Tan Kuan Aw

Tan Kuan Aw was an artist and advocate from Penang, Malaysia. Born in 1952, he passed away in January 2025.
For two years Kuan Aw's watercolours were regularly featured on the Debrief, offering artistic insights on our inner lives and the subjects in the news.
His art is full of empathy, activism, and wisdom. In the pieces below you can see everything from the line through our hearts to how we grow together, and the plum blossoms after a cold winter.
Kuan Aw's boldness and creativity as an artist has set the tone for what the Debrief project aims to achieve. Art is an essential part of making new narratives for disabled people, how we see ourselves, and how society sees us.
This page brings together the images Kuan Aw published on the Debrief.
To see Kuan Aw at work, see this video of him painting a rabbit for Chinese New Year in 2022. (Alternate text in the video description).
For more about Kuan Aw:
- Peter's memories of friendship and collaboration with Kuan Aw.
- See profiles of his life, art and activism on Buletin Mutiara or Penang China Press both from 2023 (in Chinese, google translate gives an idea).
- Find more of his art on his facebook gallery, instagram, TikTok, or further work on his website (webarchive).
Illustrations published on the Debrief
Self-portrait: “I need to breathe”

In Where disability and climate meet, April 2023.
Love, Disability and War

In On The War in Ukraine, March 2022.
Disabled Children in War

In On The War in Ukraine, March 2022.
War

In On The War in Ukraine, March 2022.
Many disabled people have no place to hide

In On The War in Ukraine, March 2022.
Portrait of Peter

On the Debrief homepage from 2022 to today.
Next Frontier for activism

In New Frontiers for Activism in AI and Tech, April 2022.
Our dataset doesn't have people like you

In New Frontiers for Activism in AI and Tech, April 2022.
Steps to safety

In Responses to climate change leaving disabled people behind, April 2022.
Facing inflation

In Feeling pride, feeling poorly, feeling the prices, August 2022.
Heatwave

In Disability in the Heat, July 2022.
A long way to inclusion

In Shallow, siloed and tokenistic: critiques of inclusion, October 2022.
Heavy skies over the desert

In Can COP27 contribute to disability-inclusive climate justice?, November 2022.
Freedom to fly

In Escaping institutions, and their shadows, December 2022.
Jingle all the way

In How we're making disability media, and how you can help, December 2022.
The colder the winter, the more the plum blossoms

In The progress we made is at risk, January 2023.
The line through our hearts

In Healthcare has to be healed, January 2023.
Isolation

In Don't you have mercy on yourself?, February 2023.
Growing together

In A disability lens on world news, February 2023.
Goodbye Judy

In Our movement is in mourning, March 2023.
Where is justice?

In Disabled People in Peru's Political Protests, March 2023.
Facing life. In memory of Anthony Thanasayan

In Not willing to be neutral, March 2023.
Intertwined

In How do we look after each other?, April 2023.
When elephants fight...

In “We are not alone”: Disabled people in Sudan's conflict, May 2023.
Taming the tiger

In Taming the tiger, May 2023.
Halfway Inclusion

In Do we practice what we preach?, May 2023.
Out of the ruins

In My prayer to failure, June 2023.
Where to draw the line?

In How many disabled people are there?, July 2023.
Our Care for Each Other

In Considered a backup, July 2023.
Connections

In The weight of the issue, October 2023.
Recovery

KA had a mini-stroke in August 2023. This image shows his recovery, “better each day”, published in Call me in the morning, October 2023.
Santa and his wheelsleigh

In A disabled farewell to 2023, December 2023.
Sana'a

In Successes and setbacks, January 2024.
Julia Watts Belser

In I'd fight like hell for you, February 2024.
Here be dragons

A series welcoming the year in the dragon. See Here be dragons for the full collection, February 2024.
Dancing Flowers

In What I've learned in conversation, February 2024.
Don't shut the door behind you

In Don’t shut the door behind you, March 2024.
Schisms in the Church

In Schisms in the Church, April 2024.
Happy 100th
KA's last illustration on the Debrief was by chance, but fittingly, an anniversary edition of the 100th edition, in April 2024.
