Midpoint: Maung Day

Beyond Pressure International Performance Art Festival, Death in Summer
By Ian Tee

Midpoint is a monthly series that invites established Southeast Asian contemporary artists to take stock of their career thus far, reflect upon generational shifts and consider the advantages and challenges of working in the present day. It is part of A&M Dialogues and builds upon the popular Fresh Faces series.

Maung Day. Image courtesy of Lamin Oo.

Maung Day (b. 1979, Myanmar) is a poet and artist. He is best known for poetry and drawings that reflect the social realities of his home country, often with surrealist overtones. Though he traverses different mediums and languages, Maung Day is a storyteller at heart. His works have been exhibited internationally at venues in Germany, Austria, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam, among others. 

Maung Day, Seedlings, 2022, acrylic on canvas, 55 x 75cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

Looking back, could you share a decision or event that marked a significant turn or moment in your path as an artist?

When I graduated from university, I had two options: find a job where I can apply my shoddy engineering skills, or work as an editor and continue to grow as a poet and an artist. At the time, I had not written poetry or made art of any significance, but I was so fascinated with the arts. The prospect of living a life by writing poetry and making art really excited me. I took the second option much to my parents’ chagrin. I found an editing job at Phat-Sa-Yar Literary Journal in 2003, and on the side, I was working on my own poetry, and translating poetry and fiction from English to Burmese. This led me to meeting amazing poets, writers, and artists as well as the publication of my debut poetry book and my first exhibition, where I showed several drawings and photo collages.

In 2008, together with my friend Moe Satt, we organised Beyond Pressure International Performance Art Festival where I started experimenting with performance art. In 2009, I moved to Thailand where I pursued my Master of Arts in International Development Studies at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, and continued to draw and write. In those years, I discovered the works of Franz Kafka, Albert Camus, Julio Cortázar, and Gabriel García Márquez, and artists such as Kiki Smith, Chris Ofili, and Henry Darger.

Maung Day, Falling Short #1, 2022, mixed media, 55 x 75cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

Could you talk about milestone achievements for you as an artist, and why have they been particularly memorable?

I still feel quite good about having started Beyond Pressure amidst heavy censorship and scrutiny. I also think my first exhibition in Thailand titled Oligarchic Weather (2012) gave me confidence in my own art, thanks to Brian Curtin who found my work and curated the show. After this, I became more certain of what kind of art I wanted to make in the future and I came to know about myself better. I am also very happy with the release of Death in Summer (2023), my first full-length poetry book in English. In these poems, I combine my personal history, the political history of my country and my surrealist tendencies.

Could you walk us through a typical work day, or a typical week? Are there routines you follow to nourish yourself and your artistic practice?

There are a million volcanoes in my head and they are erupting at all times; the images also appear and dissolve in my mind all day long. I respond to this with a calm focus and fish for material to use in my artmaking and poetry writing. I do my reading, thinking, and scheming during the day. At night, I write or make art. I usually go to bed after 2am.

Maung Day at Walden, Menerbes, France. Photo taken in 2022. 

Could you describe your studio or workspace? How has it evolved over the years? What do you enjoy about it, and what do you wish to improve?

I have been at many different places over the past 15 years, and moved homes several times. I set up my studio wherever I am. I go on residency programmes almost every year to learn more about art and build my projects. For instance, in late 2022 I joined an artist residency programme called Walden in a small town in Southern France. I worked on a mixed-media drawing project that reflected the state of my country and the armed conflicts following the 2021 military coup. These drawings were showcased by Intersections Gallery at S.E.A. Focus 2025. 

In 2022, I built a house and a studio by the beach on Myanmar’s western coast. I stayed and worked there for long periods of time, going back and forth between Yangon and the village studio. Now the village has been flattened during a recent armed fight, so I cannot go there anymore. 

Maung Day, A Bed, like a Dream about Someone, Is a White Cloud, 2020, performance documentation in Yangon. Image courtesy of the artist.

What has become easier or more difficult to do as time has gone by?

I like to see the present time as a continuous stream where both the past and the future flow simultaneously, and difficulties as an element of human experience. I still have the hunger for making art, so I try to satisfy that hunger according to and regardless of whatever socio-political situations I am in. In Myanmar, freedom to create and express is very limited at the moment. This pushed me back to the medium of performance; I find that the spontaneous and highly expressive nature of this medium suits me where I am at right now. In recent years, I have performed several times, mostly at foreign institutions based in Yangon.

Cover spread of Maung Day’s Death in Summer (2023), published by Chin Music Press.

Your drawings and poems are published side-by-side for the first time in Death in Summer (2023). Could you talk about the process of putting the collection and selecting artwork images to accompany it?

In 2022, I received an email from my American poet friend Greg Bem who was then living in Seattle. He said that a local press called Chin Music was looking for new poetry manuscripts. At the time, I had a collection of English poems with me. Some of these poems were first conceived in Burmese and I published them in book form in 2019, titled Making Fire. With Greg’s encouragement, I submitted Death in Summer to Chin Music Press. They picked it. They also thought my drawings and poems create an interesting dialogue. The editors decided which drawings would be included, and where they would appear in the book.  

Maung Day with fellow artists, Lwin Oo Maung and Htein Lin, Southern Shan. Photo taken in 2024.

What do you think has been your purpose? Has it remained steadfast or evolved over the years? 

I do not think I have any particular purpose as an artist or as a fellow human being. Through experiencing life and making art, I try to learn about myself. Along the journey, sufferings and tragedies teach me a great deal about life. I believe in making a livelihood and nurturing oneself. Like before, I still value good friends, my life as an artmaker, and human stories. I pay attention to both my thoughts and feelings, and I like to examine the interconnectedness of all things.

Are there any upcoming exhibitions or projects you wish to share?

I have just finished shooting a short film titled Mother’s Mushrooms which is now in the post-production phase. The film is a surreal tale about motherhood, patriarchy, and identity. I wrote the story and the screenplay. I also served as the director on the film. Right now, I am fleshing out some ideas for a series of mixed media works centred around the subject matter of false prophets and fake demigods that we encounter in everyday life. 

Maung Day, Monument of Doubt (video still), 2018, single-channel video, HD video, colour, sound, colour, sound, 9min 17sec. Edition of 3 and AP. Image courtesy of the artist.

And finally, what would be a key piece of advice to young art practitioners? What has been a way of working, a certain kind of attitude etc. they can learn from to apply to their own careers?

I try to be aware of my own limitations. I also believe investigating one’s thought process and trying to know oneself are integral aspects of artmaking. Occasionally, I study works created by others. However, I never feel dissatisfied with myself and with my own works just because they are not as popular as those belonging to others, or because I do not have a similar approach to artmaking.