Hmong Story Cloths and Textiles

Paj Ntaub and Paj Ntaub Tib Neeg (Flower Cloths and Story Cloths)
7 March – 16 April 2011

Hmong apron, courtesy of the American
Textile History Museum of Lowell, MA.

The Hmong people originally come from China, but moved into Laos, Burma and Vietnam in the 19th and 20th centuries. Many Hmong people from Laos fought for the Americans in the Vietnam War, and the remaining Hmong in Laos were persecuted when the Americans left. Many fled across the Mekong River into Thailand, where they often lived in refugee camps for years, waiting to either return to Laos or to migrate to host countries like the United States. There they began to make vibrantly colored and beautifully stitched story cloths that tell the story of this diaspora.

The works shown in this exhibit are generous loans from the Mariposa Museum of Peterborough, New Hampshire, the American Textile History Museum of Lowell, Massachusetts, and the United Hmong of Massachusetts whose headquarters are in Fitchburg.

All are welcome to a reception and curator's tour, Saturday, March 19, from 12:30-2:00 pm. This event is free and open to the public.

This exhibit is supported by the Groton Public Library Endowment Trust.

Thao Kong Paj Ndow