
- Win organized an exhibition in July 2021 titled 'Insight Out/ Myanmar Kunst & Realität' with 30 Myanmar artists.
- She performed publicly in Paris in September 2021, collaborating with the Myanmar diaspora.
- Myanmar's military uses religion and nationalism to discriminate against ethnic groups, with ethnicity required on identification cards.
Entities
Artists
- Yadanar Win
- Ma Ei
- Ko Latt
- Tayzar San
- Andreas Hoffmann
- Anne-Katherin Klatt
Institutions
- Goethe-Institut
- Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art
- ArtReview
- National League for Democracy
- Myawaddy TV
- Transnational Coalition for the Arts
Locations
- Yangon
- Myanmar
- Germany
- France
- Reston
- Virginia
- United States
- Mandalay
- China
- Paris