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. A young supporter of the journal recently told HArC that she was able connect with the human side of her brother, who is in a gang, and inspired to go to college from the stories she read in Paj Ntaub Voice. Her testimony is the fruit of years of work to establish a Hmong written literary tradition that enables the Hmong to speak for themselves and to see images of themselves.
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.
