Chuu Wai (born in 1992 in Shan State, Myanmar) is a visual artist, performer, and activist whose research operates between painterly practice and political engagement, with a strong focus on issues related to women’s condition and civil rights. After an initial education in computer engineering at the Technological University of Mandalay, she continued her studies at the National University of Art and Culture, where she developed a layered and conceptually driven visual language.

Active since 2008, her artistic practice originates from a personal experience of violence suffered at a young age, which profoundly shaped her path, directing it toward a critical investigation of the social and cultural mechanisms of control exerted over the female body and identity. Her works, often constructed through layering and superimposition, reflect on forms of resistance enacted by women within a still strongly patriarchal society, producing complex images that oscillate between revelation and concealment.

Over the course of her career, she has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Myanmar and internationally, with presentations in cities such as London, Paris, New York, Hong Kong, and Canberra, establishing herself as one of the most significant emerging voices in the contemporary art scene of Southeast Asia. Her activity also extends into the educational and cultural sphere, through lectures and public interventions addressing the role of art in society and issues of gender.

Following the military coup in Myanmar in 2021, Chuu Wai intensified her civic engagement by founding the “Write for Right” movement, aimed at supporting democratic protest through participatory artistic practices. Forced into exile, she currently lives in France, where she continues to develop a research practice that intertwines memory, identity, and resistance, while maintaining a strong connection to the political and social context of her country.

Her work has received international recognition and significant institutional visibility: a work produced between 2022 and 2023 entered the collection of the British Museum, confirming the growing relevance of her research within the global contemporary art landscape.

Through a practice that combines painting, performance, and activism, Chuu Wai emerges as an authoritative and conscious voice, capable of transforming individual experience into a universal narrative in which art and resistance are inextricably intertwined.