Amar Kanwar

The Torn First Pages

2004-08

Nineteen-channel standard-definition video (black and white and color, sound and silent; varying durations), nineteen sheets of paper, three metal frames, books, magazines, and artist books

Not on view

This installation explores time, memory, and evidence in relation to Myanmar’s decades-old pro-democracy movement. Its title alludes to a gesture of protest by the bookseller Ko Than Htay, who tore the first page out of each book he sold—the page that, as mandated by law, contained declarations of the military dictatorship’s political objectives. Kanwar’s installation presents printed materials and videos featuring footage shot by activists, calling attention to the accumulation of evidence documenting the regime’s atrocities, as well as to the resilience of political protest in Myanmar and worldwide.

Gallery label from

Signals: How Video Transformed the World, March 5–July 8, 2023

Medium Nineteen-channel standard-definition video (black and white and color, sound and silent; varying durations), nineteen sheets of paper, three metal frames, books, magazines, and artist books
Dimensions Dimensions variable
Credit Acquired through the generosity of The Estate of Byron R. Meyer, Kiran Nadar of Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, and The Contemporary Arts Council
Object number 4.2022
Department Media and Performance

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