Cloth as Land Symposium

Saturday, April 6, and Sunday, April 7, 2024
10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Free

Organizers: Pachia Lucy Vang, Chong Ntxoo Moua, Dr. Choua P. Xiong, Tanya Gayer

The Cloth as Land exhibition makes a remarkable claim that HMong Indigeneity exists within their textiles. These works of art illustrate abstract forms of landscapes, identities, nations, and places challenging assumptions about who belongs and what it means to be connected to an Indigenous kinship. As these textile metaphors continue to influence the practices of HMong artists today, they also symbolize the ongoing work of reclamation and revitalization that persists in a new era of collective HMong imagining.

Unraveling the threads of the exhibition, this symposium offers an intimate look into the critical questions and dialogues behind the development of the show. It centers HMong artists and curators alongside organizations and institutions to discuss the past, present, and future of HMong arts. These discussions explore artists’ responses to HMong Indigeneity, including different curator perspectives on how exhibitions are changing colonial narratives to shift the way we care for HMong collections, archives, and art.

HMong arts are dynamic and alive. This two-day event celebrates this through an array of educational workshops for community members to engage with HMong knowledge. Workshops will include making paj ntaub (flower cloth) embroidery and learning the patterned rhymes of kwv txhiaj (poetry chanting), among other activities.

Registration is free with limited seating for workshops.

Schedule

Saturday, April 6, 2024

10:00–10:20 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks

By Pachia Lucy Vang, curator of Cloth as Land: HMong Indigeneity

10:30–11:30 a.m.
Artist Panel: Cloth Conversations

Facilitated by: Pachia Lucy Vang

Artists: Ger Xiong/Ntxawg Xyooj, Tshab Her, Ka Oskar Ly

Join us for a discussion among the artists featured in the exhibitions Cloth as Land: HMong Indigeneity and Cloth Origins: Textiles from the HMong Journey. This panel dives into each artist’s practice, looking at how they continue ancestral cloth practices to express cultural identities, negotiate assimilation, heal from trauma, uncover personal narratives, and make art in community. The conversation will illuminate the artists’ creative processes, offering insights into the themes of displacement, belonging, and indigeneity that reverberate through both HMong and HMong American landscapes.

11:45 a.m.–12:45 p.m.
Collecting & Caring for Hmong Arts Panel

Facilitated by: Chong Ntxoo Moua

Panelists: Mai Vang Huizel, Lee Pao Xiong, and Aleesa Pitchamarn Alexander

This panel brings together experts and practitioners from museum studies, HMong studies, and the arts to engage in an intersectional dialogue around the support, collection, and care of HMong art, artifacts, and stories. The discussion, which touches on the significance of having HMong collections, archives, documentation, and representation, will explore the complexities and challenges of preserving and presenting HMong arts and culture in museum settings. We will delve into questions of ethics, responsibilities, community, and ownership, and how these issues intersect with broader discourse surrounding Asian arts in the American landscape. The panel aims to foster a deeper understanding of the value of HMong heritage and identity in the museum and art world, and to explore ways to support and advocate for the inclusion and representation of HMong arts and culture.

1:00–2:00 p.m.
Lunch 

2:00–4:00 p.m.
Workshops

Coins of Positivity
Located in JMKAC SocialSTUDIO
Inspired by the artwork of the Cloth as Land: HMong Indigeneity artists, this ongoing activity invites participants to experience a genuine connection to culture and life experiences by viewing the gallery and engaging in authentic conversations about feelings by creating coins of positivity through illustration and writing healthy emotional expressions to be added to a collective wall of HMong embroidery patterns. This activity is part of the Generational Dialogues; Peer Support Through Artful Connections workshops hosted by Project Resiliency, a statewide mental health initiative of the Wisconsin United Coalition of Mutual Assistance Association (WUCMAA), which invites HMong families to the John Michael Kohler Arts Center to engage in meaningful and healing conversations through the arts. The workshop is led by peer support specialist Houa Yang.

Applying and Cutting Flower Cloth: HMong Appliqué
Located in JMKAC Volunteer Center, 2nd floor
Xao Yang Lee is an acclaimed paj ntaub (flower cloth) artist whose textiles have made an indelible mark in Sheboygan throughout the last four decades. Her work was recently featured in the Cloth Origins: Textiles from the HMong Journey exhibition at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. This workshop celebrates her legacy, passing on the makings of paj ntaub txiav or “cutting flower cloth,” translated as appliqué and paj ntaub dhos or “applying flower cloth” translated as reverse-appliqué. Participants will create their own appliqué pieces with HMong symbols and motifs connected to nature and land. This hands-on workshop honors Xao Yang Lee’s contributions to the HMong arts community, empowering attendees to contribute to the rich cultural heritage of HMong needlework.

Appliqué will be taught on Saturday with reverse-appliqué taught on Sunday.

Conceptualizing Land
Located in JMKAC Studio One, lower level
Land continues to be a central concept for HMong people when thinking about home, place, and belonging. This workshop, led by Choua P. Xiong, asks participants to collectively explore and share their own understanding and theories about “land.” While the exhibition focuses on “cloth as land,” this workshop utilizes performance art as an artistic expression to talk, imagine, and depict HMong ideas of the word “land.”

4:00–5:00 p.m.
Happy Hour 

Join us for refreshments and light appetizers.

Sunday, April 7, 2024

10:00–11:00 a.m.
Curator’s Talk Panel

Facilitated by: Aline Lo

Panelists: Chong Ntxoo Moua, Dr. Choua P. Xiong, KaYing Yang, and Pachia Lucy Vang

Curators of Cloth as Land: HMong Indigeneity, Cloth Origins: Textiles from the HMong Journey, and Mao Lor: A Journey through Hmoob Paj Ntaub will participate in a conversation around their curatorial practices. It provides insights into curation as knowledge-making and what it means for HMong women to curate HMong exhibitions that disrupt ways HMong people have been exoticized in the past. This discussion also delves into how curatorial choices can shape narratives around HMong heritage and identity, and the responsibilities of curators in representing diverse perspectives within the HMong community. Additionally, the panel will explore the role of storytelling and memory in curating exhibitions that reflect the lived experiences of HMong people, and the ways curators can foster connections between the past, present, and future of HMong arts and culture.

11:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m.
Coded Kinship Panel

Facilitator: Sheila Yang with the John Michael Kohler Arts Center

Panelists: Tou SaiKo Lee, Choua Lee, KongMong Vang, Victor Yang

This presentation features a video screening and panel discussion on the historical use of coded meanings in HMong art as a way to preserve oral traditions such as poetry, storytelling, and more. The intergenerational panelists will share their initial reactions to the screening of the short film Spicy Legacy Project from their perspectives as cultural arts practitioners. The panel will discuss the importance of oral traditions like kwv txhiaj poetry chanting, nkauj Hmoob HMong songs, and qhia dab neeg storytelling in preservation of HMong cultural identity. Additionally, there will be a conversation about the newer generations’ revitalization of the HMong language through contemporary songs and poetry.

12:30–1:30 p.m.
Lunch 

1:30–3:30 p.m.
Workshops

Applying and Cutting Flower Cloth: HMong Appliqué
Located in JMKAC Volunteer Center, 2nd floor
Xao Yang Lee is an acclaimed paj ntaub (flower cloth) artist whose textiles have made an indelible mark in Sheboygan throughout the last four decades. Her work was recently featured in the Cloth Origins: Textiles from the HMong Journey exhibition at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. This workshop celebrates her legacy, passing on the makings of paj ntaub txiav or “cutting flower cloth,” translated as appliqué and paj ntaub dhos or “applying flower cloth” translated as reverse-appliqué. Participants will create their own appliqué pieces with HMong symbols and motifs connected to nature and land. This hands-on workshop honors Xao Yang Lee’s contributions to the HMong arts community, empowering attendees to contribute to the rich cultural heritage of HMong needlework.

Appliqué will be taught on Saturday with reverse-appliqué taught on Sunday.

Practice Rhythms of HMong Oral Traditions
Located in JMKAC Theatre
This workshop, led by hip-hop artist Tou SaiKo Lee with guest elder Neng Vang “Tais Neeb,” will engage us in the creative process of kwv txhiaj, poetry chanting, paj huam poetry, HMong language hip-hop, and intergenerational collaborations. We will participate in basic kwv txhiaj and HMong rap activities that reflect the artists’ culturally shifting experiences. There will be demonstrations of HMong oral traditions and contemporary performance arts celebrating HMong identity.

Moob (HMong) Batik
Located in JMKAC Studio 2/3
Batik is used by HMong women to color skirts, baby carriers, and more. Learn about the natural materials used in this ancestral practice through this immersive workshop guided by artist Ka Oskar Ly. Delve into and learn the ancient wax-resist dyeing techniques passed down from generations of skilled artisans. Create your own batik fabric pieces while exploring HMong motifs, textiles, and their cultural significance. Through hands-on activities, participants will ignite their creativity and deepen their connection to this timeless craft, leaving with a unique creation reflecting their personal expression and celebrating HMong culture through batik.

The Cloth as Land Symposium is made possible in part by partnerships with the Paine Art Center and Gardens and the Wisconsin United Coalition of Mutual Assistance Association, Inc.

For information about area hotels and restaurants, check out Visit Sheboygan.