Zaw Zaw, one of the leading contemporary artist in Myanmar, was born March 28, 1969 in Yangon.

He studied painting at the evening classes at the Yangon State School of Fine Arts in 1986.

His works were first shown in 1997 in group show at the Lokanat Galleries in Yangon.

Now he has participated in more than 30 group exhibitions locally and internationally US, Hongkong, Korea and Thailand.

 

He is an artist who always keeps looking for new creations, new techniques using different mediums. His work, Mother Ayeyarwaddy, which was dedicated to victims of cyclone Nargis, won the grand prize at the Tun foundation’s Best Paintings of the Year in 2009.

 

His 2015 series, The Lady, created with text prints on acrylic, has been shown in the United States and Hong Kong in 2016 and remains one of his most popular motifs. The paintings feature portraits of Aung Sann Suu Kyi created from the text of two old songs from the “Maha Gita”, which are songs originally sung by the royal Burmese courts and which form the basis of Burmese classical music. The songs selected were sung at the anointing of a new king during ancient times; for Zaw Zaw, the Lady is Myanmar’s true ruler, and the series was created in her honor. Some portraits are created with the poem “If---” by Rudyard Kipling in Burmese translation by Mathida (San Chaung). The poem has been a source of great courage for the people throughout the democratic walk since 1989, encouraging them not to give up on the long and arduous path ahead.

 

The “Response” newspaper collage series of his solo show in 2017 at Nawaday Tharlar Gallery in Yangon is simply a reactive expression of his emotions and views on social, political, environmental, and other global contemporary issues.

 

He is currently working on the “Home Land” series using Google map to connect past and present of his home land history. He got involved with the “Home Land” series in the TIME CHANGE 15RMUTT International Art Workshop 2020 in Bangkok.

 

He is living and working as full time artist in Yangon, Myanmar. His collection can be seen at Nawaday Tharlar Gallery in Yangon, Myanmar.