Sahtu Press is pleased to share the news that the Laomerica 50 exhibit is coming to Minneapolis at the Minneapolis Central Library in the Cargill Gallery from August 1st to September 30th to explore five decades of the Lao diaspora and how our community made the transition from a monarchy to democracies across the globe, while exploring the impact and implications of what we remember and what we imagine for ourselves and the next generation.
Over the last two decades in particular Minneapolis has hosted numerous key events connected to the cultural renaissance of the Lao diaspora. Minnesota is home to the third largest Lao refugee population in the United States, and in 2001 hosted the 6th conference of the SatJadham Lao Literary Project at the University of Minnesota. The network of artists and writers will turn 30 in 2025.
Minneapolis also hosted the first two Lao American Writers Summits in 2010 and 2015. It is the city where the Minnesota book launch of A Sticky Mess, the first children’s book produced by Sahtu Press was held.
Minnesota is home to many acclaimed Lao American artists such as Mali Kouanchao, the subject of the children’s book Mali Under the Night Sky, which is getting reissued soon by Lee and Low Books. Minnesota is also where all Sahtu Press books are printed, including Krysada Panusith Phounsiri’s poetry collections Dance Among Elephants and Every Passing Minute, and Bryan Thao Worra’s Before We Remember We Dream.
The NEA Heritage Fellow Bounxou Chanthraphone and her daughter Ladda Insixiengmay helped to preserve the traditional arts of Lao weaving in Minnesota. Minnesota hosted a national conference convened by the Laotian American National Alliance.
The state is home to several non-profit organizations serving the Southeast Asian American community, such as the Lao Center of Minnesota, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary, the Lao Advancement Organization of America, several traditional arts and dance troupes, and the SEAD Project, which emerged from the popular journal Little Laos on the Prairie.
Previous exhibits in Minnesota organized by the SEAD Project include Refuge of the InvisibLao and the 1.5 Generation at the Minnesota Museum of American Art, and the popular street performance project SEA Echoes Through Rivers. In 2010, in advance of the United Nations Convention on Cluster Munitions coming into effect, the Legacies of War: Refugee Nation Twin Cities exhibit was convened at Intermedia Arts to raise awareness of unexploded ordnance that still contaminates over 30% of Laos. A memorial monument to the veterans and families affected by the Secret War in Laos can be found on the Minnesota capitol grounds. Lao American artists have presented at Minnesota colleges and schools, and science fiction conventions such as CONvergence, Marscon, and Diversicon. Many traditional Wat Lao Theravada Buddhist temples have served the community here over the decades.
The Laomerica 50 exhibit will build upon the work established by several projects over the last 5 years gathering the stories of Lao elders and families whose lives were affected by the conflict. Many of the artworks and artifacts for this exhibit were originally intended to be displayed in 2020, however the global pandemic forced the community to shelve those plans until now.
This exhibit will begin during Lao American Artists Heritage Month and draw upon over 90 objects collected over the years, from a rare Olympia typewriter with a Lao keyboard used in the refugee camps to early 20th century French postcards from before the wars in Laos, to rare magazines, press photos, and original artworks by Lao artists so that we can see our stories in our own words. Artists already confirmed for the exhibit include Nor Sanavongsay, Sisavanh Phouthavong Houghton, Malichansouk Kouanchao, Bay Koulabdara, Oura Sananikone, Krysada Panusith Phounsiri, and Loy Khambay Correa, with others still being finalized.
The exhibit will be launched with the inaugural Nakavi gathering of Lao poets and artists from across the globe, including Lao-Canadian Souvankham Thammavongsa, recipient of the Trillium Award and author of How To Pronounce Knife. Bryan Thao Worra and Bay Koulabdara will be releasing the new collection American Laodyssey, while Soul Vang will be releasing Of Tigers and Wars. Artist and educator Noi Sengsourigna and founding members of the SatJaDham Lao Literary Project will also be in attendance, and readings and talks throughout the weekend will reflect a wide range of styles and techniques centering Lao diasporic approaches to creativity. This will be a gathering to remember!
More details will be shared as they become finalized over the next few months! We’ll see you there!
