"Mien Sports and Heritage, Thailand 2001"

Speaker: Leif Jonsson (CSEAS Visiting Scholar)
Date:16:30-, December 15 (Wed), 2004
Venue: Room 207, East Building of CSEAS

Leif Jonsson will show and discuss his ethnographic video. The video documents the first time Thiland's Mien (Yao) people came together as an ethnic group. The festival centered on competitive sports and was a showcase of Mien as modern and fun, while evening culture shows displayed Leif Jonsson (CSEAS Visiting Research Fellow) will show and discuss his ethnographic video, "Mien Sports and Heritage, Thailand 2001" (14 min, 2003). The video documents the first time Thailand's Mien (Yao) people came together as an ethnic group. The festival centered on competitive sports and was a showcase of Mien as modern and fun, while evening culture shows displayed their ethnic heritage. Organized by Thailand's Iu Mien Association, the festival expressed identity politics that concerned acceptance within mainstream, national society-many highland people ("hill tribes") do not have citizenship papers, and settlement evictions occur repeatedly. The video follows the action of sports and culture and offers a window on the ongoing definition of ethnicity, where past and present are balanced in complex politics, serious sports, and silly contests, including the novel game of eggplant golf.

 
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