Htein Lin's sculptural installation made from obsolete Burmese wagon wheels depicts ideas about the cycle of Samsara.  While returning to his home village in Ingapu, Ayeyarwady Division of Myanmar, Htein Lin noticed the accumulation of wagon wheels, formerly used for ox-cart farming or transport, now left abandoned as motorized machinery and vehicles have taken over. Contemplating on the wheel Htein Lin created Bespoke. Htein Lin explains, “The image of the wheel is important to many cultures. It is often a metaphor for a cycle or repetition. In Ancient Egypt, it was a solar symbol. In Indian religions, including Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, it is linked to Saṃsāra the cycle of rebirth.”

The work, IMMOBILISED, which comprises six wagon wheels linked together comments on Myanmar’s current politics. It is traditional in Myanmar politics to try to mobilise people by calling for unity. But while we may be able to join hands, our diversity can paralyse us illustrated by the inability of the linked wheels able to move. Upon each wheel are a variety of wheel-related quotes from King Lear, nursery rhymes and songs are inscribed on the rim.