Name: Sheila Pinkel
Country Of Origin: USA
Country Now Residing: USA
Title: Hmong in Transition
“Hmong in Transition” is an artwork about the effect of the 2nd Laotian war on the lives of the Hmong who fought for the CIA and the royalist regime against the Pathet Lao. After 1975, when the war in Laos ended and teh United States military returned home, over 150,000 Hmong fled across the Mekong river to Thailand. They lived in refugee camps or disapeared into the Thai countryside. In 1992 Ban Vinai and Chiang Kham camps were crossed.l Hmong either went to third countries, including the United States, Canada, France, Australia, or they returned to Laos. Those who returned to Laos were often given remote lands with little water or access to cities.
Kou Chang and his family moved to Fresno, California, in 1992. They then moved to North Carolina to find work. In 1996, when the North American Free Trade Agreement wa implemented many American companies moved outside the U.S., leaving many Hmong without Jobs. In January 2006, Kou and his family once again moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma to find work. He and his family are still in transition, even though the war ended over 30 years ago.
Over 15,000 Hmong are cought in the jungles of Northen Laos, still being hunted by the Lao military because they faught for the CIA. Today they are in transition as well.
About IMCA
IMCA is both a virtual and itinerant Independent Museum of Contemporary Art founded by NeMe in order to present exhibitions, performances, new media events, symposia etc. The form of the IMCA is determined as a practice or process by the nature of each project with the notion of the exhibition "space" being constantly revised and redefined. If you wish to receive news from us please subscribe to our newsletter.
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