|
|
As the rain falls and the rivers rise, we are busy preparing for a new exhibition while opening new doors for our Museum Shop. In this issue, we highlight the handicraft techniques of the Oma, introduce you to our Museum Shop Manager, Alai, and share the origin story of the Katu people.
 |
|
Read on to learn about:
|
| Katu Carving of Apuu Paner |
|
|
|
Caregivers to Culture Keepers: Stories from Women in a Changing Laos opens at TAEC on 7 October
 |
|
Over the next two months, TAEC and partner PhotoForward will finalise label translations, prepare object mounts, and edit video that will be unveiled in our newest exhibition.
As part of the Stitching Our Stories programme, women and girls from the Hmong, Kmhmu, Phounoy, Tai Dam, Tai Lao, and Tai Lue ethnic groups documented the role of women in their communities for the past two years. Now they will share their experiences of family, work, heritage, and health in Laos with the public.
|
| Women in Laos learn to use digital cameras to document daily life; their images and videos will be featured in the new exhibition. |
|
|
Support TAEC to continue our work with ethnic minority women through programmes like Stitching Our Stories. Every donation helps!
To stay updated on this exhibit and other TAEC programmes, follow us on Facebook!
TAEC will be closed for the
change of exhibition from
15 September - 6 October
|
|
 |
| |
|
This example of Hmong Reverse Applique
will be a part of the new exhibition at TAEC. |
|
Our Handicrafts, Near and Far
 |
|
In July, we opened the new TAEC Boutique on the main street in Luang Prabang featuring the Heirloom Collection of one-of-kind textiles and other handicrafts. Each piece is made of the highest quality materials by the most respected artisans of their craft.
We hope the Boutique will allow more tourists to support fairly-traded handicrafts from ethnic minority artisans, and discover the cultural diversity of Laos.
|
| The TAEC Boutique is open daily from 9am - 9 pm. |
|
|
| In addition to reaching more visitors in Luang Prabang, TAEC made new friends and important contacts for future sales by sending Khoun and Alai to the International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe, New Mexico last month. With over 150 artists from 60 countries and 20,000 visitors, this three-day event is the largest folk art market in the world, and we were pleased to participate in it once again. |
|
 |
| |
|
Visitors see the work of Lao artisans at TAEC's booth at the International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe. |
|
|
|
Applique and Embroidery of the Oma People
 |
|
The Oma People use vibrant applique and embroidery to adorn their clothing and elaborate headscarves. Our Oma friends live in Phongsaly Province, nestled between China and Vietnam, and home to 13 distinct ethnic groups.
TAEC has worked with Oma villages to develop new products that feature their indigo-dyed, hand-spun, hand-woven cotton, with traditional motifs. This wine bottle bag is based on the leg wraps that women wear to protect and adorn their shins when walking through the fields! These remote villages have also learned to convert headscarves into door curtains and yoga mat bags, taking a traditional handicraft and adapting it for an international market.
Oma products are available at our on-line shop and from fair trade vendors in Australia and the United States. |
| A modern product, a bottle bag for wine, showcases traditional Oma embroidery and applique techniques. |
|
|
To the top
|
Meet Alai, TAEC's Shop Manager
Alai Sayawed joined the TAEC staff five years ago. Originally from Phongsaly Province, Alai is from the Phounoy ethnic group. He came to Luang Prabang in 2000 to study at Wat Siphoutthabat and became a monk. Today, as TAEC Museum Shop Manager, Alai oversees shop sales and staff, manages the stock, and places orders with artisans. Alai says, "I am happy when I meet people who make the handicrafts we sell and I enjoy working with the villages."
For the first time, Alai attended the International Folk Art Market this year, and was excited to meet artisans from all over the world. |
|
 |
| |
|
Khoun and Alai at the
International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe |
To the top
|
The Story of the Birth of the Katu People
 |
|
Excerpt from"Carving a Community: The Katu People"
As told by Nai Vipat Sengmany
Long ago, a great flood covered the world, leaving two survivors - a woman, Anoi Amek, and a dog, Apuu Paner. The dog wished to marry the woman, but she refused. She would only marry the dog if he fetched fire from the mountaintop. On the first two attempts, the current of the streams he crossed extinguished the flame on his return. On the third attempt, he placed the fire in a gourd tied around his neck, and they united. Their human offspring married, and their progeny are the Katu people.
"Carving a Community: The Katu People" edited by Linda S. McIntosh is available from TAEC and from Monument Books in Luang Prabang. |
| Katu Carving of Anoi Amek |
|
|
To the top
|
|
|
|
|
|
