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Weaving Workshops by visiting artist Lig Yaaj
Weaving Workshops by Visiting Artist Li Yang
HMong Hemp Textile Artist
Curated by RedGreen Rivers in collaboration
with Hmong Museum & Weavers Guild of MN
Hmong Hemp Textile Artist
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Community Education Workshops
June 2 - June 29
Locations: XIA Gallery & Cafe, Hmong Museum, and Weavers Guild of MN
We are excited to invite you to join a special cultural and artistic experience featuring a HMong textile artist, Ms. Li Sawangcharoensap (HMong name is Li Yang) with the Hemp Weaving Group of Khiri Rat from Tak, Thailand in partnership with RedGreen Rivers, a social enterprise supporting women artisans in Southeast Asia.
ABOUT
A series of half-day events will be opened to 10–15 participants for an intimate, hands-on weaving session. Each session may last two - three hours including an introduction to the artist’s story, cultural significance of HMong hemp weaving and an interactive weaving session for each participant and they can take home their woven hemp piece.
This is a special opportunity to engage in community through art, storytelling, and cross-cultural connection while supporting sustainable practices and women-led artistic traditions.
SESSION DATES, REGISTRATION and FEES
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June 4 - 29, 2025
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Sign Up Here for RedGreen Rivers Session: http://bit.ly/4308cqQ
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Sign Up for Weavers Guild of MN To Be Announced
If you are interested in reserving a session, please email redgreenrivers@gmail.com
meet the artist
meet the
artists
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Li Yang
HMong Textile Artist
Ms. Li Sawangcharoensap (HMong name is Li Yang) is a master practitioner of the traditional HMong art of processing and weaving hemp textile by hand—a centuries-old craft now endangered by industrialization and displacement. As a member of the Hemp Weaving Group of Khiri Rat, in Tak, Thailand, she has dedicated her life to preserving and revitalizing this intricate practice, which includes cultivating, harvesting, retting, spinning, and weaving hemp fiber entirely by hand. Her expertise and lived experience uniquely position her to educate others about this vital cultural heritage. In 2024, her work was featured by RedGreen Rivers in Cloth Origins: Textiles from the HMong Journey at the prestigious John Michael Kohler Arts Center.
Ms. Yang’s upcoming visit to Minnesota and Wisconsin—her first time in the U.S.—will include a series of events celebrating HMong women as cultural bearers and tradition keepers. Her presence will offer rare, hands-on opportunities for HMong Americans and the broader community to engage directly with an ancestral art form that has largely remained unseen outside Southeast Asia.
meet the partners
meet the
partners
RedGreen Rivers™ work with artisan makers, most of whom are women and girls, from the Mekong Region in Southeast Asia. Their products are not mass produced, because they focus on quality and authenticity. They believe that artistic talent born from traditional indigenous designs can create sustainable communities. When you buy from RedGreen Rivers™ you get a treasure, and you support a maker.
RedGreen Rivers
Hmong Museum
Hmong Museum is the first museum of its kind dedicated to the preservation and education of HMong culture, history, stories, and arts. They do this through the creation and collaboration of programs that:
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Document Hmong history & knowledge
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Exhibit Hmong culture & art
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Share Hmong experiences & stories
They design their programs to be engaging and accessible, with hands-on experiences, community participation and memorable storytelling.
RedGreen Rivers
Weavers Guild of Minnesota
Since its founding in 1940 by twenty-six individuals, including Hilma Berglund, the Weavers Guild of Minnesota has established itself as a nationally-recognized resource for the arts of weaving, spinning, and dyeing. WGM offers classes and events year round, serving nearly new and experienced fiber artists each year.