Art shaped by fate and politics

FOR Myanmar artist Htein Lin, timing and circumstances shaped his art and gave it its political edge. In fact, he never set out to make political statements.

"I'm not a politician, but an artist. But you know my country had a political movement and it came into my life so I had no choice ... I had friends who died as student leaders and I had to speak out," the 50-year-old artist haltingly but clearly explains in a phone interview.

"What I do in my art is to reflect what I've seen and experienced in my life. That's why my work is more political in nature, when all I've tried to do is to reflect on my life," he shares.