“The Red Macadam” draws attention to the ongoing struggles and the heavy toll exacted on those opposing oppression in the context of Myanmar’s turmoil. The installation’s sensitive use of technology to memorialize fallen protesters creates an emotionally charged sensory experience linking distant events and global awareness. Li Li K.S.A’s journey from Yangon protests to Paris exile, his personal experiences during the military coup and ongoing commitment to supporting fellow persecuted artists by establishing an artist shelter at the China-Myanmar border underscore the critical role of art in cultural diplomacy and the defense of freedom of expression.
Jury Statement
Visitors are invited to walk barefoot along a pathway composed of some 3,000 broken stones of uneven size, bound together by the color red. Each stone symbolizes an individual who tragically lost their life during the 2021-23 protests in Myanmar.
As visitors move along the path, a motion sensor captures their footsteps, triggering a dataset containing the names of those killed during the protests. These are projected from transducers placed underneath the pathway. At times, visitors may feel the vibrations emanating from these devices. Sometimes the names are whispered, sometimes read aloud, the experience enhanced with various sound colors.
https://aa-e.org/artiste/li-li-k-s-a/
Photo: li li k.s.a
Photo: Anna Soz
Credits
aa-e (l’atelier des artistes en exil), PAUSE (PROGRAMME D’AIDE À L’ACCUEIL EN URGENCE DES SCIENTIFIQUES EN EXIL), HEAR (Haute école des arts du Rhin Mulhouse — Strasbourg)
The presentation of the work is funded by State of the ART(ist), a collaboration between the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ars Electronica.
li li k.s.a
li li k.s.a, born in 1990 in Bhamaw, Kachin, Myanmar (Burma), is a multifaceted composer, improviser, sound artist and violinist. After graduating in theology in Myanmar, he briefly studied at Dr. Hoch’s conservatory in Frankfurt before pursuing composition studies with Frank Gerhardt at the music academy in Kassel. In 2022, he relocated to Paris on a scholarship from the Atelier des Artistes en Exil. He was invited to perform at the DAAD-Gallery in Berlin in 2023.
