September 19, 2019
Professor of art lectures at Minneapolis Institute of Art
Submitted by Katelin Schmedemann
Geraldine Craig, professor of Art, recently presented "Contemporary Hmong Aesthetic in Cloth" at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.
In her lecture, she provided an overview and history of the Hmong textile traditions, including the dramatic shift to narrative story-cloth production in Thai refugee camps after 1975.
Craig highlighted the work of two contemporary Hmong artists: Laos-based artist Tcheu Xiong and the late La Yang. Despite diverse childhood experiences, their work similarly reflects the influence of ritual or Amish quilts, contrasting frameworks of tradition and modernity, innovation and empowerment — an aesthetic hybrid.