I loved the way that Seexang Lee talked about art. He described it as a journey, and the end product captures that journey. Hmong artists consist of silver-smiths, weavers, singers, musicians, storytellers, and embroiderers, who are the most important due to the amount of essential embroidery in the Hmong culture. It was interesting to hear Seexang talk about the functional aspect of Hmong art. I've seen a lot of pieces of beautiful Hmong art, and I just assumed it was a means of expression of the culture; I never dreamed that all of those artifacts had actual purposes. The beautiful designs are meant for keeping good spirits interested and fooling the evil spirits, and the clothing patterns help distinguish between different groups of Hmong (Green, White, Striped, Chinese, etc.).
This presentation opened up a whole new realm of the Hmong culture to me. We've heard so many stories about the immigration of the Hmong people, and we've heard about some of the traditions and customs that hold the people together. But I think that one of the best ways to learn about a group of people is to study their art, and so I feel like I have a deeper understanding of the Hmong culture after listening to Seexang and seeing all of the examples that he exposed us to.
I'm starting to understand why so many of the Hmong people in Appleton (and probably other immigrant groups in other areas) keep to themselves. When the new culture you are struggling to live in doesn't know anything about the culture you were born into, it's hard to bridge the gap and form bonds with people outside the culture you are used to. I've always thought that the Hmong presentation during Global Week at my high school every year was a good way to try to bring everyone together, but now I don't think that is enough. There is so much to learn about every culture, and I think that that learning process is the first step to understanding and coexisting peacefully and comfortably.
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