STITCHING OUR STORIES:
​Community Research Programme

Stitching Our Stories (SOS) is a joint programme of the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre (TAEC) and PhotoForward that provides a rare opportunity for Lao women to explore their cultures through photography, documentary film, interviews, and material culture. Through this three-stage programme, participants learn to use digital media, including photography and documentary video, to explore the lives of women and girls in their communities and the often-seismic impact that modernization is having on traditional beliefs and practices. 

​The first stage of the SOS program is a six-week introductory workshop series with a focus on developing digital photography skills and techniques while documenting the broad range of work that Lao women undertake. This program includes formal workshops and one-on-one coaching sessions and culminates in a community celebration and exhibition. 

The current community of Stitching Our Stories media artists consists of a diverse group of 28 women and girls from Hmong, Kmhmu, Phounoy, Tai Dam, Tai Lao, and Tai Lue ethnic groups. They range in age from 9 to 37 and are students, handicraft makers, mothers daughters, business owners, and market sellers. Meet the Stitching Our Stories Artists and view their Portfolios in the Media Gallery...
SOS COMMUNITY RESEARCHERS

Graduates of the Stitching Our Stories workshop are eligible to apply for the Community Researchers training program, which offers intensive workshops in digital photography as well as an introduction to documentary film and ethnographic research. ​
The researchers­‐in­‐training came together over several months to further develop their skills and interview techniques and set out in their own communities to document the varied and changing roles of women in Lao society. Although the participants come from a variety of economic and cultural backgrounds they all share the excitement of having the tools and training to explore their traditions and share their stories. Their research topics have ranged from traditional medicine, Tai Lue weavers, and parenting to Hmong shamans, textile artists, and papermaking.

Upon completion of the training program, participants become Community Researchers for TAEC and youth participants are eligible for an internship position at the museum. Meet the Community Researchers and learn more about the lives and work of women in Laos...
STITCHING OUR STORIES AROUND THE WORLD

The ongoing work of the Stitching Our Stories participants have become part of TAEC's permanent cultural archive and has been featured in the museum's special exhibition, Caregivers to Culture Keepers, since October 2014. The SOS artist's photographs, oral histories and documentary films have also been featured in the following exhibitions, film festivals, and special events:

STITCHING OUR STORIES BEHIND THE LENS
CONTACT US:

Traditional Arts and Ethnology Center
Ban Khamyong Luang Prabang - Lao P.D.R 
Phone: (+856) 71 253 364 
[email protected] 
www.taeclaos.org
PhotoForward 
New York, Cambodia, Laos
inf[email protected]
www.photoforward.org 
Contact us:     [email protected]​  
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