HMONG ARTISTRY: PRESERVING A CULTURE ON CLOTH

The Hmong are a South East Asian nomadic people, who, because of the wars in that part of the world, have mostly been evicted from their traditional homelands. Many of them are now resettled in the United States. The needlework, shown in this exhibit is a very special tradition done by the women. In their homeland it is used for clothing and household items, but in the U.S. the women sell their work as decorative pieces in order to make a living. The exhibit is composed of 27 pieces with accompanying text.

I. Who are the Hmong? Please try to write more than what I have above in the intro.

II. From the information in the exhibit, can you tell when needlework or the textile arts originated in this part of the world? Write a brief history of needework and the textile arts in the Hmong culture from the information displayed in the exhibit.

III. Is this an art form practiced more by men or women? Please explain your answer.

IV. What has needlework historically been used for in the Hmong culture and what is it used for in modern times?

V. Select one piece from the exhibit. Very thoroughly explain its meaning, and then connect it to one of the aesthetic schools we study in this course: functionalism, realism (art as picture of reality), idealism (art as picture of some ideal reality), formalism (the form of the art as the most significant aspect of it), or expressionism (art as self-expression).

VI. Select one other piece which seems to be an especially good portrayal of aspects of Hmong culture. Describe the piece and its symbolism in detail. What particular cultural ideals does this piece portray?

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