This performance and discussion event hosted by FD13 and East Side Freedom Library begins with live performances by Burmese artists Moe Satt and Chaw Ei Thein, followed by a discussion moderated by Tun Myint, political scientist and co-founder of Mutual Aid Myanmar.
Moe Satt (b. 1983, Yangon, Burma / lives and works Yangon) explores self, identity, embodiment and political resistance in a practice spanning performance, photography, sculpture, video and sound installations. Moe Satt has held numerous residencies including at Para Site, Hong Kong (2013), Asian Cultural Council (2017), Delphina Foundation, London (2019), and was shortlisted for the Hugo Boss Asian Art Prize (2015). Widely exhibited, group presentations include Busan Biennale (2012), A Journal of the Plaque Year, Kadist Art Foundation, San Francisco (2015), and Political Acts: Pioneers of performance art in Southeast Asia, Art Center Melbourne (2017). Recent solo exhibitions include If I Say It’s True Seven Times, Myanm/art, Yangon (2018) and Art Basel Hong Kong (Nova Contemporary) (2019). He founded Beyond Pressure International Performance Art Festival in Yangon, Burma in 2008.
Chaw Ei Thein (b. 1969, Yangon, Burma / lives and works Santa Fe, USA) is a multidisciplinary artist especially known for her performance practice and immersive installations that think with the contradictions of her socio-political environment, most notably the struggle for freedom of speech and the impact of social transformations in Burma. She holds a degree in law from Rangoon University (1994), and was mentored in art from a young age by her father, artist Maung Muang Thein (Pathein). She began participating in exhibitions and performance festivals in Burma and Southeast Asia in the mid-1990s. Chaw Ei Thein is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships including Asian Cultural Council (ACC) and The International Studio and Curatorial Program (ISCP) (both New York City), and has exhibited her work at Asia House London (with Htein Lin), Singapore Biennale (with Rich Steitmatter-Tran), and most recently, After Hope: Videos of Resistance, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco. Her artwork and voice can be found in numerous publications including Asian Art Now, Asian Art Archive, Artforum, Art Asia Pacific, Yishu, C-Arts, and The New York Times.
Tun Myint Ph.D. is an associate professor of Political Science at Carleton College, Minnesota. He was a student leader of the 1988 democracy movement in Burma and is a widely respected expert on the politics and society of the country. He served as a member of the Technical Advisory Team of the Federal Constitution Drafting Coordinating Committee. He is a co-founder of Mutual Aid Myanmar, founder and member of the editorial board of the Independent Journal of Burmese Scholarship, director of the Public Memory of Myanmar digital archive, and has contributed expert analysis on Burmese politics for media outlets, including PBS, Minnesota Public Radio, Radio Free Asia, CNN, and the BBC.
East Side Freedom Library (ESFL) has its home in the former Arlington Hills Library, one of St. Paul’s historic Carnegie library buildings in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood. ESLF’s mission is to incite solidarity, advocate for justice and work toward equity for all. The library houses non-circulating research collections that appeal to interested general learners as well as scholars, with innovative databases and finding aids that make suing the collections fun and vital. Story is a major these of the ESFL, and the telling and gathering of stories, through formal interviews, workshops, and small-scale public performances, will allow local residents and interested publics to learn more about the work and residential histories of the East Side. https://eastsidefreedomlibrary.org/