Catching up!
April 23, 2009
Time flies when you’re buried under a mountain of work.
Technically, it’s work that’s kept me away from Hmongism for these past few months. But in this harsh economy, I am blessed to even be able to say that! Friends and family all report job cuts and lose of benefits, it’s still hitting close to home. Companies that have been open for decades are looking to downsize and some are even outright closing due to these economic times. Many economists state that we’ll rebound soon, but what happens now when bills are due and money is scarce? We just hope that we have enough to hold out, others aren’t so lucky. Foreclosure is such a common phrase these days that you’ll feel left out if you haven’t considered it or discussed it yourself.
Despite these discouraging economic headlines, now is the time to take the opportunity to improve your situation. College enrollment, coincedently, has increased steadily over the past few years. More and more are people looking to gain valuable skills that will give them that edge over the other 100+ applicants. Now is the time to improve and elevate yourself above all others because competition is more fierce in a job market where postions are scarce and requirements are more specialized.
I consider myself a fairly lucky guy, so it’s with this that I take a minute to thank all of you readers. I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to express my own thoughts and opinions in this format. Without you, Hmongism would not exist. The Hmongism movement would not exist. Keep doing what you’re doing and we’ll walk this journey together.
-Hmooj Vang
Editor
Hmong Art tells stories
April 23, 2009
Christina Vang and Hua Moua call their project “Hmong -3-2-1,” which like their lives and their art, intertwines with dual meanings.
“It’s like English 101, which means learning,” says Hua. “And in Hmong it stands for the three spirits that come when you die. One spirit goes back to the ancestors or roots. One spirit guards the body. And the third spirit wanders aimlessly in the world.”
That, they say, captures the essence of their senior research and art exhibition project called “The Door in the Mountain,” which caps their four years of study at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design. The project, along with 135 other exhibits by senior artists and designers, will be on display at MIAD through May 9.
With the project, Vang and Moua, both born to Hmong parents who immigrated here after the Vietnam War, say they hope to keep alive Hmong culture and spirit that they fear might be slipping away as new generations assimilate here.
The Hmong have passed on history and culture through hand-sewn picture story cloths and storytelling because a written Hmong language wasn’t developed until the 1950s by missionaries.
One of eight children, Vang, 22, was born and raised in Milwaukee and attended Brown Deer High School. She remembers watching her mother sew quilts for Hmong festivals.
Moua, 24, was born in Merced, Calif., also one of eight children. In 2000 her family moved to Madison, where she finished high school at Madison West. She, too, cherishes childhood memories of her mother stitching cloths. Her father played the musical Hmong reed instrument and told the ancient tales designed to entrance and teach.
“All my family worked with their hands and work in artistic ways,” she adds. “My older sister is a fashion designer. My brother works with cars. Once I jumped on the computer and learned Adobe, I was hooked,” she says of her love of graphic design.
The two women found that, although they grew up in traditional Hmong households, the dominant culture pulled them away.
“As we got older we did see that we loved our roots, but that we were assimilating and forgetting because the Hmong have no country to go back to, so it’s hard to hold on to the culture,” says Moua.
At MIAD the two joined their cultural passion with their love of graphic design to create their senior project, which interprets traditional folk tales through design. They made story cloth posters, fabric dolls and sculpture, illustrated folk tale books, and a CD. All are placed in a space that includes a table and bright, comfortable pillows to create a storytelling atmosphere.
The project included research and collecting the folk tales anew. Moua’s father, Chuechoular Moua, was only too happy to assist by retelling the ancient tales. His favorite is “Dao Ton’s Heavy Heart.”
It tells the story of a man who, like himself, plays the reed wind instrument. One day he’s called by the Sky King to play at his daughter’s funeral. “On the way he talks to the others about how much he misses his wife. The spirit, who becomes a tiger, hears his sorrows and captures his wife,” he says. Dao must then go through many adventures with the tiger to finally win his wife back.
“The lesson is that when you go away, you don’t talk about your wife or your family,” he says. “In our culture, it’s a sign of respect not to talk about your family, but to hold them in your heart.”
Other cultural assistance and support were provided by the Hmong Association of Sheboygan and others in the Hmong community. The two would like to see their exhibit live on, possibly at the Hmong cultural center that’s being built in Madison or another venue.
The exhibit’s title, “The Door in the Mountain,” describes the hope for younger generations of Hmong, who came from the rural mountains of Laos.
“There’s a story about a couple that didn’t know how to handle a problem, so they went to a wise man,” says Vang. “He advised them to go to the door in the mountain, which means to return to their roots and culture. That’s what this means to us.”
Source: http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/43321707.html
Tiger Tales: Hmong Folktales
April 23, 2009
SteppingStone Theatre for Youth Development and Mu Performing Arts is presenting a world premiere production, Tiger Tales: Hmong Folktales, May 1-23 for a 20-day run in SteppingStone’s beautiful new theatre in St. Paul’s Historic Hill District. Tiger Tales is the fifth collaboration between SteppingStone Theatre and Mu Performing Arts, and is written by local artists R.A Shiomi and Cha Yang, with music by well-known local musician and composer Gary Rue.
Tiger Tales is the story of the quintessential American dream-that of immigrants struggling to find a place in the New World, embracing their new lives while retaining their traditional culture. A Hmong family living in St. Paul is having trouble adapting to life in their new home until Grandmother shares some traditional Tiger stories with them. Through these three stories, the children find a deeper connection with their own culture, and learn how they can use the stories’ messages to help them defeat the “tigers” of American life. Tiger Tales is a story that speaks to the history of every American family, and should be experienced by all.
According to Rick Shiomi, Artistic Director of Mu Performing Arts, “Tiger Tales is a fun look at a Hmong American family in the throes of adjusting from memories of village life in Laos to the urban jungle of the Twin Cities. Through her stories, the grandmother shares the traditional Hmong world with her grandkids who think that it’s long gone, but learn her stories can apply to their own lives. The story brings monkeys, tigers and crows into the family living room in ways that are fantastical, fun and fitting to the challenges of life today.” Today…(immigrants) still struggle with the same issues people struggled with (throughout the history of our country). We also share the same hopes and ambitions, and of course, the burning desire to learn, change and grow that Americans are so famous for.”
Tiger Tales is a total collaboration between SteppingStone Theatre and Mu Performing Arts. The play was developed collaboratively by Richard Hitchler, Artistic Director for SteppingStone, and Rick Shiomi, Artistic Director for Mu, along with Cha Vang. The two artistic directors worked together on production concepts, designs, and throughout the entire production and rehearsal process. On stage, Mu provides an adult actor from their company, and SteppingStone provides the youth actors. This type of collaboration is good for both companies, and good for the actors, young and old alike. Most importantly, it provides audiences an exciting and unusual theatre experience.
Hitchler says, “The great thing about collaborations with Mu Performing Arts, is that our two missions are complementary, but we serve different audiences. A production like Tiger Tales gives us a chance to collectively expand our artistic horizons, and to reach people who may not usually attend shows by the other company.”
Performance Information:
All performances of Tiger Tales: Hmong Folktales are in SteppingStone’s new theatre, a beautifully renovated 100-year-old architectural gem located at 55 Victoria Street North, one block north of Summit Avenue in the Historic Hill District of St. Paul.
Tiger Tales: Hmong Folktales is appropriate for all ages. SteppingStone Theatre is disability-accessible, and has regularly-scheduled ASL & Audio Described performances. Interpreters can be scheduled for other performances at no additional cost upon request. For more information, call 651-225-9265.
Tickets are $11 for adults and $9 for seniors and children 2-17. Performance times and tickets are available at (651) 225-9265 or www.steppingstonetheatre.org.
SteppingStone Theatre produces high quality, affordable family entertainment, created by professional artists and performed by and for youth. Serving nearly 70,000 youth, families, and educators from diverse ethnic, social and economic backgrounds each year, SteppingStone has become a premier destination for interactive, youth-centered theatre.
Hmong news anchor, Bao Vang
April 23, 2009
Bao Vang was in high school when she found her calling to be in television news.
Her school, Harding High in St. Paul, Minn., had a daily in-school newscast, and she and her older sister were anchors, reading bulletins about Harding Student Council meetings, sporting events and other tidbits.
“I loved it,” she said. “I loved the rush of it.” She decided to make television news her career.
Now, she’s the anchor and executive producer for the early morning news show on WSAW-TV 7.
She also has become a leader in the Wausau-area Hmong community, helping to organize the events centering around April as Hmong History Month. Vang is the epitome of this year’s theme: “Hmong of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.” And she has overcome staggering obstacles to get here.
Source: http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20090423/WDH04/90423103/1619
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