Stitching Our Stories: My Mom and the Tradition of Hmong Embroidery, by Pasong Ly
Channel: Stitching Our Stories
Date: 2013-12-23

PASONG LY
Stitching Our Stories: Community Researcher Artist Statement

"I am 14 years old and am currently in high school. My research subject is about my mom and her life, her embroidery, and many of the things she knows about Hmong culture. The reason I chose my mom to be a subject is because she is very important to me and she has lived an interesting life. She has taken care of me since I was born, and works hard to send me to study.
I have learned many things about my mom through this project. I know more about her story and how she learned traditional Hmong embroidery. This skill has been transmitted from generation to generation; my great grandmother taught my grandmother and she taught my mom and my mom taught me. I am going to teach my younger sister too.

The things I have learned from this project are very important to me, and I have learned many things I never had the chance to learn before. Now I know how to make good photos, videos, and to conduct interviews. My mom is also very important to me. She teaches me many things and the rest of my family do too.

I hope people will learn about my mom's life and our family. I also hope that the work that I did will make people interested in Hmong culture and want to learn to embroider. I am very happy to be Hmong and to have such a good mom."

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Stitching Our Stories: Community Research Project was launched in October 2012 through the partnership of PhotoForward, an international media arts programme, and the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre, a private museum in Luang Prabang, Laos. 

This trail-blazing project engages women and girls from Laos' diverse ethnic communities to use photography, digital video, and community research to explore their unique cultural heritage, the vital roles that women play, and the often-seismic impact that modernization is having on traditional beliefs and practices.

The film which premiered at the Luang Prabang Film Festival in Laos assembles four documentary shorts shot by the projects' filmmakers Bao Xiong, Pasong Lee, Sia Yang, and Maiying. These projects examine the intricate artistry of Hmong batik and embroidery and the complex and often challenging roles of the medicine women and shamans who care for the bodies and spirits of their communities. The film opens with a brief introduction by the project organizers, and each short is prefaced with an interview with the community filmmakers.

To learn more about this ongoing project and to view the artists' portfolios, visit www.photoforward.org and www.taeclaos.org.