Artwork: Emily Phyo, #response365 #365 2022
inkjet print of Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl photo paper, 43 x 43 cm

Emily Phyo was born in Yangon in 1982. Before the 2021 military coup, she was working as an artist and owned a small tailor’s shop in a Yangon market. For her own safety, in 2022, Phyo relocated to Austin, Texas, where she is now working and reviving her art practice. Phyo graduated with an interest in performance and installation from New Zero Art Space in the early 2000s. Her works are durational and documentary performance works carried out over year-long periods. Each series demonstrates her role as activist and combines her interests in feminism, political critique and social fabric. Phyo uses social media (Instagram) as a platform to broadcast her photographic series in real time. In her series #response365, Phyo documented her personal experiences living throughout the military coup and used the hashtag #BurmaCoup to draw global awareness to actions and events happening within her home country. More recently, her series #BEP2023 (Being Emily Phyo) shares her journey of reconnection with self and practice following her relocation to America.

Artist Instagram: @emily_phyo

Think About/Discuss:  

Does Emily Phyo’s series rely on audience reach and exposure to create meaning and context? What would happen if these images were only assessable in gallery spaces? Discuss with consideration to durational performance art and other art realms such as street art or protest performances.

Durational performance art is a well-versed practice for many feminist artists, as its cause us to redefine traditional art-making practices established throughout a male focused art history. The ephemeral nature of the practice invites both the audience and artist to be resilient, present, participatory, reflexive and committed to the meaning and message being conveyed.


Compare Emily Phyo’s practice to these artists:

  • Marina Ram

  • Bea Camacho – Enclosed (2005)

  • Xiao Lu – Tides (2019)

  • Li Xinmo - The Death of the Xinkai River (2008)

  • Pixy Liao

  • Melati Suryodarmo

  • Annabel Turrado 



Consider the following BIG questions:

  • What are the benefits and issues of social media when used as a public platform for artistic activism?

  • Should an audience’s experience of art be slow and intentional or fast and reflexive?

  • Can art influence and change society outside of the art community?