story cloth

[ironymaiden]

conflict in the mountains
Originally uploaded by green eyed so and so.

in what feels like another lifetime, i co-wrote and directed a play for children about immigration to the United States. my partner and i were committed to creating something that explored more than Ellis Island. we had found a story from the Ellis Island era that we loved: people leaving Europe paying out balls of yarn between ship and shore until the ship had pulled to far away and the threads were left fluttering in the wind. when i discovered Dia's Story Cloth, i knew i had something special to share with the kids in PA. the Hmong people had no written language until recently; oral history and story cloths are their cultural records. modern people, tying up their lives in embroidered thread. i remember sitting down to work on that section of the script, and the words tumbling out in a rush, fully formed, like i was just remembering them. the first draft was essentially intact in the final draft of the play.
while we did a great deal of research, i wasn't able to do my own interviews or see any samples of the needlework at the time. Seattle has an annual Hmong New Year celebration at Seattle Center, where i got my first geometric embroidery piece (from a lovely woman with very little english) and a beanie lizard. it turns out that those beanie animals are their bread and butter; when you see a stand full of those brightly colored lizards, snakes and dragons, it's likely a Hmong business. i often see a few handbags or small squares of embroidery, but this year's folklife was the first time i found a full-sized story cloth. the woman selling it was pretty thrilled that i knew what it was. i was completely floored at how cheap. i never imagined that i could have one. i guess i assumed that they would be some kind of art gallery object. what the hell. now i get to figure out where to hang it. i wish the tanks didn't look so cute.
the big picture, and other detail shots at flickr.

Comments

[spazzychic.livejournal.com]

Yes, cute tanks, but the bright red blood in scarlet yarn gets the point across.

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

Now that is really cool. Y ou win, indeed!

[pixxelpuss.livejournal.com]

Wow. That's spectacular. I also enjoyed the story of the playwrighting.

Lucky!

[butterflydrming.livejournal.com]

That's gorgeous. I've always appreciated the Hmong textiles.