Bicycle Tire Rolling Event from Yangon: Bank of Innya Lake, 2013
Photograph
Original Sizes Available: 60 x 91 cm
Edition 3 of 5
In the photographs of his performance “Rolling a Hoop in Yangon”, you can see Moe Satt rolling a hoop, wearing the full traditional dress the color of a chick. The...
In the photographs of his performance “Rolling a Hoop in Yangon”, you can see Moe Satt rolling a hoop, wearing the full traditional dress the color of a chick. The backgrounds change, but it’s still him rolling the hoop in that dress. He has worn traditional dresses in most of his performances. He chose the color of a chick because people of Myanmar regard it auspicious. His dress contradicts his action in most people’s eyes for people only wear such dress to attend special events and ceremonies, such as religious events and weddings. Or they may wear it because they are senators.
The artist explains of this performance, “I am trying to put a socio-political twist to a child’s game, one that I liked most when I was young.” This work, which also embodies the artist’s childhood nostalgia, was done in the setting of Yangon City, where the artist was born. He chose four landmark places to do the performance and photographed it. The places include the bank of Inya Lake where students were shot by the Myanmar Army back in 1988. The artist joked that he liked the place because this was where he hang out with his girlfriend when they were high school students. All these four places have some kind of important history. He ha also picked Mahabandoola Park adjacent to Sule Pagoda and in front of the City Hall. The Sule Pagoda area was considered to be the center of Yangon when the city was first built in the old days. This is a heritage place and rich in history. So you may say Moe Satt has entered the country’s history and rolled his hoop in it.