A Celebration of Hmong Culture Through The Arts – Events Welcome Public, Educators & Their Students

ALBANY — The UAlbany Performing Arts Center and New York State Writers Institute are collaborating to present A Celebration of Hmong Culture Through the Arts, a multi-discipline project celebrating Hmong culture and history which revolves around Kao Kalia Yang’s memoir, The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir. The project spans the disciplines of literature, theatre, film and art and includes a display, a documentary screening and a stage performance. 

The schedule of events, all taking place at the UAlbany Performing Arts Center on the uptown University at Albany campus, is as follows:

• A display of Paj ntaub (also known as Hmong story cloths or flower cloths) is available for viewing on Monday, Oct. 24 through Friday, Nov. 4, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily on weekdays. Admission is free. No reservations are required.

• A screening of the documentary Being Hmong Means Being Free will take place at the UAlbany Performing Arts Center on Thursday, Oct. 27 at 4:30 p.m. Admission is free. No reservations are required.

•Performances of The Latehomecomer. Directed by Elise Thoron, this theatre work starts as author Kao Kalia Yang is born in the Ban Vinai Refugee camp in Thailand and eventually arrives in the United States. The book and stage presentation follow her journey from a quiet, reticent student struggling to speak English while facing racial discrimination to a self-empowered young woman claiming her voice to tell the untold story of her people. They tell a universal story of immigration through the specific lens of this ancient culture inextricably bound to the history of the war in Vietnam.

There will be a public performance at the UAlbany Performing Arts Center on Thursday, Nov. 3 at 7:30 p.m., preceded by a pre-show talk beginning at 7 p.m. A second performance will take place on Friday, Nov. 4 at 10 a.m. exclusively for high school student groups. 

Advance tickets for the public performance are $15 for the general public and $10 for students, seniors and UAlbany faculty-staff. Tickets purchased on the day of the show (pending availability) are $20 for the general public and $15 for students, seniors and UAlbany faculty-staff. Individual tickets can be purchased on the UAlbany Performing Arts Center’s site at www.albany.edu/pac.

Admission to the morning matinee is free for high school student groups. Reservations are required. Educators wishing to bring groups can contact the UAlbany Performing Arts Center office at 518-442-3995 or PAC@albany.edu. Home school students and parents are also welcome.