Typically, when art is displayed at either the College of Saint Benedict or Saint John’s University, it only remains on campus through the duration of the exhibition.
But that’s not the case with “Altered State: Painting Myanmar in a Time of Reform,” which opens Nov. 4 and runs through Dec. 11 in the SJU Galleries.
The 31 paintings from 21 different artists that make up the exhibition have already been donated to the CSB permanent art collection and will remain there even after the exhibition is completed.
“This is different than anything we’ve done before,” CSB and SJU gallery manager Becky Pflueger said. “It’s a very unique opportunity.”
It all began in 2023 when Pflueger was one of many at colleges and universities across the globe to receive an email from Ian Holliday, who is currently the Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Hong Kong.
Holliday has been an advocate for assisting Burmese artists repressed by the military government in Myanmar. Through his work, he has collected over 1,000 paintings from artists in Myanmar (formerly Burma) during a period of democratic reform in the Southeast Asian country that lasted from around 2010 until a military coup seized power from the democratically-elected government in 2021.
The curated collection – known as the Thukhuma Collection – resides at the University of Hong Kong, but portions of it toured the globe until the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which halted everything, and the works were all moved to storage in Hong Kong.
Holliday’s email invited colleges and universities to select works from the collection they’d like to add to their collections. His offer had no strings attached, other than the promise that a few of the selected works would be displayed in public areas where students and staff could appreciate them.
Pflueger was one of the first to respond.
“The goal of our permanent collections is to highlight community-based artists, but I’ve tried to expand that and diversify who is represented,” Pflueger said. “The fact that these are all paintings by artists from another country provides a beautiful and unique perspective we haven’t had before.
“Ian was able to interview many of these artists, and the book that resulted from that will be part of the show as well.”
Pflueger, too, has reached out to as many of the artists as she could to let them know their work now has a permanent home.
“I’ve heard back from a couple,” she said. “A few of them unfortunately passed away during COVID. The internet is heavily restricted in Myanmar as well, but I’ve been able to friend a group of them on Facebook, and I’ve sent them photos. There’s a language barrier in some cases. But I’ve gotten nothing but hearts back on any of the notes I’ve sent.”
The highlight of the exhibition will be a reception and curator talk which Holliday will deliver via Zoom. That is scheduled to run from 4 to 7 p.m. on Nov. 20 at the SJU Art Center. The curator talk will start at 5 p.m.
When the show is over, Pflueger is hoping to loan the pieces out for display in various places around the CSB campus.
“We’re really grateful for Ian’s generosity and commitment to the arts,” she said. “It is so exciting to get to add these works to the Permanent Collection and be available for everyone on campus to learn from and enjoy.”
