WHS presents Htoo Lwin Myo: Time Will Not Tell

It is always worthwhile to look back to the colonialism and imperialism through analytical lens of the descendants of once natives. Especially, at a time like present days when EU itself is facing Neo-imperialist war in Ukrainian front. Through live performance “magic lantern” show with century old lantern slides, artist Htoo Lwin Myo presents an artistic examination and textual analysis of how the colonial narrative was formed in the discourse / knowledge production about his homeland Burmahn Empire / Burmah / Burma / Myanmar. At the same time, he attempts to disentangle the subject formation he internalized through Burmese nationalist historiography.

In contrast to the prevailing colonial narrative and representation in the late 19th century colonial period when these lantern slides were used both to educate and entertain and in contrast to the way they are often used by traveling lecturers, Htoo Lwin Myo invents their mutated version by combing facts with semi-fictional counter-narrative descriptions of these found archival lantern slides which were mostly manufactured before celluloid film became wide-spread. The roles for voice over artists in the live performance are carefully assigned in an attempt to deflect presumably male dominant narrative / role of early lanternists and colonial texts so as to reflect Bakhtinian polyphonic approaches.