Hmong Runner

I bought this runner from a shop in Chinatown, Singapore.  The owner bought the textile and sewed a golden Thai silk textile around it.  

Hmong living in Thailand, Laos, Burma and Vietnam number around 1 million and are divided into four sub-groups; the White Hmong, Striped Hmong, Red, Blue and Black Hmong. It is from the Hmong in Laos that most of our antique silver jewellery and textiles come. The Hmong were the first hill tribe group to successfully cultivate opium and are known to be shrewd entrepreneurs.

Today opium poppy cultivation by the Hmong is much reduced as result of government and international pressure and cash crops such as coffee and fruit trees have taken its place.

Despite the pressures to conform to life in the 21^st century, the ancient Hmong culture remains deeply woven into the fabric of their beings and they remain profoundly and proudly Hmong.