West Eden, in collaboration with Coming from Kalaw, presents “အက္ခရာ (Ek Kha Ya)”, a solo exhibition by Htein Lin, one of Myanmar’s leading contemporary artists. The exhibition will run from 20 August to 12 October 2025 at West Eden Gallery, as part of the gallery’s ongoing commitment to supporting Southeast Asian perspectives in dialogue with global contemporary practice.

The exhibition title “အက္ခရာ (Ek Kha Ya)” is derived from the Burmese word for ‘alphabet.’ It explores the Myanmar script as both material and method—a visual system encoding memory, resistance, and identity. Each character becomes a political form, shaped by Htein Lin’s trajectory as a student activist, political prisoner, and witness to national transformation.

Following his release from prison in 2004, where he covertly produced hundreds of works using improvised materials, Htein Lin began painting on discarded cardboard found on the streets of Yangon. These became the Recycled series—first shown in 2005 at Lokanat Gallery in Yangon, then in London in 2008. His material improvisation became foundational to his practice, symbolizing endurance under constraint.

Since 2018, text has emerged as a central medium in Htein Lin’s work. He began incorporating charged words—Rohingya, Trust, Prison, Red Tape—locations tied to national violence such as Kyimyindine, Kamayut, Pajau, and Myaungmya. In the wake of the 2025 earthquake, he added names of affected regions—Sagaing, Mandalay, Inwa—inscribing grief directly into the structure of the script.

This exhibition draws from and extends the artist’s prior political practice. Earlier works include Signs of the Times (reusing discarded signage), Soap Blocked (a prison-sculpted soap map of Myanmar, now in the Singapore Art Museum), and Skirting the Issue (textile works painted on women’s donated skirts, embedded with handwritten reflections on Myanmar gender taboos). Across media, Htein Lin reclaims language—visual, cultural, political—as a site of resistance.

Rather than treating script as static or neutral, “အက္ခရာ (Ek Kha Ya)” positions it as a living archive: fractured, improvised, and urgently present. It testifies not only to the trauma and resilience of Myanmar’s recent history, but also to the power of inscription in the face of erasure.