Aye Ko

Aye Ko was born in Pathein, Myanmar. He studied the foundations of painting under Artist Min Soe in 1985 and pursued New and Contemporary art on his own. Aye Ko entered the art community in Yangon in 1988 and became a member of Treasure in 1989. In 1990, he co-founded New Treasure Gallery with Min Wae Aung but resigned after a year. Aye Ko organized the Modern Art 90 exhibition in 1990, which was a movement of contemporary artists. He then co-founded Olive Gallery with Kyaw Nyunt Kin in 1994 and started learning Performance art and Postmodern ideas in 1996.

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Aye Ko had his first public Performance art at the Second Asia Topia Performance Art Festival and became one of the first five Performance art artists in Myanmar. He introduced the public to Video art, Photo art, and Conceptual art in his solo exhibitions between 2000-2001. He became well-known for his creations in New media art between 2000 and 2005. In the late 2000s, he established New Zero Art Group with some local artists, leading the Multimedia art, New art, Performance art, and Contemporary art movements in the country.

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Aye Ko was awarded the Asia Cultural Council Award in 2005 and stayed in New York for his three-month artist residency to continue his art activities. He re-established New Zero Art Space in 2008 as an independent art organization, creating free of charge art classes, workshops, and exchange programs to break new ground in the Myanmar art scene. He successfully organized many international multimedia festivals and international performance art festivals, leading his works to be collected internationally. He also founded the first art village in a local area, where he built a village art school. 

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Apart from his art career, Aye Ko was also an author and an art critic. He started his publishing house in 2005 and published some art magazines. He became a Joseph Balestier Award-winning artist for his impressive portrayal of freedom and social crisis in his art and a mentor to young generation artists.