Learn about Yao textiles at Siam Society

The Thai Textile Society is holding a multimedia presentation on "The Splendor Of Yao Textiles" at Siam Society, Asok Road, on Saturday at 10am.

The Yao ethnic collective represents a diverse multiplicity of Mien and Mun subgroups, which likely originated in the mountains of northeast China. Over the following millennia they migrated in a southerly trajectory along the great rivers of Asia, spreading throughout central and eastern China before further fanning out among the foothills and lowlands of the Golden Triangle — northern Vietnam, Laos and Thailand.

Since the first ancestors, the Yao have kept their history and culture alive through magnificent oral, literary and artistic traditions. Among these, clothing fabrication and silver-smithing are as exceptional as they are distinctive. Whether worn for everyday tasks, cycles-of-life events, festive celebrations or sacred rites, Yao attire reveals the unique and timeless identity of the Yao people.

At the same time, their richly adorned garments — robes, tunics, and trousers, bags, sashes, belts and headdresses, as well as the intricate shimmering silver jewellery that embellishes them — shine a spotlight on the consummate skills of the master Yao craftswomen and men who meticulously, lovingly create them.

The presentation will be conducted by Victoria Vorreiter, a violinist who turned her eye to documenting world music. She moved to Chiang Mai 20 years ago to preserve the ancestral music and culture of the ethnic groups in Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.

Yao clothing. photo courtesy of Thai Textile Society

The fee is 400 baht (300 baht for members). Email bkk.tts@gmail.com.