Installation: Putting Bread into Outstretched Hands

Artist Than Htay Maung was working as a baker to support his family when he began thinking about the outstretched hands of victims of a cyclone in his native Burma (now Myanmar).  The artist in him saw a way to do something with the bread he made every day, culminating in this installation at Pittsburgh’s The Mattress Factory.  See more on the video, below.

The 300 cast plaster hands — from the artist’s wife and others— each hold a round loaf of golden-crusted bread.

He says it was painstaking work to put together the installation, which ran for seven months.  

He and his family moved to the United States in 2008, after the cyclone.

NOTE: This article is from the Art Junkie archives (2014). Than Htay Maung’s installation stands the test of time extremely well – food is a timeless, universal issue, so well expressed.

Here is one of his more recent installations at the Mattress Factory. Click the image to see more.

The Monument