All posts tagged: Chantala Kommanivanh

Chantala Kommanivanh commemorates Lao America with Sabai Sabai art show

Sabai: living easy, comfortable, simple. This is the feel, theme and name of Chantala Kommanivanh’s art show, coming to Chicago’s eclectic Pilsen neighborhood this Friday, June 12th. “Sabai Sabai” features Chantala’s interpretive pieces of the Lao American refugee experience, commemorating 40 years since post-1975 war era. Chantala is no stranger to LLOTP. He joined forces with us for The Lao Diaspora Project and showcased his work at our “Refuge of the InvisibLao” exhibit earlier this year in Minneapolis. We briefly chatted about what this upcoming collection means to him and his craft. On his contribution to Lao American art. I made the work to document a piece of Lao history that many of us lived through, so the work is very personal. I didn’t make paintings of three-headed elephants, That Luang, women bathing in the river, or the march of monks in morning rituals. Sure, these are “cute” subjects, but that’s not what I’m selling. This work is about the Lao for the Lao, Lao people should give a fuck about. On his reflections of Lao America. Everything is …

Up for seconds: Refuge of the InvisibLao at Brookdale Public Library – April 3-May 31

April is here. 40 years of Lao Diaspora journeys fill the limited pages and portraits in snippets of fragmented memories. Shoutout to our fellow Southeast Asians holding down their own commemoration events across the nation. My hands are raw from fresh paper cuts scrambling to share collected stories of my people. Full conversations with passerbys. “Oh, I grew up during the Vietnam War” “Did you know about Laos too?” “Um. Where?” I’m exhausted. Let the exhibit speak. Sneak peek: If you missed the first run of “Refuge of the InvisibLao” exhibit, catch the ‘limited’ version of the exhibit.  Share your thoughts and reflections. Opening reception with stories and refreshments Friday, April 3rd from 2:00-5:00pm. Exhibit runs through May 31st, 2015 at Brookdale Public Library located on 6125 Shingle Creek Parkway, Brooklyn Center, MN 55430. See you there. -Chanida Phaengdara Potter, editor@littlelaos.org