Aracha Cholitgul
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Aracha Cholitgul (b.1988) is a Bangkok-based interdisciplinary artist. She can be contacted at [email protected].

1. Work from The Museum of the Swamp of Eels. The origin of this work discussed in an interview: “I felt like I had been collecting memories… I felt like because each piece had its own narrative, so I just started putting them together as an exhibition for a museum. It's more like I curated my own experience, and I preserved what I thought was important to me. That's why I thought about the museum format…”

Aye Ko
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Aye Ko (b.1963) is a Yangon-based multimedia and performance artist, and the founder of New Zero Art Space. He can be contacted at [email protected].

1. Photographs of a 1999 performance entitled Freedom.
2. Digital artworks from 2010 entitled Transfixed.
3. Photographs of a performance entitled White Suit, done in Paris.
4. Photographs of Aye Ko in his office in Yangon, May 2019, by HPD. Accompanied by a conversation.

Bart Was Not Here
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Bart Was Not Here (b.1996) is a Yangon-based painter and graffiti-artist. He can be contacted at [email protected] and at his website>.

1. Works from a 2018 series entitled Power. The protagonists of these paintings can be explored more here, here, and here.

Buntheng Bat
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Buntheng Bat (b.1992) is an artist trained in the traditional Khmer style of mural painting. He is based in Phnom Penh. He can be contacted via phone at +855 10476754.

1. Paintings from a series on the Khmer Zodiac. Many of the figures are drawn from the Ramayana, the Indian epic describing the exploits of Prince Rama and his fight against the demon Ravana. As this Hindu story was absorbed into the Khmer canon, it was merged with Buddhist and indiginous influences.
2. Photographs depicting Buntheng working on a mural in a wat, provided by the artist. Buntheng is considered one of the best young painters of the traditional style in Cambodia. He has been studying for the past twelve years, including a one year apprenticeship at a wat. Asked about his personal influences, he described two: comics, and anime. Learn more in an interview.

Dat Vu
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Dat Vu (b.1991) is a photo artist based in Ho Chi Minh City. He can be contacted at [email protected].

According to Dat’s website: “He develops his visual language through observing suspended human behaviors in public and private spheres, and about vernacular spaces in transition. In his work, he has become concerned with the idea of representation, intervention and performativity. In turn, his photographic practice plays with different modes of decontextualization and deconstruction: constructing narratives through combining the found and the staged.”

1. Works from Dat Vu’s series Muted Conversations. He describes his images as “ugly” and notes they are often met with confusion in Vietnam; he is of the first generation of photographers making conceptual photography in the country.

Du Hoang
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Dat Vu (b.1991) is a photo artist based in Ho Chi Minh City. He can be contacted at [email protected].

1. Photographs of Du Hoang in his studio in Son Tay, taken by Hunter P Deerfield, February 2019. Du is a member of the Tay ethnic people, and much of his work combines Tay folklore with his own divine visions. He can speak at great length about the esoteric symbolism of each of his works. Common themes include interdimensional travel, ethical precepts, and apocalyptic prophecies. Read more in an interview.
2. Paintings by Du Hoang.
3. Sketches by Du Hoang.

Eiji Sumi
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Eiji Sumi (b.1970) is a mixed media artist based in Bangkok. He can be contacted at [email protected], or at his website.

1. Photo works from his Play(e)scape series.
2. Photographs of the exhibition of Play(e)scape at Gallery VER. Read more in an article by Chol Janepraphaphan
“Here and There” The etymology of democracy: An artwork elaborated by seesaw, also known as a teeter-totter. This installation tilts up and down with the balance of weight of the participants according to their place on the platform. It is the classical physics law that an action at one point has an influence at another point. The turning effect of a force is called the moment of the force and is found by multiplying the force by its distance from the pivot. According to the number of the people and their locations, there will be various ways which the balance can shift with the physical sensation of the critical mass. (Text provided by the artist)

Huy An Nguyen
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Huy An Nguyen (b.1982) is a performance, installation, and multimedia artist based in Hanoi. He can be contacted at [email protected].

1. Photographs taken at Huy An’s home, by Hunter P Deerfield, August 2019. Huy An has been collecting Buddha arms and saving the receipts. When asked about his work, he gives only keywords: solitude, seclusion, calm.

Jedsada Tangtrakulwong
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Jedsada Tangtrakulwong (b.1972) is a conceptual artist based in Chiang Mai. He can be contacted at [email protected].

Jedsada made three works for KIRTI. Text provided by the artist:
1. LOST AND FOUND # 1 Whenever I left my teaching job to be a full-time artist, I became an insomniac. For the first time (2014), the insomnia symptoms persisted for three months. Eventually, I’ve learned to celebrate my insomnia by walking the streets at night, documented the city life and came up with a photographic series, ‘Sleepless Nights’. In 2018 (the second time), I had struggled with sleep for two months, and then one afternoon I became dizzy, fell and my face hit the toilet wall. After the incident, I’ve learned to sleep with my mouth open. There was no art produced.
2. LOST AND FOUND # 2 When I was thirteen, I discovered that I have the same number of teeth as my father, only 30 teeth (two missing 2 teeth). It took me thirty two years to had a dental implant for my two missing teeth. After the dental implant surgery, I went to the dental clinic from time to time for fixing chipped teeth. Last November, I had severe toothache. I went to see a dentist and found out that I had hypersensitive teeth. One teeth needed to do a root canal treatment. Afterwards, the dentist crowned on three of my teeth and told me that I grind my teeth in my sleep. There are a lot of pressure and unconscious stresses on the process of making art.
3.“Sometimes The Harder You Fall, The Stronger You Rise.” This is the list of artist in residency programs that rejected my applications during the last ten years (2009 - 2019). Only one residency program that accepted my application; the second time I have submitted. Failure makes me humble.

Kamin Lertchaiprasert
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Kamin Lertchaiprasert (b.1964) is an artist based in Chiang Mai. He is co-founder of The Land Foundation, and founder of the 31st Century Museum of Contemporary Spirit.

1. These photos were taken by Hunter P Deerfield during a studio visit in October 2018. They were accompanied by an interview and conversation about his work and philosophy.

Kanitha Tith
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Kanitha Tith (b.1987) is a cross-disciplinary artist based in Phnom Penh.

1. These photos were taken by Hunter P Deerfield in September 2018 and document several pages from a portfolio of Kanitha Tith’s early work.

Khiev Kanel
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Khiev Kanel (b.1988) is a Phnom-Penh based photographer, moving-image, and performance artist. He can be contacted at [email protected].

1. Photo works from the artist’s Pineapple Eyes exhibition. I first heard the sayings “They know everything you’re doing” and “Pineapple eyes” from people around me. These sayings caught my attention, and made me feel curious and ask questions. I had the feeling as if there were hundreds of eyes secretly observing everything I do, just like people had been under constant surveillance during the Khmer Rouge regime, too. During the Khmer Rouge period, the saying “Pineapple eyes” or “Angkar has pineapple eyes” was well-known by everyone. In those dark times, the saying “Pineapple eyes” referred to guards—they could be our neighbors—who spied on our every activity, all the time, and reported it to Angkar. Now, the genocidal regime is over, and I am a child of the generation after it, that never experienced that regime. But why do I feel that I am always being secretly observed like that? And also, why do I sometimes feel that I have become one of the spies, too? These sayings and my curiosity about them made me begin to be interested in comparing the “pineapple eyes” with security cameras, and to raise the question of whether security cameras may be the “pineapple eyes” of today’s society. In order to address these concerns, this project expresses the feeling of being under surveillance everywhere, both in public and in private places. The feeling of being lost inside a security camera, and not knowing if it is observing me, or if I am observing the camera. If you were being spied on, how would you feel? (Text provided by the artist)

Le Brothers
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The Le Brothers (twins Hai Duc Le and Thanh Ngoc Le, b.1975) are performance and multimedia artists based in Hue. They are the founders of the New Space Arts Foundation, also based in Hue. They can be contacted at [email protected].

1. A selection from the 365 Days Project. “For this project, everyday, we take many pictures of us performing and interacting with the space and the time we live in. Then, we pick the best one to present to our audience our consistent will to create happiness and peace. Our performances in these 365 days demonstrate how much effort we have to put in things, in order to make peace. However, at the end, the difficulties have got nothing on the happiness that we get.” (Text provided by the artists).

Leopold Franckowiak
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Leopold Franckowiak is a painter based in Hue. He can be contacted at [email protected].

1. Photographs of Leopold in his home in Hue. He taught himself to paint in 2016, after retiring from France to Vietnam. Hunter P Deerfield, who took these photos, was introduced to Leopold by the Le Brothers. Learn more in an interview.

Le Quy Tong
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Le Quy Tong (b.1977) is a painter based in Hanoi. He can be contacted at [email protected].

1. Photographs of work in Le Quy Tong’s studio in Hanoi. Taken by Hunter P Deerfield in February 2019. His work is discussed in an interview.

Mai Nguyen Anh
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Mai Nguyen Anh is a visual artist based in Hanoi. He is a co-founder of Matca. He can be contacted at [email protected].

1. Work from his series The Park of Youth. This work is discussed in an interview.

Manit Sriwanichpoom
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Manit Sriwanichpoom (b.1961) is a photo artist based in Bangkok. He is the founder of Kathmandu Photo Gallery. He can be contacted at [email protected].

1. 5 Generals Who Return Happiness to the People. 22 May 2014 Coup d’etat..The event of 22 May 2016 was the 13th military take-over in Thailand since the first.coup d’etat in 1932 changed Siam from absolute monarchy to democracy. The latest putsch is led by 4 generals from all 3 army forces and one police generals, under the.name of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). This clearly reflects the weakness of the country’s democratic system which is unable to solve problems without.intervention by extra-parliamentary powers… 2. The Happiness General’s TV Broadcast. 26 May 2014 After the coup d’etat, the newly endorsed head of the National Council.for Peace and Order (NCPO), General Prayut Chan-o-cha gave his official speech.via TV Pool. As he spoke to the nation, the broadcasting signal became unstable,.fading away so much at times his image broke into pixels, losing all sharpness, as if.the signal was being jammed and they were unable to control anything.. (Text from Manit Sriwanichpoom’s “Fear” exhibition catalogue. Published 2016, by Kathmandu Photo Gallery)

Mayco Naing
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Mayco Naing (b.1984) is a Yangon-based photo artist. She can be contacted via her instagram.

1. This work from a commercial photoshoot Mayco did at the Yangon Children’s Hospital in Myanmar in 2016. The hospital, in conjunction with the Taw Win Foundation, threw a Christmas party for their patients and commissioned Mayco to take photographs to be used to raise awareness and donations. Mayco expressed profound ambivalence in how best to show this work, if at all. Some of the children depicted have passed on. Mayco does not want to artistically profit off of images that will cause sadness to the children's families. 2. Children with cancer will often become monks in order to be reborn with better karma in their next life.

Mit Jai Inn
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Mit Jai Inn (b.1960) is a painter and installation artist based in Chiang Mai.

1. Photographs of Mit Jai Inn’s studio, taken by Hunter P Deerfield during a studio visit in August 2019.

Nguyen Quoc Dzung
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Nguyen Quoc Dzung (b.1983) is a painter based in Ho Chi Minh City. He can be contacted at [email protected].

1. Paintings of transgender sex workers. Dzung describes his practice as “akin to a visual diary about people who are marginalized in Vietnamese society.” Read more in his artist statement. 2. Photographs of Dzung’s work in his studio, taken by Hunter P Deerfield, September 2018.

Nguyen Van Du
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Nguyen Van Du (b.1986) is a painter based in Ho Chi Minh City. He can be contacted at [email protected].

1. Paintings of slaughterhouses. Made with cow blood on canvas. The slaughterhouse series was inspired from a moment in 2012, when Du was struck by the sight of a roadside butcher shop. He saw in this space a boundary zone, a “thin line between life and death, which came together in this place where the meat was sold.” Read more about his inspiration in an interview. 2. Photographs of slaughterhouses. Taken by the artist. 3. Sketches of slaughterhouses.

Phe Sophon
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Phe Sophon (b.1983) is a sculptor and painter based in Phnom Penh. He can be contacted via Facebook.

1. Photographs of his studio/home outside of Phnom Penh, taken by Hunter P Deefield, February 2019. The artist Robit Pen is shown sitting on a motorbike, alongside Sophon’s wife. This visit was accompanied by a short video tour.

Phuong Duc
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Phuong Duc (b.1982) is a painter and sculptor based in Hanoi. He can be contacted at +84 97 368 66 09.

1. Photographs from a studio visit, taken by Hunter P Deerfield, August 2019. Read more about Phuong’s practice in an interview. Fellow artist Mai Quynh Trinh is in several photos; she acted as translator and participant in a conversation that occurred simultaneously.

Pichai Pongsasaovapark
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Pichai Pongsasaovapark is a mixed-media artist based in Bangkok. He can be contacted at [email protected].

1. Paintings from the Poison Flower series, made using vehicle exhaust. Each painting is accompanied by a photograph showing the work-in-progress, provided by the artist. The vehicle types are listed in the order of paintings shown: automobile, motorcycle, rice combine, rice farm tiller, truck, van. Read more about Pichai’s process in an interview.

Pipatra Banpabutr
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Pipatra Banpabutr (b.1990) is a photographer based in Bangkok. He can be contacted at [email protected].

1. Work from Pipatra’s series Tangerine Dream. Read more about his process in an interview.

Piyarat Piyapongwiwat
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Piyarat Piyapongwiwat (b.1977) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Chiang Mai. She can be contacted at [email protected].

1. Snapshots of filming and screenshots from an early edit of Particle, a film which focuses on the effects of a Thai cement company’s limestone quarrying on two mountains in Kampot province, Cambodia.

Po Po
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Po Po (b.1957) is an installation and performance artist based in Yangon.

1. Homage to Buddha, 1988. Performance using straw and fire, Bahan Township, Yangon. 2. Narcissus, 1987. Installation using silk, kapok, mirror, string. Junction of Bago river and Pazundaung creek, Thaketa Township, Yangon. Read more about the artist’s process in an interview.

Pornchai Chaima
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Pornchai Chaima (b.1970) is a painter based in Chiang Mai. He is the founder of the Chiangmai Art Museum.

1. Scenes from a mural in-progress, at the Chiangmai Art Museum. The full mural is 11 meters wide and is one of a proposed set of three murals. The depicted scenes are from Pornchai’s childhood, and aim to illustrate traditional Lanna (Northern Thai) life. Read more in an interview, and see the full mural in a video.

Sai Htin Linn Htet
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Sai Htin Linn Htet is a photo artist based in Yangon. He can be contacted at [email protected].

1. Work from Sai’s Maya series. “Is Myanmar changing the way we want?... Have our dreams been fulfilled, or we are living through our worst nightmare?... Before the 2015 landmark election, the citizens of Myanmar were so hopeful and dreamed that the country would be changed positively. I was one of them. Everyone expected that Myanmar would be back on its way to be an Asian tiger again… These days, I have to face a reality that is totally different from the way I had imagined. We are unsure of where the country is going anymore. . .From a sudden change of president, random assassinations, to ongoing civil wars and conflicts, anything can happen at any second. Our efforts and dreams can simply be undervalued and paid no attention because of where we are from… During this period, I started to document my personal feelings as a citizen, to show how my once beautiful dreams have become something else. The illusion of change is what makes our hopes to be painted over with fear. . .Who would expect that there are nightmares within a dream?.. “Maya” or the deception of Myanmar Politics will determine what the future is to be. Dreams or nightmares? I personally do not know what to expect… (Text provided by the artist).

Samak Kosem
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Samak Kosem (b.1984) is a visual artist and academic based in Chiang Mai. He can be contacted at [email protected].

1. Work from Samak’s series New Prayer. The arabic text is of the Islamic definition of homosexuality. Read more in an interview.

San Minn
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San Minn (b.1951) is a painter based in Yangon.

1. Photographs of the artist’s Prison Series, taken in the street outside of his studio. These works were inspired by San Minn’s time in jail. Taken by Hunter P Deerfield, October 2018.

Sao SreyMao
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Sao Sreymao (b.1986) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Phnom Penh. She can be contacted at [email protected].

1. Work from Under the Water and Group exhibitions. Along the Mekong river communities are being displaced due to ecological degradation. A combination of climate change, overfishing, and the construction of hydropower dams are turning once-thriving villages into ghost towns. Sreymao described that her photographs could not show what was lost. So she added her illustrations to more keenly show the life that had departed. Learn more in a conversation.

Thasnai Sethaseree
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Thasnai Sethaseree (b.1968) is a conceptual artist, painter, and sculptor based in Chiang Mai.

1. Photographs of a monumental work in Thasnai’s studio. Taken by Hunter P Deerfield in August 2018. This work has to do with the Cold War, It is painted on the saffron robes of monks mounted to metal frames. Strips of paper are layered with glue: there will be 30-50 layers, each with a certain theme or symbol, reference photos of which are piled on his desk: monarch butterflies, moths, propaganda newspaper covers, astrological charts from significant dates, mid-century pornograhphy, the Trang Bang napalm attack. There is no museum in the region large enough to house this work. When this remark was made to Thasnai, he dryly responded: “They’ll have to build a bigger one.” Listen to the ambient sound of the space.

Thitibodee Rungteerawattananon
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Thitibodee Rungteerawattananon is an artist who works with culture-jamming and is based in Bangkok. He can be contacted at [email protected].

1. Photographs of a bathroom installation at MAIIAM museum in Chiang Mai. Taken by Hunter P Deerfield in October 2018. The artist explained: if Duchamp could take a urinal and put it in the exhibition space, why not take the exhibition space and put it back in the bathroom? Read more about Thitibodee’s process in an interview.

Theetat Thunkijjanukij
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Theetat Thunkijjanukij is a designer based in Bangkok. He can be contacted at [email protected].

1. “Here at ‘Artificial Supplies’ we sell mirror pictures of stuffs and tools that possessed an impressive form.” -- ‘Artificial Supplies’ is an e-commerce platform that mocked its pattern of displaying reviewed utilization and providing the products genuine details, pricing of the mirror-pictures are also the same as the supplies’ original prices. Additionally, in the delivery process the pictures was packaged just the same as the real packaging ready for delivery. Come and visit our website at http://xn--1xa.wtf/artificial.html (Text provided by the artist)

Tien Ve Group
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The Tien Ve are a group of avant-garde calligraphers, using the traditional Vietnamese script of Hán-Nôm. They are based out of the Institute of Hán-Nôm Studies in Hanoi.

1. Photographs of a calligraphy in action, taken by Hunter P Deerfield at the Institute of Hán-Nôm Studies, March 2019. 2. Avant-garde calligraphy need not be carefully composed like classical calligraphy, and often will stray off the side of the paper. Water is applied with a spray bottle to a poem about a river in order to give a greater “feeling” of water.

Tun Win Aung & Wah Nu
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Tun Win Aung (b.1975) & Wah Nu (b.1977, husband and wife, are multimedia artists based in Yangon.

1. Work from an ongoing series using silver ink over editioned magazine pages. This special silver ink was used by Burmese government censors between 1991-1993. All books that were to be published passed before the censors, and any content judged inappropriate would be manually covered over. The books would then be released with their silver additions.

Udomsak Krisanamis
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Udomsak Krisanamis (b. 1966) is a multimedia artist based in Chiang Mai.

1. Photographs of Udomsak at the driving range, by Hunter P Deerfield, October 2018. Udomsak wasn’t interested in featuring his paintings in KIRTI -- they have been shown numerous times before and are freely searchable on the Web. Instead, as Udomsak is an avid golfer, we decided to go to the driving range. Perhaps some secret of Udomsak’s art is revealed in his golfing.

Uudam Tran Nguyen
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Uudam Tran Nguyen (b.1971) is a multimedia artist based in Ho Chi Minh City. He can be contacted at [email protected].

1. Process from Uudam’s Time Boomerang project, wherein the artist conquers the world, using a variety of methods, including burying his bones in all continents of the earth.

Vinai Dithajohn
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Vinai Dithajohn is a photojournalist based in Bangkok. He can be contacted at [email protected].

1. Photographs by Vinai taken at riots since 2006. In 2006 Prime Minister Thaksin of Thailand was overthrown in a coup that instituted a military junta. A bitter political conflict has ensued, with “red shirts” (pro-democracy) fighting in the streets with “yellow shirts” (pro-monarchy, pro-military).

Yu Yu Myint Than
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Yu Yu Myint Than (b.1984) is a photo artist based in Yangon. She is a co-founder of Thuma Collective. She can be contacted at [email protected].

1. Work from Yu Yu’s Jigsaw series, which shows a Somalian community living in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Read more about Yu Yu’s process in an interview. “Dhaka is one of the most populated cities in the world. It's easy to loose one's own rhythm of life in this fast paced city like Dhaka. Also it somehow affects communicating with the people from the city. Dhaka's people are warm and welcoming but always as a guest not I never felt like being included a part of their community. Coming from a different cultural background, the feeling of not being able to connect with this city and community lead me to feel a sense of isolation and cultural confusion. So, I started to look for people who find themselves in a similar situation as me. Accidentally I found the Somalian youth community living in Dhaka as international students. I find them also facing the same challenges of isolation, cultural confusion and even plus discrimination by local people. For me, I feel like surviving in Dhaka and not feel like living. But Though they have similar experience with me, my impression is somalian students who come here for their better future of seeking education has created their own bubble to comfortably live in this city. There is intimacy and a sense of youthful bonding within this bubble which attracted me. The occasional loneliness and a constant feeling of otherness and being outsiders is still there, but they are creating Dhaka as their home to live in no matter what.” (Text provided by the artist)

Zar Min Htike
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Zar Min Htike is a painter and sculptor based in Yangon.

1. Photographs of Zar Min Htike’s home, wherein he shows paper-mache sculptures of goblins. During the five years he spent in jail, the artist shared a cell with a prisoner who slowly went mad. His cellmate would climb on the walls and hang from the ceiling. Ever since his release, Zar Min Htike began seeing goblins hiding everywhere; in the marketplace and in the corners of his house. Read more in an interview.
2. Zar Min Htike’s sketchbooks, documented by Hunter P Deerfield, May 2019.