Stitching Our Stories: Community Research Project was launched in October 2012 through the partnership of PhotoForward, an international media arts program, and the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre, a private museum in Luang Prabang, Laos.
This trail-blazing project engages women and girls from Laos' diverse ethnic communities to use photography, digital video, and community research to explore their unique cultural heritage, the vital roles that women play, and the often-seismic impact that modernization is having on traditional beliefs and practices.
The films, which premiered at the 2013 Luang Prabang Film Festival in Laos, include four documentary shorts shot by the projects' filmmakers Bao Xiong, Pasong Ly, Sia Yang, and Mai Ying. These projects examine the intricate artistry of Hmong batik and embroidery and the complex and often challenging roles of the medicine women and shamans who care for the bodies and spirits of their communities.