Hsa Win: Preserving the Stories of His Ancestors through Traditional Performance Art
For much of his childhood, Hsa Win knew there was a rich culture waiting to be discovered. He just didn’t have the chance to experience it.
Win was born in a refugee camp in Thailand after his family fled Myanmar due to the conflict between the Burmese military and the Karen people, one of the country’s many ethnic groups.
Life in the camp centered around meeting basic needs.
“When I was growing up in the refugee camp, I didn’t always have access and the opportunity to learn about my culture,” Win said.
The dances, art, traditions and stories that had shaped generations of Karen families were distant from Win in his formative years.
When his family immigrated to the United States, they first settled in New York and then Indiana. When they moved to Akron in 2015, Win carried a curiosity for his culture with him, but adapting to a new country came with its own challenges.
At North High School, he was so shy and quiet that classmates gave him a nickname.
“My friends used to call me ‘Whisper Boy,'” he said.
Speaking in front of classmates made him so nervous that his hands would sweat. He avoided the spotlight whenever possible.
Between his sophomore and junior year, Win pushed himself to get involved in school.
“My mom told me she brought us here so we could have opportunities that weren’t possible in the refugee camp,” he said.
He joined multiple organizations including National Art Honor Society and Student Council. The more he participated, the more his confidence grew.
“I learned it was very important for me to leave my comfort zone,” he said. “That’s how I developed confidence.”
That willingness to step outside his comfort zone led him toward a path of creative leadership, centered around reconnecting with the culture he had missed growing up.
Today, Win teaches traditional Karen dance as an instructor with Akron’s Karen community and works as an outreach coordinator for Asian Services in Action (ASIA), helping connect immigrants and refugees with pertinent local resources.
He was also the first person in his family to graduate from high school and attend college, a milestone he says fulfilled the hopes his mother carried when she brought her children to the United States.
Now, Win wants to create opportunities for others to experience Karen and Burmese culture, too.
That passion recently led him to a traditional art form that has become increasingly rare: yoke thé, the centuries-old tradition of Burmese string puppetry.
“It translates to ‘small person’ or ‘small people,’” Win said.
The intricate puppets, manipulated by as many as 19 strings, once entertained royal courts and served to tell stories long before television existed.
Today, only a small number of performers continue the tradition, and none but Win reside in the United States.
Win’s puppets all come from overseas, where they are handcrafted by a few living artists.
When Win discovered the art, he was determined to learn, even when it seemed impossible. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he tried unsuccessfully to connect with a puppet master in Myanmar.
Finally, he was introduced to renowned puppeteer Daw Ma Ma Naing and eagerly accepted the chance to study with her through Zoom.
“I told her, ‘Please, please, I want to learn,'” Win said. “‘It doesn’t matter if it’s in person or Zoom.'”
His teacher encouraged him to perform after only a few months of training, even though Win wasn’t sure he was ready.
“It was a big event — Cleveland’s Lunar New Year,” Win said. “It was like, ‘You have to leave your comfort zone.’”
It was a familiar lesson.
“My teacher told me that she was impressed,” Win said. “She told me that typically it would take people about a year to learn one puppet. But for me, I had to learn. And passion, that’s why I was ready after three months to perform in front of the audience.”
His passion has since drawn audiences from across Ohio, many of whom had never heard of Burmese puppetry or knew much about the culture before.
For Win, that’s exactly the point.
“We have over 135 different nationalities. I belong to the Karen ethnic group there. We have a very unique culture, language, and customs,” Win said. “I want people to also know that we have a history of struggle, but there’s also a resilience in the community.”
As someone who grew up disconnected from much of his own heritage, he understands how meaningful it can be to discover a tradition for the first time.
Every performance and cultural celebration becomes an invitation for families to reconnect with their roots and for neighbors to learn alongside them.
“I have a passion to help the community,” he said.
That community extends far beyond the Karen population.
The culture he once had little opportunity to know has become the one he now works tirelessly to preserve, ensuring the next generation won’t have to rediscover it the way he did.
Hsa Win brings traditional Myanmar marionette performance, Burmese cuisine, culture, and storytelling to People’s Park on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026, from 7- 9 PM. Learn more about the Strings of Heritage event.
