Latest news with #Hmong
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Wisconsin celebrates 50th anniversary of Hmong resettlement
[Source] Wisconsin commemorated the 50th anniversary of Hmong resettlement on May 14, celebrating a statewide community that has grown to over 55,000 people since the first refugee families arrived following the Vietnam War in 1975. Finding a new home: Hmong families first sought refuge in the U.S. after facing persecution for their alliance with American forces during covert operations in Laos. 'Our families fled Laos and Thailand because of the American war in Southeast Asia,' Tammie Xiong, executive director of the Hmong American Women's Association in Milwaukee, told the Wisconsin Public Radio. Many navigated dangerous escapes across the Mekong River into Thailand before spending time in refugee camps. 'We have to go through this hardship so we can live a better life in the U.S.,' Tsu Lor Xiong told WUWM, reflecting on his family's journey. A celebration of community: The Legislative Asian Caucus held ceremonies at the State Capitol last Wednesday, with community leaders honoring veterans and reflecting on their collective journey. As of 2024, just 3.3% of Wisconsin's population identifies as Asian, though it is now home to the third-largest Hmong population in the U.S. Trending on NextShark: The state Assembly also passed two resolutions, including one 'celebrating 50 years of strength and resilience of the Hmong, Lao, Cambodian and Vietnamese people.' Ongoing challenges: The anniversary represents both achievement and ongoing challenges for the state's Hmong residents. For one, community leaders say the milestone calls for continued investment in housing and culturally appropriate services. 'As a medical anthropologist researching my own community, it has been a work of mourning,' UW-Madison professor Mai See Thao told WKOW, 'to see that even after resettlement, Hmong people continue to face disparities and hardship as they age in their place of refuge.' Looking ahead, a traveling exhibition presenting Hmong American experiences through interactive domestic spaces — titled 'Los Tsev, Cia Siab,' meaning 'Home, Hope' — will continue its journey to University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in September. Trending on NextShark: This story is part of The Rebel Yellow Newsletter — a bold weekly newsletter from the creators of NextShark, reclaiming our stories and celebrating Asian American voices. Subscribe free to join the movement. If you love what we're building, consider becoming a paid member — your support helps us grow our team, investigate impactful stories, and uplift our community. Trending on NextShark: Subscribe here now! Download the NextShark App: Want to keep up to date on Asian American News? Download the NextShark App today!
Hypebeast
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hypebeast
Ji Zou Paints a Portal Between the Digital and Divine
By Erin Ikeuchi Looking at a Ji Zou painting is something akin to a haunting. Ancestral presence and personal stake unfold like bygone memories, with new meanings revealed one veil at a time. What's left is an ever-evolving image — subtle, sublime, and like every good ghost story, bone-deep. This quality can be traced back to the Hmong ghost stories of their childhood. 'In our culture, we don't have fairy tales,' Zou told Hypeart, 'so I've come to associate monsters with comfort.' It's an inheritance that pulses through their immediate environment, from traditional costume fabrics that slink off chairs to paintings punctuated with silver shamanic emblems and the charms that bless the latticed fences on the walk to their studio in Ridgewood. Brought up in the sprawl of suburban Michigan, Zou, like many others, turned to the internet early on, captivated by its disembodied freedom. 'It aligned with how I existed – not necessarily in a physical body, but one I could project into an online space.' It's a way of being that continues to inform their process, practice and the intuition that drives it all. A few years ago, Zou moved to New York to focus on their art full-time, quickly gaining recognition for their digital illustrations — works defined by neon-noir palettes, ethereal gradients and psychosexual undertones. Craving a new dimension, they completed an Illustration MFA, expanding their artistic arsenal to encompass physical mediums. Now, the artist is in the midst of a textural turn, leaning into tactility head-on: stretched organza emulates a digital moiré, while cat eye pigment powder glints like a soft-screen glare. Helming this new chapter is the same cybernetic spirit, dressed in a more raw, fragmented form. For our latest edition of HypeArt Visits, we took a trip to Zou's studio to discuss overcoming fears, this new creative horizon and the spiritual forces that keep them going. 1 of 4 2 of 4 3 of 4 4 of 4 'The more time I spend with this kind of work, the more conceptual it gets. My relationship with everything I'm using – my hands, the material – it all feels different now.' There's a psychoanalytic, bedroom-esque vision that threads through your paintings. Would you say your background informs the themes explored in your work? A lot of my work plays on internal states. It exists in this surreal realm, and I think it has a lot to do with growing up in the suburbs. There was nothing really going on around me, so I was left to think a lot and just be on the internet. That space is so malleable, so I spent a lot of time imagining what those digital worlds look like, and how I saw myself operating within them. When did you realize you wanted to move to New York to pursue art? It came really slowly for me, like 10 years in the making. I always wanted to be an artist, but growing up in Canton, Michigan, I didn't think it was possible. When I was younger, I had works in some local shows, but they didn't really sell. I moved to New York with one of my best friends. I was helping him out on photoshoots, though it didn't feel super aligned with my creative interests, so I started doing illustration for editorials and companies, which I really liked because I could express a mode of visual art where I felt like myself. I still didn't have a lot of narrative control, so I began creating my own digital works. I released them during the pandemic, and I got a lot of really good reception, which was really encouraging. It led me to painting, and my exploration of the physical became a lot deeper once I went to grad school at RISD, where I had adequate studio space. How would you describe the transition from a digital to physical workflow? Honestly, it happened kind of abruptly. For a while, I was afraid of making physical work — of paint — and still am because it feels so permanent. Obviously you can paint over something, but it still leaves a textural ghost underneath. There's a lot less control with this medium, but one day I just decided to do it. My relationship with the physical has definitely changed a lot. My earlier works are pretty image-focused, whereas in my latest piece, the conversation with the surface of the canvas is a lot more obvious. The more time I spend with this kind of work, the more conceptual it gets. My relationship with everything I'm using – my hands, the material – it all feels different now. 1 of 3 2 of 3 3 of 3 'Whenever I feel fear, I try to lean into that emotion and explore it further. It puts me into a space of discomfort and helps me grow.' Your paintings are grounded by this ghostly beauty. Elements slowly emerge, and the longer you look at a painting, it becomes a new piece of work. What attracts you to this style? The idea of fear is really interesting to me, especially with the supernatural. It's irrational in so many ways, yet it's such a common experience. Whenever I feel fear, I try to lean into that emotion and explore it further. It puts me into a space of discomfort and helps me grow. Your work also grapples with the haunting aspects of humanity, which can sometimes be scarier than ghosts. Definitely. One of my friends took this RISD course on hauntology, which I'm hearing more and more about. I want to explore it in my work. My basic understanding of it is that the past haunts the present, so it's very tied to colonialism and paying respect to oppressed groups. A lot of artists are thinking with hauntology, but a lot of the time, are not aware of it. When you're approaching a new piece, what does hat process look like from start to finish? It's changing a lot right now based on the types of textures I'm trying to elicit. For this piece, I'm using inkjet transfer to superimpose my digital paintings onto a canvas, build up layers of paper on top, and peel them off. For this other one, I'll put down some layers of paint, mostly abstract forms, and allow them to reveal themselves. It depends, but when a painting is finished I just kind of know. 1 of 4 2 of 4 3 of 4 4 of 4 '…this connection to the spiritual is a constant in my life. I've always been really curious about the invisible worlds and forces that surround us.' You mentioned how aspects of your works are informed by Hmong shamanistic practices. How do you incorporate these meditative or spiritual experiences into your practice? It's hard to say that I'm practicing all these things on a regular basis, but this connection to the spiritual is a constant in my life. I've always been really curious about the invisible worlds and forces that surround us. When I was in undergrad, I was concerned with what was scientifically proven, but then I took this class on meditation and the purpose of life. That really changed my perspective. Later, I went on a two-week meditation retreat and had all these unexplainable experiences. It was like I was able to predict what was going to happen without it happening, or feel people's emotions without them telling me. I'm not in that state anymore, but I see my paintings as a way to reconnect with that world. A lot of your pieces take root in personal experience and often feature femme subjects. Would you say they are different iterations of yourself? Yes, but to be honest, I'm not as into self-portraits as I used to be. I still like making them, and I like how diaristic they can be, but they tend to be repetitive. 1 of 3 2 of 3 3 of 3 What are you working on now? I'm building up a body of work for a solo show. Pieces that have a lot more texture, a lot more exploration of the surface, and allow the body to dissolve or arise from the background with more translucency. I'm also playing with integrating or sewing different materials onto the canvas. Are the affirmations hanging on your wall more related to the work itself or to you and your process? I'm someone that worries a lot, which isn't good because then I'm focused on the negative rather than positive. You tend to attract those things into your life, so sometimes I leave these affirmations on my wall for when I'm in a moment of fear or anxiety. They interrupt that train of thought, and I'm able to refocus my perspective. Do you prefer working alone or with friends? It depends. Working alone can be painful and that's partly why I need the affirmations. You can get into these really deep spaces where you hate your work, and then five minutes later you'll have a breakthrough moment. There isn't a lot of that when my studio mate is here, which is nice. But at the same time, it'll be hard to get to a place where something amazing is happening, so I like both. 1 of 3 2 of 3 3 of 3 'I just have to keep working through it. It's really cathartic and it strengthens your relationship with yourself.' How do you handle hitting a creative block? A lot of people say you should take a walk, or take a break from the studio, though that doesn't work for me. I'll just be in here, cry and pray that something will change, but I just have to keep working through it. It's really cathartic and it strengthens your relationship with yourself. Do you have any go-to books, movies or music for inspiration? There's a lot of haunting music that I really like. Hyperpop, too. Grimes is really fun. In terms of movies, Robert Altman has a lot of really great films. My favorite of his is Images , which is about a children's book illustrator and her descent into schizophrenia. It's fucking wild, I've seen it like 20 times. I want to make paintings that feel like that film. Photography by Keith Estiler.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Movies to see this week: 'The Doors,' 'North By Northwest,' 'Hundreds of Beavers'
Showcases, a new midnight movie classic, and a chance to see one of the late Val Kilmer's best roles highlight the movie calendar this week. Here are the repertory movies you can catch around the Twin Cities during the week of May 21. Thursday, May 22, at the Walker Art Center The new film from Vera Brunner-Sung and producers Kazua Melissa Vang and Yeej, Bitterroot, has played in town a couple of times already, with screenings during the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival and last week at the Walker Art Center. This week, Vang and Yeej will curate a showcase of local Hmong artists and filmmakers, continuing some of the themes from their acclaimed film, which was shot in Missoula but featured talent from the Twin Cities Hmong community on-screen and in the production. 725 Vineland Pl., Minneapolis (free) Thursday, May 22, at Emagine Willow Creek Biopics on iconic musicians have become commonplace and are often a bit paint-by-numbers. The expected boredom has sullied expectations for the subgenre, even when there are thrilling examples of the form out there, like Oliver Stone's The Doors. The late Val Kilmer fully embodies Jim Morrison, singing, moving, and looking like him. The movie moves quickly at times, tracing Morrison's life from film school up through his death at 27 in Paris. 9900 Shelard Pkwy., Plymouth ($12.59) Saturday, May 24, at The Parkway Theater Hundreds of Beavers feels like what might have happened if a silent film director from the 1920s grew up on Adult Swim cartoons and made a Bugs Bunny-inspired comedy. With almost no spoken dialogue, a 19th-century fur trapper is tormented by rabbits, woodpeckers, raccoons, fish, and geese out on the frontier. Worst of all are the beavers, of which, you may have guessed, there are hundreds. With intentionally absurd special effects, he goes to war with a deluge of men in beaver costumes. It's already becoming a midnight movie classic, even though it really only hit theaters in 2024. 4814 Chicago Ave., Minneapolis ($16.73–$20) Sunday, May 25, at Emagine Willow Creek Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, Thirst) doesn't pull punches in his films. Rather, he tends to set you up for a few final jabs that can be brutally stunning. That's the case in The Handmaiden, which starts as a dark drama when a Korean girl is hired to be the handmaiden to a rich Japanese heiress. The young woman, however, is actually a thief who has been hired to rob and seduce the heiress. Things get twisted and messy. 9900 Shelard Pkwy., Plymouth ($12.59) Monday, May 26, and Wednesday, May 28, at Heights Theater The Hitchcock Festival at the Heights Theater is long gone, but there's still more from the master of suspense coming up. Some of Alfred Hitchcock's most iconic films have scenes that burn so brightly in memory that those scenes stand in for the entirety of the film and can obscure their greatness. North By Northwest can feel that way. Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) gets mistaken for a government agent by a group of spies. It looks like a simple case of mistaken identity, but things go wrong over and over, pulling him deeper and deeper into danger. That includes falling for Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint). It's tense and delightfully frustrating every step of the way, especially if your memory of the movie is a bit obscured by its iconic plane scene. 3951 Central Ave. NE, Columbia Heights ($19–$19.75)More movies screening this week in the Twin Cities: May 21: 28 Days Later (2002) at Alamo Drafthouse, AMC Southdale, Emagine Willow Creek, and Oakdale Cinema May 21: Cooley High (1975) at Alamo Drafthouse May 21: Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) at AMC Inver Grove, Emagine White Bear, Oakdale Cinema, Parkwood Cinema, St. Michael Cinema, and West End Cinema May 21: Labyrinth (1986) at Emagine Eagan, Emagine Lakeville, and Emagine White Bear May 21: The Wiz (1978) at AMC Southdale, Oakdale Cinema and West End Cinema May 21: Fresa y Chocolate (Strawberry and Chocolate) (1993) at The Main Cinema, part of the Minnesota Cuban Film Festival May 21: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) at Edina Mann Theatres May 21: Pride & Prejudice (2005) at St. Michael Cinema May 21: The Unborn II (1994) at The Trylon Cinema May 21: Moonstruck (1987) at The Parkway Theater May 21: Crossroads (2002) at Alamo Drafthouse May 21: Tall Tales (2025) at The Main Cinema May 22: Hmong Filmmaker Showcase at Walker Art Center May 22: Making Mr. Right (1987) in 35mm at The Trylon Cinem May 22: Phffft (1954) at Heights Theater May 22: Gather (2020) at Minneapolis Institute of Art (free) May 22: The Apartment (1960) at Grandview Theatres May 24: Star Wars: Episode VI - The Return of the Jedi (1983) at The Parkway Theater May 24: Hundreds of Beavers (2022) w/ costume contest at The Parkway Theater May 24: The '80s Action Extravaganza II: The Quickening at The Trylon Cinema May 24: The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) midnight screening at The Parkway Theater May 25: Larry McDonough Quintet Jazz Music + Movie Series presents Miles Ahead (2015) at The Parkway Theater May 25: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) at Roxy's Cabaret May 25–27: Young Frankenstein (1978) at The Trylon Cinema May 25: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005) at Roxy's Cabaret May 25 and 28: Blazing Saddles (1974) at Emagine Eagan, Emagine Lakeville, and Emagine White Bear May 25: Bree Way: Promise Witness Remembrance at Minneapolis Institute of Art May 25 and 29: Twilight (2008) at Grandview Theatre May 26: Terminating Mystery Movie at Alamo Drafthouse May 26 and 28: Jaws (1975) at Alamo Drafthouse May 26: Silver Bullet (1995) at Emagine Willow Creek May 27: The Vourdalak (2024) at Alamo Drafthouse May 27: The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) in 35mm at The Parkway Theater
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Skyline Mini Golf is back on the Walker rooftop in May
It's time to golf with a view. Skyline Mini Golf will return to the Walker Art Center's rooftop with 10 holes designed by local artists, all of which offer a striking view of the Minneapolis skyline. The Walker will open up its artsy golfing season on May 21. This year's course includes holes that take your ball for a ride on the light rail and tell a story of Hmong culture in Minnesota, as well as ones that offer a twist on Plinko and ping pong. The 2025 Skyline Mini Golf season will run through Oct. 5. Admission is $12 or $10 for Walker members. Kids five and under are free with a paid ticket. Additionally, an admission to the galleries can be added to a mini golf ticket for $9.
Gulf Today
19-05-2025
- General
- Gulf Today
‘Chicken lady' faces legal trouble as birds come flocking in
Kyeland Jackson, Tribune News Service Chicken owners from across the Twin Cities have been known to dump fowl on Miranda Meyer's St. Paul doorstep in the middle of the night. Outside her house on Hatch Avenue — yes, St. Paul's 'chicken lady' lives on Hatch Avenue — neighbours stop and watch the birds strut toward feed scattered near Meyer's black hearse. Hens like Sweet Pea, found half-frozen in a bush, ruffle their feathers in a white coop. Meyer's rooster, Jimothy Dean Scrambles, perches on a fence and crows. Minneapolis animal control officials call Meyer, 32, to rehome abandoned chickens. But in her home city, St. Paul animal control has issued citations against her flock, exposing her to legal trouble even as she pursues work she considers to be within her rights as a tribal member. Meyer is worried that the fowl troubles will worsen this year. 'We're taking hundreds of birds every summer, and it's only getting bigger and bigger,' Meyer said. 'There's so many people who are going into this blind thinking, 'I just want free eggs.'' Meyer started work in what she called the 'the death industry' at 15. After more than a decade of cleaning crime scenes and preparing burials, dealing with death and silence weighed on her. 'It makes you feel not human because then you can't connect with other people,' Meyer said. But Meyer always felt she could connect with animals, and she said the Standing Rock protests a few years ago inspired a change. Meyer is a member of the Ojibwe tribe whose name, Ikwe Niibawi Wiiji Migizi Miigwan, means 'woman who stands with eagle feather.' She said the protests made her think about sustainability, prompting her to adopt three chickens. She quickly found she had a knack for working with the birds. The goal of the operation she runs from her single-family house, the Balsam Lake Bachelor Flock and Poultry Rehab, is to rehabilitate and return chickens and roosters to owners who pay her what they can afford. The rehab runs through her properties in St. Paul and Balsam Lake, Wis., and she said the goal is to help chicken owners and people who cannot afford eggs, meat and high veterinary bills. When she can't rehabilitate roosters, Meyer drives them to Balsam Lake and releases them on her 40-acre property, or slaughters them to bring meat to neighbours and reservations. Hmong farmers give Meyer leftover vegetables as chicken feed in return for eggs, fertiliser and meat. She donates dozens of fertilised eggs to St. Paul school teachers, who hatch them in class and return the chicks to her. The Minneapolis Police Department and Minneapolis Animal Care and Control began phoning for help with chickens abandoned in cemeteries, parking garages and on the tarmac at Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport. Meyer said that up to 20 hens and two roosters now stay with her. But at a peak last year, she said she was accepting 30 roosters a week. That ran her afoul of St. Paul Animal Services, which ticketed Meyer last October and again in March for having a rooster and no permit to own chickens. Roosters are prohibited in St. Paul, and a rooster permit in Minneapolis costs $110. Meyer disputes the need for a permit, arguing that the work is within her rights as an Ojibwe tribal member with federal protections. For St. Paul resident Va Xiong and others, chickens are crucial for religious ceremonies addressing birth, life and death. Xiong, 42, started raising chickens for the first time this year to provide for his family and their ceremonies. Many Hmong people who emigrated to Minnesota brought cultural practices involving chickens. Xiong explined that the birds are considered guides for spirits of the deceased, wards against sickness and vital nutritional support for women giving birth. Many still believe in those customs but turned from tradition to adjust to city laws, returning chickens to farms after ceremonies instead of sacrificing them. But Xiong said St. Paul's restrictions forced him to raise fowl outside the city limits, and he believes residents are being ticketed while holding chickens for similar practices. 'That is why a lot of the Hmong community and Asian communities have these chickens in the city limits, and the city is making it tough for these Asian communities to hold chickens,' Xiong said. He said the permit process can take months. St. Paul Animal Services Manager Molly Lunaris said most applications are approved the same day, but the department is working to streamline the process through an online application that could be available within a year. Lunaris said rules considered burdensome by some exist for the city's health, safety and livability. 'We regularly seek staff and resident input to assess whether our ordinances are current, efficient, and effective, and work to implement changes when necessary,' Lunaris said in a statement. She said the agency is working to move away from criminal citations in favor of administrative actions. Lunaris added that the agency has not seized any birds claimed to be used for religious purposes and would consult with the City Attorney's Office before doing so. Scores of Minnesotans are turning to co-ops and community-supported agriculture shares to save money on eggs. Many more are turning to backyard chicken coops.
