STORY CLOTH DONATION PAYS TRIBUTE TO HMONG COMMUNITY IN CASSOWARY COAST

A piece of the Cassowary Coast’s multicultural history has been preserved thanks to the donation of a Hmong Story Cloth to Cassowary Coast Library and Museum Services in Innisfail.

‘Escape from Laos’ was donated from the personal collection of Julanne Sweeney, an intricate cultural artwork embroidered on cloth depicting the Vietnam War. The piece was created by Innisfail resident Mrs Yong Yia Lor during her stay in a refugee camp in Thailand in the 1980s.

Ms Sweeney handed over the piece during a gathering of Hmong community members and James Cook University representatives in the Innisfail Library.

“‘Escape from Laos’ toured Australia in 1997 through major galleries around the nation to the High Court in Canberra and is featured in the James Cook University publication ‘Migrants from the Mountains;” Ms Sweeney said.

“I bought it from Hmong embroiderers in Innisfail in the late 1980’s and I’m pleased to see it on display at the Innisfail Library as an acknowledgement of an important event in the region’s history.”

Councillor for Community and Culture Trudy Tschui gratefully received the artwork on behalf of Cassowary Coast Library and Museum Services.

“The Hmong have a rich tradition of imbuing textiles with meaning and following the end of the Vietnam War a new textile art evolved – the Story Cloth,” Cr. Tschui said.

“The Cassowary Coast community has the immense honour of accepting Mrs Sweeney’s donation of the Story Cloth ‘Escape from Laos’ as an acknowledgement of the contribution of the Hmong community in our region.”

Facing political and religious persecution in the aftermath of the Vietnam war, around 300,000 Hmong fled their homeland spending years in refugee camps before resettling in communities like Innisfail.

Typically created in the refugee camps in Thailand, Story Cloths featured a unique pictorial representation of individual experiences, depicting the history and folklore of the Hmong people, pastoral life in the mountains of their homeland, as well as wartime and migrant experiences.

‘Escape from Laos’ is on display in the Innisfail Library alongside a copy of ‘Migrants from the Mountains’ where it’s featured as part of the costume and art of the Hmong People of Southeast Asia and Australia.

For further information contact Cassowary Coast Library and Museum Services on 1300 366 616 or email library@ccrc.qld.gov.au.

Julanne Sweeney and Maria Friend from James Cook University with the framed Story Cloth at Innisfail Library.

 Pia Thao and Julanne Sweeney with Maria Friend and Tao Vue with the framed Story Cloth at Innisfail Library.