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Hmong Arts
Connection (HArC) formerly Hmong American Institute for Learning (HAIL)
HArC started as a 12-page newsletter called Paj Ntaub Voice in
summer of 1994 which later turned into an 80 plus page literary
magazine. In 2003, we incorporated into a 501c3 arts organization to
house the jounal and expand into visual art and the rich oral
traditional art of the Hmong.
Paj Ntaub Voice
is the longest-running literary publication in the Hmong community and
it is the result of a grassroots Hmong literary movement started
by Mai Neng Moua. As a college student majoring in sociology and
anthropology, she researched the limited body of literature on the
Hmong for her studies and learned that much of the research materials
were not authored by Hmong people. She yearned to read works of other
Hmong individuals like her and was determined to change it by creating Paj
Ntaub Voice, a journal giving expressions to Hmong voices.
To date, the journal
has nurtured, promoted and created a network of over 200 Hmong writers
and artists in the country and internationally. In 2002, the first
anthology entitled Bamboo Among the Oaks:
Contemporary Writings by Hmong Americans was compiled from Paj Ntaub Voice by Mai Neng
Moua and published by Borealis Press. Today, you can find
Hmong written literature by Ka Vang, Kao Kalia Yang, May Lee Yang,
Bryan Thao Worra, and Mai Neng Moua to name a few.
“My
friends introduced Paj Ntaub Voice … to
me while I was in high school. They were reading it in college…
I decided not
to get marry after reading about the struggles of young girls who
married early
because I didn’t want to struggle like them. I just finished
college… There is
another story about a gangbanger’s life that changed me, too. My
brother is in
a gang. I understood him better and saw him differently after reading
that
story.”
(Chee Yang)
Art is nurturing a
sense of community for the Hmong in cities and towns across America by
bridging cultural differences and creating shared experience. At HArC,
the tradition of Hmong art continues through our literary
and art programs. Click on
the links to learn more about the people behind HArC and
our financial supporters, or contact us at info[at]hmonghail[dot]org.
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