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The Southeast Asian Hill Tribe
Textiles and Hmong American Textiles Collection
This collection consists of materials acquired through
research, begun in 1976 and led by principal investigators Drs. Marsha MacDowell
and C. Kurt Dewhurst, on the production, use, and meaning of textiles produced
by Laotian Hmong, both those living in Southeast Asia and those in Michigan.
The collections at the MSU Museum contain examples of clothing produced
for everyday and ceremonial use, textiles produced for sale, tools used
in production of cloth, "story cloths" (depicting traditional tales, Hmong
daily and ceremonial life, and the experiences of war, migration, and resettlement
that the Hmong have recently endured), and other items related to Hmong
traditional life. The collection also includes field notes, photographs,
and audio-recorded interviews with Hmong living in Michigan.
Support for research and subsequent exhibition, education, and publication
activities was supported primarily by grants from the Michigan Council for
Arts and Cultural Affairs, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the
Fulbright Commission.
Fieldworkers:
Marsha MacDowell, C. Kurt Dewhurst, Yvonne Lockwood, Sue Julian, Doug Gilzow,
Annette Hafner, Foung Vang, and Yee Leng Hang.
Exhibitions:
"Michigan Hmong Arts," Kresge Art Museum, East Lansing, Michigan, January
8 - February 5, 1984; Port Huron Museum, Port Huron, Michigan, Sept. 12
- Oct. 18, 1998.
"Stories in Thread: Hmong Pictorial Embroidery," Southwestern Michigan College
Museum, Dowagiac, Michigan, December, 1996 - January, 1997; Calvin College
Center Art Gallery, Grand Rapids, Michigan, March, 1997 - April, 1997; South
Seattle Community College Art Gallery, Seattle, Washington, March, 2001.
Publications:
Marsha MacDowell. Stories
in Thread: Hmong Pictorial Embroideries. East Lansing, Michigan:
Michigan State University Museum, 1989.
Marsha MacDowell, ed. Hmong
Folk Arts: A Guide for Teachers. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan
State University Museum, 1994.
Marsha MacDowell and C. Kurt Dewhurst, eds. Michigan Hmong Arts.
East Lansing: Michigan State University Museum, 1983.
Marsha MacDowell, "Old Techniques of Paj Ntaub, New Patterns of Expression,"
in Yvonne R. Lockwood and Ruth D. Fitzgerald, eds. 1993
Festival of Michigan Folklife. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan
State University Museum, 1993.
--compiled by Marsha MacDowell, 2004.
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