When Yeo Workshop opens its booth at the Art SG fair in Singapore next week, a painting by Burmese artist and poet Maung Day will hang there, depicting a bucolic backdrop in a delicate style that is at once surrealist, whimsical and naive. But just before the rolling hills and verdant woods is a disquieting element: a dog standing next to a corpse.
Called “Dog Found the Murdered Body of His Master on the Beach”, the acrylic painting illustrates a real-life murder that shook the fishing community in Rakhine state in Myanmar, where Maung Day used to live. The murder was part of the post-coup turmoil of recent years: on February 1 2021, the military seized power, putting an end to the democratic transition started by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party. Since then, more than 2,600 people have been killed and 13,000 arrested, according to a domestic human rights organisation.
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Like many other murder cases in Myanmar, the culprit behind the murder in Maung Day’s picture has not been found. “The political instability and ensuing acts of violence have been an everyday reality throughout the country over the past two years,” the artist has said.
Part of a presentation by curator Louis Ho for the Singaporean gallery Yeo Workshop, the artwork highlights the tensions and violence in that region of Myanmar. Singapore Art Week, which includes Art SG, is “a timely platform to reflect on the plight of the Burmese people, especially those poor, rural, minority communities, who are most vulnerable to the violence”, says Ho. And his presentation is not the only one to highlight Burmese artists.