Po Po (born 1957) is a Burmese installation and performance artist. His work has been exhibited in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

and

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Life

Po Po was born in 1957 in Pathein,

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

. His formal name is Hla Oo. He is self-taught. Since 1987 Po Po has held many solo exhibitions, and his work has been shown at the in

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

, Japan, the Gwangju Biennale in

Gwangju Gwangju (; ), formerly romanized as Kwangju, is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated Special cities of South Korea, metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home ...

, South Korea, Fukuoka Triennale in

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, Japan and in the House of World Cultures, Berlin. A May 2004 report described Po Po as one of the younger Myanmar artists who were creating impressive works in isolation and in conditions of penury. However, Po Po is one of the few "contemporary" Myanmar artists who have been able to travel for participating in the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum's event in 1999, for instance. He was also able to take part in Saigon Open City in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. In June 2010 he visited

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

to give a talk at the Osage Art Foundation.

Work

Po Po, and another self-taught artist Aung Myint, are pioneers in the performance art field in Myanmar, with Po Po staging a 30-minute seminal performance in 1997. Po Po is widely regarded as Myanmar's first practitioner of this art form. Many of his works are playful, impulsive, ironic and sociable. Other works are provocative and shocking. His installation work "rice terrace" at the Osage Gallery in Singapore in May/June 2010 involved 1000 Styrofoam boxes, each with about 100 grains of growing rice, with the boxes arranged on mud terraces in the gallery. He describes his computer-installation ''Scream of the Dead'', which features an open mass grave, as a metaphor for life in Myanmar and the world today. His work is thoughtful and full of depth. In his photography he employs elements of cubism, which he considers to be the "highest state of intellectual approach" to painting. A critic has said: "At best, his works reflect the lightness of being, joyfully, bearably so".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Po, Po Burmese performance artists Living people 1957 births Installation artists People from Ayeyarwady Region