This May, in celebration of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the Hmong Institute and Wisconsin Women’s Council collaborated to create an exhibit featuring the art of Hmong woman elders.
“Resiliency: Hmong Women’s Mental Health Journeys During the COVID-19 Pandemic” is located on the second floor of the Wisconsin State Capitol rotunda and will remain open to the public through June 9, 2023.
Consisting of three quilt panels made of story cloths produced by elderly Hmong women, the art exhibit reflects on these women’s experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s the result of a spring 2022 effort by the Hmong Institute and Wisconsin Women’s Council to encourage Hmong women to discuss the effects of the pandemic on their mental health.
Labeled an “ethnography and art therapy project,” the undertaking allowed the women to process grief, loneliness and other emotions they might have felt during isolation while telling their life stories in a traditional Hmong format.
Mai Zong Vue, the board president of the Hmong Institute, said the quilt arrangement was chosen to make the project more accessible for the women involved.
“It’s very common for Hmong women to do embroidery, reverse appliqué and artwork and make it into a big quilt,” Vue said. “It’s very important for them to be able to heal and then document their story for us to see, as well as doing something that is not so new that they won’t be able to identify with it.”
The Capitol building was chosen as a venue due to its high foot traffic, exposing a wide variety of people to the Hmong women’s artwork and AANHPI heritage month in general, Vue said.
While this exhibit highlighted the Hmong community’s resilience to the effects of COVID-19, the Hmong Institute provides support for Hmong women in all aspects of their lives. It’s working particularly hard to preserve the stories of some of the last surviving women who experienced the Vietnam War firsthand.
“We provide a venue for Hmong women to learn more about each other,” Vue said. “These women have experienced the Vietnam War, and have a lot to share and pass on so that we can all learn from our roots.”
The Hmong Institute hosts meetings in Madison every Monday from 4-6 p.m., offering Hmong women a space to talk, build community and experience new environments through field trips.
