Ethnic Dress of Northern Vietnam - Enduring Expressions of Cultural Diversity May 9, 2009

Since 1999, Serena Lee Harrigan has been traveling to northern Vietnam. Although she has spent over 5 years in Asia including journeys into many remote areas, she was amazed by the cultural diversity that was so vividly expressed in the ethnic costumes still worn in this region. Her subsequent field studies in 2005, 2006, and 2007 took her to villages and towns in the northernmost areas of Vietnam, bordering China and Laos. Her presentation, which include images taken in these towns and villages as well as examples of ethnic costumes from these groups, provide a rare glimpse into communities and a way of life seldom seen by the rest of the world. Among some of the groups that will be discussed are the Black Lolo, Flowery Lolo, Pathen, Bouyei, Hmong, and Yao.