Photo Via John Michael Kohler Arts Center - Facebook
Hmong Textiles
Cloth Origins: Textiles from the HMong Journey installation view at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 2023
All art is representative of the culture that creates it. Whether it’s the paintings and sculpture of the Italian Renaissance or the pop-culture byproducts of 20th century American post-modernism, all art forms are indicative of their countries of origin as seen through the eyes of their most perceptive creators. The art speaks to both the time and place of creation, as well as the cultural sentiments of the day.
But what about cultures that have no country? Is their art less meaningful since it’s more difficult to tie it to time and place? One look at “Cloth as Land,” the exhibit of HMong textile and multi-media art currently on display at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, and it’s easy to understand HMong art’s even greater importance to its people.
The 30-piece exhibit, which runs through June 16, 2024, taps into JMKAC’s already impressive collection of traditional HMong textiles augmented by examples of contemporary HMong mixed-media art by three current artists—one each from Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota. The combined works, according to exhibit curator Pachia Lucy Vang, are designed to explore HMong “indigeneity”.
People Without a Country
“The HMong are people without a country, and yet the idea of country important to us,” says Vang, an artist herself who lives in northern California and lectures on art at the University of California-Davis. “Things you’d associate with a country or land are also incorporated in designs on our clothing and who we are, thereby connecting us back to our homeland.”
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The HMong are believed to have emerged as a separate culture in China’s Yellow River basin in 2700 BC. They came into conflict with China’s Han Dynasty during the 19th century, fleeing in large numbers to the highlands of Vietnam, Laos and Thailand in order to maintain their own culture. Clothing designs and other aspects of domestic life became the HMong’s way to preserve their “indigeneity” as a separate people, an aspect that has become more important over time to the HMong and their art.
“This aspect is woven into everyday life, but we don’t even have a specific concept of ‘art,’” Vang says. “Our traditions are full of art, including music, but the people who are craftsmen don’t see themselves as artists. But they do serve as cultural standard bearers who carry this form of art with them for current and future generations.”
Those cultural images, most often captured in textiles, offer almost hypnotic geometric imagery that include multiple references to flowers and other aspects strong in HMong life and, thus, it’s art. The more contemporary works on display branch out from textiles into photography, mixed-media presentations and other ways that blend new components with more traditional approaches, proving that cloth can be as indicative of culture as the land from which that culture has come, hence the title of the exhibit.
What appears to be an unusual spelling of HMong can be traced back to the various dialects within the HMong language. There are “Black Hmong” and “Green Hmong” dialects that basically ignore the H at the beginning of the word, Vang says. The White HMong dialect, which is currently the one most commonly used, aspirates the H, breathing through the letter and into the rest of the word. Current speakers of “White HMong” prefer to capitalize both the H and M to indicate their importance, she explains. In fact, it is an important part of the nomadic group’s cultural past and critical to this exhibit.
“This is the first exhibition that tries to illustrate HMong indigeneity, reinterpret it, and share it with the public to give them a deeper understanding to our traditions and why the concept of migration is important to us,” says Vang, who speaks the White dialect. “We’re trying to share our message and culture in ways all communities—including our own—can understand.”
“Cloth As Art: HMong Indigeneity” is on display now through June 16, 2024 at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 608 New York Ave., Sheboygan. Details: jmkac.org.
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