Chaw Ei Thein: Artists’ Street 

Production | Exhibition Grant

Chaw Ei Thein’s Artists’ Street, a newly commissioned installation for the 13th Berlin Biennale, is a career-defining work and a central pillar within the exhibition at KW Institute for Contemporary Art. Setting the theme for a major part of the Biennale’s main venue, Artists’ Street features 38 hand-crafted textile sculptures depicting scenes of artistic protest against Myanmar’s military violence, spanning from 1996 student demonstrations to the 2007 Saffron Revolution and the aftermath of the 2021 coup. Drawing from Thein’s deep involvement in Myanmar’s civic resistance—both on ground and since her exile in 2007—Artists’ Street is a sculptural tribute to all the artists who have built an arsenal of witty and humorous tactics against social injustice, harnessing the power of artistic imagination in the streets.