Sawangwongse Yawnghwe

Sawangwongse Yawnghwe was born in 1971 in an area of the Shan State controlled by rebels. However, Yawnghwe spent his youth in Thailand, until his family fled to Canada following a failed assassination attempt on his father.

Today, Sawangwongse lives and works in the Netherlands. In his paintings and installations, he explores politics through his family history as a descendant of the royal family of Yawnghwe from Shan, as well as current and historical events in Myanmar (formerly Burma). Family photographs form the foundation of his visual language, which he uses to examine these events and show that existing archives cannot reveal the full truth of a country.

At the invitation of RHIZOMA, Sawangwongse Yawnghwe presents some of his monumental canvases for the first time in Belgium, in combination with new work realised in MASEREEL’s studio.

Sawangwongse Yawnghwe’s work explores power, identity and gender in Burma’s history through women who defied expectation—as queens, rebels and military leaders. Their identities were shaped not only by historical events, but also by the ways they were judged and remembered.

Figures such as the artist’s grandmother, known as the ‘Rebel Queen’, Aung San Suu Kyi, and women who transitioned from beauty icons to military commanders reveal the heightened scrutiny faced by female leaders. Their stories expose how power in women is often accepted only under extreme circumstances, and frequently met with contradiction.

Through layered paintings that combine photographic and abstract imagery, alongside silk banners evoking displacement and transformation, Yawnghwe examines the unstable nature of power and questions how gender continues to shape historical narratives.

Olive Yang (2022) – Oil on linen – 76 x 76 cm
Kokang Opium Princess (2025) – Screen print on silk –136.5 x 103.5 cm

Aung San Suu Kyi in The Hague (2022) – Oil on linen – 200 x 320 cm
Nayphidaw Days Rohingya Nights (2025) – Screen print on silk – 136.5 x 103.5 cm

Miss Burma (red white and blue) (2022) – Oil and acrylic on linen – 223 x 334 cm
5th Kawthoolei Brigade (2025) – Screen print on silk – 136.5 x 103.5 cm

My Grandmother (2022) – Oil on linen – 97 x 157 cm
Rebel Queen (2025) – Screen print on silk – 136.5 x 103.5 cm