Migrant Artists and Migrating Art from Myanmar: Expanding Activism

The violence enacted on the people of Myanmar over decades has been captured in photographs, performances, hip-hop and art of various mediums. The subjects of such art are as diverse as their messages, excoriating perpetrators, historical figures and the international community as an accomplice. While much of this work has been undertaken by those still within the borders of their countries, migrant artists have played a significant role in generating home-oriented resources. In addition, the art itself – what I call migrating art – plays underexplored roles in expanding activism through increased audiences, new resources and spatio-temporal disruption. In this paper, I examine artworks from and about Myanmar both pre- and post-coup, and their projections in the diaspora. The expansive qualities of migrating art demonstrate an additional form of subversion and resistance against home countries in crisis.