Nge Lay / Myanmar b.1979 / The sick classroom 2012-13 / 27 painted, wooden sculptures; eight wooden desks; 26 student accessories; one wooden table; one wooden chair; 15 inkjet prints on paper, ed. 1/5; single-channel video: 13:19 minutes, colour, sound, ed. 1/5 / Purchased 2015. Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Nge Lay

Nge Lay
The sick classroom 2013

Not Currently on Display

During her regular visits to the village of Thuye’dan in Myanmar, Nge Lay became familiar with the local school. With the help of craftsmen, she produced near life-size, carved wooden replicas of the classroom, the teacher and 26 Year 1 students.

Nge Lay considers this time — the age children begin formal education — to be a turning point in people’s lives. She also photographed other schools and students in rural villages throughout Myanmar and filmed the students’ daily journeys to their schools; these photographs form part of the installation.

Nge Lay is a leading artist from Myanmar, a country that has experienced dramatic change in the last few years. She frequently visits her husband’s (artist Aung Ko) hometown of Thuye’dan, a rural area ten hours north of Yangon, and together they run the Thuye’dan Village Art Project, which shares contemporary art with the villagers. Nge Lay works closely with local craftspeople to create sculptures which have become the basis for her recent works.