Laos Essential Artistry

How a Traditional Hmong Skirt is Made in Laos

When we were in Laos in January we discovered a pb book authored and illustrated by a Japanese man about the entire process of how a traditional Hmong skirt is made. Every handmade Hmong skirt is a true work of art, like the one featured in our photo above. The process to make a Hmong skirt in long and complex and one that traditionally many Hmong girls and women would master, for wearing their own handmade skirt was a demonstration of their skill and expertise in the art of paj ntaub. Many people don't know that the skirts are traditionally made from hemp and the process of creating weavable fabric from Hemp fibers is a difficult and time-consuming one.

So what we did was create an album of photos from each page of the pb book on our Facebook page. Unfortunately the book is not for sale and was only made for distribution to schools and libraries in Laos. We were told that the man who wrote the book spent a year in the Hmong village you see on one of the pages. That's dedication and is indicative of how much the Japanese strongly support Lao textile traditions.

The fabric on these traditional skirts is now being bought up by traders and made into fashionable purses and bags seen for sale in places like the evening market in Luang Prabang. A photo of one of the pages showing children wearing and enjoying the skirts is below.

 

 

Sinxay Textile Grand Prize Winner from Last Year's Silk Textile Exhibition in Bangkok

In our previous post Laos Handwoven Silk Textiles Receive Most First Place Prizes! the article in the Vientiane Times mentioned that  Manivone Keomany, who last year won the top award at an exhibition of Asean silk, also held in Bangkok, was this time awarded four first prizes at the Asean Silk Fabric and Fashion Design Contest 2010 held from August 22-29. That last year's top award was given to a textile featuring Sinxay, one of the most important Lao mythological heros and we purchased a textile woven by the original weaver in Sam Tai. You have to know the story of Sinxay to really appreciate this textile and in another post we showed a Lao edition of SangSinxay newly published in Laos and Bai and I will hopefully have our English translation of Sinxay published in two years.

Laos Handwoven Silk Textiles Receive Most First Place Prizes!

 

Below is an article that ran in the Vientiane Times last week and surely validates why we started Laos Essential Artistry. Above is a silk textile we purchased this summer in Sam Tai with a design that we think perfectly captures the Sam Tai mountainous landscape as seen in our photo at the very top that we took driving between Sam Tai and Sam Neua this last summer.

Laos receives most prizes at Asean silk contest

 

The unique and natural handmade silk of Laos has once again shone on the regional stage, this time receiving five first prizes at an Asean silk contest held in Bangkok last month.

Ms Manivone Keomany, who last year won the top award at an exhibition of Asean silk, also held in Bangkok, was this time awarded four first prizes at the Asean Silk Fabric and Fashion Design Contest 2010 held from August 22-29.

 

Six countries – Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, India, the Philippines and Laos – sent more than 300 silk products to compete at the contest held at the Impact Exhibition and Convention Centre, with Laos receiving more top prizes than any other country.

 

Twenty first prizes were on offer as Laos achieved the highest overall tally of 11 prizes, comprising five first places and four second places.

 

The handicraft leader of Xamneua district in Huaphan province, Ms Manivone, and other handicraft shops in Laos sent their products to compete on behalf of the Lao Handicraft Association.

 

“Last year's award was an inspiration for the group to create various unique designs to represent to the world,” Ms Manivone said.

 

One of the board committee members of the association, Ms Kommaly Chanthavong, who led the Lao team at the exhibition, said Lao silk has built a strong international reputation and many countries recognize the quality of the country's products.

 

“Even though our industries can't complete with other countries, our silks and our unique identity certainly can,” she said.

 

While other countries use modern machinery in the silk production process, Ms Kommaly said the quality of Lao silk is better because local producers still rely on handmade techniques, with all textiles hand woven on wooden looms and many using natural dyes.

 

“Our silks have become recognized because of our longstanding traditional values that we have preserved from generation to generation. Another major attraction of Lao silk is that we use a natural process,” she said.

 

She stated that the Lao handicraft groups working under the association have made great progress to present a wonderful image of Laos to the world through local silk.

 

Recently, representatives from Korea and Japan have invited the association to exhibit Lao silk in their countries.

 

New Hmong storycloths for sale at Laos Essential Artistry

When we were in Laos we bought a limited number of Hmong storycloths in the popular large (32 x 46 inches) size in both vertical and horizontal formats. Several of the designs feature motifs we haven't seen before, such as Hmong planting rice in rice paddies, whereas traditionally the Hmong have lived in the mountains and have planted their rice on mountain sides. Many of the Hmong have been relocated to lower elevations where they have easier and better access to schools and markets and another advantage is have flat land where they can cultivate rice paddies. The link to our New Hmong Storycloth section is here

We recently sold several of our large Hmong storycloths to a customer several weeks ago and he wrote back, "Hi, Peter.  The Hmong story cloths arrived today and they are nothing short of exquisite.  The images are delightful and impeccably rendered.  Thanks so much for making them available and for the great service."

Thank you George and we're glad you like the storycloths!

Lanterns, Sihos, Ngeuaks and Nagas in Lao Textiles

We’ve isolated this diamond shape piece from tapestry style textile woven in Sam Neua because we find the motifs, design and color especially mesmerizing in this textile.

We included in the introduction to the Sam Neua Silk Tapestry Wall-hangings as is written the catalog Weaving Tradition: Carol Cassidy and Woven Silks of Laos in the section Patterns and Motifs that “The motifs in Lao textiles reflect and record the complex history of the region. Some are drawn from the unique Lao Tai culture and are said to represent characters in traditional Lao epics. Others are derived from outside influences both ancient and recent. The imported motifs have been adopted and adapted by each weaver and translated into designs that express personal experiences, hopes and dreams…"

But what do all the motifs in the diamond shape mean? Luckily, we’ve had the good fortune to guide a friend of ours who is doing research on a book about Lao textiles from primarily the Sam Neua region and we asked her what she thought about the motifs in the above textile and she wrote back:

“This brightly colored diamond shape is called a "lantern" and is often found on such Lao-Tai textiles as shoulder cloths (phaa biang) and door curtains (phaa kang). Here it may come from a funeral panel. The central design is a saang hong (or siho) that represents a mythical being that is half elephant (see the trunk) and half bird (see the legs). In the center, the siho appears in a mirror-reversed design, and again on each side in two smaller versions.

The siho is pregnant with double-headed serpent or ngueak (naga) in its belly, and on its back is a candle house with a figure inside -- representing a boat taking someone to the other world. The figure is either a recently deceased member of the community or the shaman accompanying him as guide into the after life. Notice the five-fingered hands of the figure and the naga heads on either side of him.

Rainbow patterns occur in the candles on top of the houseboat, in the “S” designs representing baby nagas, and in the hooks of the sihos’ hair. There is one story that says that such a design can occur on coffin covers of fathers who die before their children are grown and that the double headed naga in the siho’s belly represents the youths who must mature before the mourning process helped by this textile can be completed."

Thank you Elli! We love it. Not only are the textiles exquisite works of art, they’re incredibly rich in meaning. One of the reasons we’ve opened Laos Essential Artistry.

 

Cosmic Creatures: Lao Textiles from Sam Neua, Sam Tai and Muang Vaen

We actually got the idea for the title of this post from an exhibition curated by Patricia Cheesman at the East-West Center Gallery in Honolulu, Hawaii titled Cosmic Creatures: Textiles from Northeast Lao Communities this last summer. We substituted Sam Neua, Sam Tai and Muang Vaen for Northeast Lao Communities, because these are the towns most associated with Northeastern Laos and the towns we are very familiar with and will be visiting on our June 2010 Laos tour.

If you're a regular follower of our blog then you probably are familiar with Patricia because we recently wrote a post recommending two books for our tour participants to read to gain a better understanding of the history, complexity and artistry of Lao textiles and one of them was Patricia Cheesman’s Lao-Tai Textiles: The Textiles of Xam Nuea and Muang Phuan. In the exhibition mentioned above Patricia writes in the handout that, “This exhibition gives us a glimpse into the heavens of the peoples of northeast Laos where serpents are powerful allies and can become human; birds can turn into elephants, serpents or boats, through an art-form created by women.”

We’ve isolated the diamond shape piece above from a tapestry-style textile woven in Sam Neua because we too are fascinated with these magical (cosmic) motifs. But what do they mean? Luckily, we've had the opportunity to guide Elli Findley, a professor at Trinity College through northern Laos the last three years as she has been researching the use of Tai Daeng (Red Tai) textiles in rituals such as weddings and funerals, and we asked her if she would provide insight into the possible meaning of the motifs used in this diamond shape piece.

She wrote us back saying, “This brightly colored diamond shape is called a "lantern" and is often found on such Lao-Tai textiles as shoulder cloths (phaa biang) and door curtains (phaa kang). Here it may come from a funeral panel. The central design is a saang hong (or siho) that represents a mythical being that is half elephant (see the trunk) and half bird (see the legs). In the center, the siho appears in a mirror-reversed design, and again on each side in two smaller versions.

The siho is pregnant with double-headed serpent or ngueak (naga) in its belly, and on its back is a candle house with a figure inside -- representing a boat taking someone to the other world. The figure is either a recently deceased member of the community or the shaman accompanying him as guide into the after life. Notice the five-fingered hands of the figure and the naga heads on either side of him. Rainbow patterns occur in the candles on top of the houseboat, in the “S” designs representing baby nagas, and in the hooks of the sihos’ hair. There is one story that says that such a design can occur on coffin covers of fathers who die before their children are grown and that the double headed naga in the siho’s belly represents the youths who must mature before the mourning process helped by this textile can be completed."

Elli writes that the siho is  "pregnant with double-headed serpent or ngueak (naga) in its belly." Patricia Cheesman in the handout mentioned above writes about the naga (nak/ngeuak) that,  “The serpent is the oldest symbol known to have been a totem of the ancestors of the Lao-Tai peoples and was shared by the Chinese in the Yangtze River basin over 6000 years ago. Whereas the Chinese told of the male serpent hunder god controlling rain, storm, earthquake, and flood, the Lao talked of their mother ngueak, a serpent goddess that had a human face and could turn into a human at will. She had the same powers over water, a crucial resource for growing rice and the source of life force and well-being of the people. The serpents guarded the treasures of the earth, living in caverns full of gems and crystal water and often ventured into the realm of humans, seducing and procreating with them. They are loved as ancestors of the Lao-Tai peoples in myths and legends. In the textiles these serpents are shown with colorful crests, bodies that curve into ‘w’, ‘v’ or ‘s’ shapes and appear to be spiraling in a criss-cross game or passing from one realm to another in procession. The crested serpent is the active, aroused form of the serpent mother.

In Buddhist iconography, there are serpents called nagas. The most famous naga protected the Buddha from floods at the Enlightenment. The naak, which is the Lao pronunciation of naga, is represented on temple steps and roofs as the link between the realm of the gods and humans, the profound and the mundane. They can also become human, protect and bring rain. The correlations between the Buddhist naak and the shamanic serpent mother ngueak are as entwined as their bodies on the textiles. The cosmic serpent is still the most popular motif on Lao textiles today and represents female energy, the power of nature, and the earth.”

Join us in June to visit Laos, "Land of the Naga!"

 

Laos Tour Bibliograhy continued: Textile Books

There are three books that we recommend if someone wants to gain a better understanding about Lao textiles. Two are in print and our top two choices. They are: Weaving Tradition: Carol Cassidy and Woven Silks of Laos and Lao-Tai Textiles: The Textiles of Xam Nuea and Muang Phuan by Patricia Cheesman. The third book is the small classic by Mary Connors, Lao Textiles and Traditions, published in 1996 and has been out of print for many years.

The one book that we’re most excited about though is one that hasn’t been published yet. It’s in the process of being written by Elli Findly, the professor we’ve guided the last three years. It will be the kind of book that anyone traveling to Laos with an interest in textiles will want to have, providing the most complete discussion of all the different motifs being used in Lao textiles and the influence of religion (Buddhist and animist) and their use in rituals past and present. As she writes in her vita, the current proposed title is, Spirits in the Loom: Religion and Design in the Weaving of Northeastern Laos,” and of course its still in the process of being researched and written. Her direction in the book is reflected in a recent presentation she gave on “The Serpent and the Bird: Images of Transformation in Tai Textiles,” sponsored jointly by the Costume and Textile Society, the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum, and the Town and Country Club, Hartford, October 7, 2009. 

Our top two books are very different and are complementary, at least from our perspective. Carol’s book is actually a catalog produced in conjunction with the exhibition Weaving Tradition: Carol Cassidy and Woven Silks of Laos. The book was written by Dorothy Twining Globus and Mary F. Connors and the exhibition was curated by Dorothy Twining Globus.  As is written on the mocfa website, the book is “a comprehensive overview of the traditional and contemporary woven silk textiles of Laos and the techniques used to produce them plus a portrait of designer Carol Cassidy and her workshop, Lao Textiles. 160 pages, with 125 images and illustrations.” The book can be ordered through the San Francisco Muesum of Craft and Folk art here.

And we have to give ourselves a little plug as Peter is one of the many people listed in the acknowledgements as “having given generously of their talents, experience, and commitment in bringing this book and exhibition to fruition.” Two of our photos were used, there’s one of a Mien women embroidering on pg. 31 and the first photo in a sequence showing the tapestry weave technique of pg. 59.

The book is divided into three sections, The People of Laos and their Textiles, Making Textiles and  Carol Cassidy and the Lao Textiles Studio. The section we keep turning to is “Making Textiles.” Mary and Dorothy have done a marvelous job in describing and illustrating all the myriad facets of the weaving process. The writing is clear and the photographs leave no ambiguity, you really learn something here. Plus, almost worth the price of the book itself are the two black and white detailed illustrations of the loom, one facing the back of the weaver and one from overhead, looking directly down on the loom and weaver. We can’t begin to tell you the hundreds of times we’ve referred to these drawings in trying to better understand certain weaving details (at least from Peter’s perspective!).

The only nitpicking we have is with the binding of the catalog and our book is now in many “pieces.”

  

The second book we highly recommend is Lao-Tai Textiles: The Textiles of Xam Nuea and Muang Phuan by Patricia Cheesman. In writing this post we discovered there is a new PB edition, published on September 30, 2009 that is available on Amazon at a 32% discount for $40.85. Yes!

We are eternally grateful to Patricia because it is only through her book that we learned about Muang Vaen, one of our favorite weaving villages in all of Laos, and one that we visit on our tour. The book is clearly a work of love combined with some serious scholarship. We’ve met Patricia at a conference in Bangkok, visited her gallery in Chiang Mai and have a DVD she produced on Tai Daeng Shamanic Traditions in Sam Neua, and her strong connections with the tribal people of this region are clearly evident.

Patricia has published numerous books and articles on Thai and Lao textiles and is a recognized Lao-Thai textile expert and recently curated an exhibition (Summer 2009) at the East-West Center Gallery in Honolulu, Hawai‘I titled Cosmic Creatures: Textiles from Northeast Lao Communities, centering in the Sam Neua, Muang Vaen and Sam Tai area.

Back to the book. Whereas Carol’s catalog is more technical, Patricia’s book is rich in its telling of the story of weavers, villagers and shamans from the northeast region of Laos through their textiles.  The history and geography chapters are a little confusing, but they can be skipped and we’ve learned so much from her chapters on Lao women’s sinhs (Chapter 5: Textiles for women’s everyday wear and Chapter 6: Textiles for women’s ceremonial dress). The book is richly illustrated, with color photos on most pages and provides a remarkable insight into a region, Sam Neua/Sam Tai/Muang Vaen, that is often overlooked.

Carol Cassidy Video Explaining Pattern Creation on the Loom in Vientiane, Laos

As we've mentioned in other posts we are very excited to announce that we will now be carrying Carol Cassidy’s Weaves of Cambodia Rainbow Silk Scarves. If there is anyone is who synonymous with the best in Lao textiles it’s Carol Cassidy. Just type in “Lao textiles” in Google and see who is the first person/business listed. Laotextiles.com is Carol Cassidy, and her gallery in Vientiane is always a must see for anyone interested in Lao textiles.

We’ve known Carol now for about ten years and although these gorgeous silk scarves are woven in Cambodia, not Laos, all the principles we value with Laos Essential Artistry are more than upheld in the weaving and finishing of these beautiful silk scarves.

When we were in Laos in June we shot some video of Carol explaining how patterns are created on the loom, which a skilled weaver then weaves into her fabric. It seems so complex that it appears magical to watch a weaver at the loom as she weaves these incredible patterns into a textile. It's not an easy process to understand, but we think if anyone can demystify the complexity of the techniques used, it's Carol. And in fact watching this seven minute video we think will give viewers an even greater appreciation for the artistry of Lao weavers.

We encourage anyone traveling to Laos and Vientiane to visit Lao Textiles: Carol Cassidy. It's in an amazing old French Colonial Building and be sure to ask to walk out back and see all the weavers at their looms. It's an intoxicating experience!

We always stay at the Vayakorn Guest House when we're in Vientiane and it's across the street from Carol's Gallery and the photo below is taken from our room on the third floor. Her gallery includes the old French Colonial and the buildings to the right and behind it.The second photo shows a street view of Carol's Gallery.

Some of our favorite photos of Laos in an Animoto video

Animoto videos are pretty darn cool. We see great potential with the videos for the work we do. And while most of the process is automated in an intuitive way, there's enough flexibility to let someone creatively control some of the process. I like being able to add our own music tracks and iTunes makes it easy to convert music tracks to mp3's.  As long as the track is not protected you'll be able to convert it to MP3format which is required by Animoto. And for the video beneath this one featuring our Hmong storycloths we extracted the audio from a video we took in Xieng Khuang Laos of young very talented Hmong girls singing Kwv Txhiaj, a kind of sung poetry. We did that in iMovie exported the audio as an AIF file, imported it into iTunes and then converted it to an MP3 file. We will soon be experimenting with adding some video clips to the video too. Lots of potential, so look forward to more Animoto videos from Laos Essential Artistry!

Like/love photography and want to take photos like these in Laos? Or even better? Think about going on our tour to Laos next June. Limited to six people. The tour will provide plenty of fantastic photo opportunities, count on it. More info on our Yahoo store site here.

Hmong Spirit People Cloths from Laos featured in Animoto video

These handmade appliquéd cloths are only made by these Hmong women in remote Muang Sing in northeastern Laos. Wish we sold more so we could order more to help out these incredibly creative Hmong ladies.  Muang Sing is so far off the beaten path followed by "regular" tourists that the textiles  handmade by these Hmong women along with the cotton textiles handwoven the Tai Dam women from Muang Sing remain hidden treasures yet to be discovered. That's why we created Laos Essential Artistry, so everyone can see and hopefully purchase some of these beautiful textiles that would otherwise remain "hidden" away in Muang Sing. And you can't go wrong at $25 each. Check them out at our Yahoo store.

The soundtrack for the video is audio extracted from a video we took of three young Hmong girls singing Kwv Txiahj in their remote Hmong village in Xieng Khuang, Laos. We posted this video on YouTube and have received hundreds of comments, mostly from American Hmong women so impressed with the singing ability of these young girls. Kwx Txhiaj is difficult to sing and uses words and tones not easily understood by American Hmong who have been separated so long from traditional cultural practices as still practiced in Laos.

Preparation of Ikat Silk for weaving into Sinh Fabric in Laos

Ikat Weaving Process in the Tai Daeng Village of Nongbouatong from Laos Essential Artistry on Vimeo.

This is a SLOW video. Have you heard of the Slow Food Movement? I mean... that kind of slow. The kind of video that is just like being there. Sitting quietly, observing, absorbing the weaving life of these Tai Daeng women. But, they're not weaving here. They are involved in wrapping silk threads to create ikat patterns and also removing the plastic wrapped threads after the silk has been dyed. It's a slow, pain-staking process, but like much of the work in Laos, it's buffered by the chance for conversation. People don't realize how much work goes into the creation of ikat textiles, whether they be scarves or sinhs. There's the initial process of tie-dying the silk and then the actual weaving. This video lets you feel like you're there, sitting with the women. We have some beautiful ikat textiles that are a tremendous bargain considering the artistry and time it takes both to create the ikat and weave the textiles. Check out our Ikat Sinhs and our exclusive Silk Ikat Display Textiles

Welcome to the Laos Essential Artistry Blog

Welcome and sabaidee! We consider this blog like our own multimedia loom where we can weave together stories, photos, videos, and music in a way that that will help our readers and customers better understand our passion for Laos and why we've created a Yahoo store to promote and sell the finest in handwoven Lao textiles and Lao handicrafts on the Internet! We hope through our blog the Lao weavers, Lao artisans and Lao galleries that we represent, “the individual yarns and varying patterns,” are woven together cohesively and meaningfully in a way that makes them come alive. Have any questions? Email us at peterlaos@hotmail.com or you can call us at 916-996-4553

Weaving in Nongbouatong

As we write in our Laos Essential Artistry website, under the section Nongbouatong, most of the families are Tai Daeng and almost all of the weaving being done is by Tai Daeng Weavers. This weaver was quite good, and watching her you can begin to understand the how talented the weavers must be to create a quality textile, like our Tai Daeng Silk Ceremonial Cloths.

Isn't she impressive? It takes about 12 long days to weave one of our Tai Daeng Silk Ceremonial Cloths.

Sam Neua from the Air

Even if someone didn't want to fly to Sam Neua just to get there, I would recommend flying to Sam Neua and back for the photographic opportunities. Currently, Lao Airlines, the main Lao airline, doesn't fly to Sam Neua. They've retired the old Chinese 17 seat Y12 and a new smaller airline that specializes in charter flights, including flights to Sam Neua, now uses a Cessna Caravan. The Caravan is smaller, but more comfortable inside, and for photographers, the great news is that the windows are clear with minimal scratching. The Cessna flies lower than the Y12 did and consequently there are great aerial photographic opportunities.

On the second flight we made into Sam Neua, rather than coming in low into the valley and landing on the runway from east to west, the plane flew in higher, circled round and landed from the west. Since we came in at a higher altitude we had a beautiful shot of the entire city/town of Sam Neua.

You can see how Sam Neua is nestled in the mountains, which in the cold season months of December and January with the accompanying fog/low ground cover, means that often times the flights are canceled because the fog doesn't clear.

The Soul of Hmong New Year

When I saw these four young girls as we walked through a Hmong village north of Sam Neua I knew there was something special here. I started taking photos and surprisingly they didn't run away or cover their eyes, but looked right at me and actually came together for this informal portrait.

Like the photo of the young woman washing her hair, my wife's sister's boyfriend also created a series of three painting with these four young girls as the main subject. Below is a photo of the first one in the series.