Sawangwongse was born in a jungle camp in Burma’s Shan State. His family fled to Thailand in 1972 and escaped to Canada in 1985. After studying at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design and Concordia University, he moved to Tuscany in 1990 to work in the studio of Heinrich Nicolaus. Together, they founded the Museum of Modern Art Panzano in 2007. Among other exhibitions, Yawngwhe’s work was featured in Kamarado, SMBA/Clark House Initiative (2015, 2016); Teatro della Memoria, a collateral event of the 53rd Venice Biennale (2009); and Exit, Fondazione Sandretto de Rebaudengo, Turin (2002). Yawnghwe lives and works in Berlin, Amsterdam, and Chiang Mai.