Min Thein Sung creates playful and personal works that draw on daily life in Myanmar. His ‘Another Realm’ series, by focusing on the simple handmade toys that people created as copies of foreign toys seen on TV and in books, references the years that Myanmar was restricted from international trade and commercial mass-production. He recreates these toys as soft sculptures in linen, with giant horses, elephants, tanks and guns that hang like makeshift puppets, or smaller objects fashioned out of the local handmade shan paper.
His work for APT8 ‘Another Realm (horses)’ 2015 is a large, multi-headed horse sculpture displayed against a wallpaper of comic book pages. ‘Another realm’ is symbolic of the slippage that occurs between image and representation when a community is isolated from the world, but also celebrates a spirit of creativity, imagination and adaptability.
‘The 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ (APT8) is at the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art until 10 April 2016 . Entry to the exhibition is free.
The APT8 publication features a suite of richly illustrated essays by the exhibition’s curators providing insights into artists’ practices and drawing connections between works from across the region. These are contextualised with a discussion by a group of leading artists and specialists on key issues behind recent tendencies in contemporary art in the Asia Pacific. The publication also includes details of the Kids APT and cinema programs, and a comprehensive exhibition checklist. A children’s book accompanies APT8 Kids onsite and APT8 Kids on Tour will see a selection of the exhibition activities presented to children and families in regional and remote Queensland.
The Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT)
is the Gallery’s flagship exhibition focused on the work of Asia, the Pacific and Australia.
21 November 2015 – 10 April 2016
Exhibition Founding Sponsor: Queensland Government
Exhibition Principal Sponsor: Audi Australia