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I just love this photo of my father preparing for procession to join the Soukhouan Ceremony. That was on April 21, 1964. He is tall, handsome and wear a simple costume composed of a white shirt, the four-meter long silk wrap, a scarf 'phabieng' with black...
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if you find yourself idling and overwhelmed by the passing days, how about browsing the past, and immersing in the 1930s Indochina? How the French lived, but also our people. Some 1200 pictures to scroll through the instantanees of the Collection of Delphine...
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Anthropologist Joel Halpern will never know how we treasure his works and how powerful his photos and testimonials of Laos are. He lived in Laos in 1957, 1959 and 1969. In an idling afternoon, I am scrolling through his collection at the University of...
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A video of Visana Sihabandith & Pa Sisouvong's wedding on 29 October 2020. The video is nicely done but I particularly enjoy the beautiful costumes and paraphernalia of the wedding. Very traditional, from the outfits to the jewelry, the silverware, the...
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Photos Frederic C. Benson (Collection at the University of Wisconsin) I am grateful of foreigners like Fritz Benson who have documented the life of Lao people when they were working in Laos. I wonder how much we would remember the past if they have not...
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If you are in love with old stuff from Laos, you have to follow on facebook the page " Laos Thai Galerie Collectibles". I have no clue if the owner has virtual gallery or a physical one - there are so many in River City Mall though. On the FB page, we...
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In the 60s, Judith was a foreign American student who was hosted by my grandfather "Pho Gnai". She stayed for two months in the grand house in the Bouasavanh neighborhood the middle of Vientiane, participated to the royal wedding of princess Savivanh....
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Some well done videos of recent weddings in Laos. These are full length video that can give you a pretty good feel of today's wedding and the way of life of some wealthier families. It's not an endorsement - some stuff are tooo much, too nouveaux riches...
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There are always these wonderful encounters in life that bring you the warmth of a sunny day and friendship for life. Julia is one of these people. She cares as much for people as she cares for old and damaged textiles, the expertise for which she is...
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Even if you don't want to buy, connect to the several facebook stores that sell Lao costumes online. It is a good pulse of the creativity of Lao weavers and store owners who are ordering the costumes. They post by bunch of 30 or 50 photos. It can be the...
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If you pass by Paris this year of 2018, do not miss to visit the Museum of Quai Branly. The museum is showing 200 paintings from its colonial past with a few from Laos and Cambodia. I particularly enjoyed looking at how Lao women dressed in the early...
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Anou Thammavong established Oradesign, a fine textile company based in Vientiane. He inherited his love for textiles from his grandmother gna mae Orady Souvannavong (she is my grand auntie too:)). His level of artistry is probably the same as Carol Cassidy....
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I can't resist the beautiful calligraphy "Sa", a Lao green tea offered by famous Mariage Freres, Paris. The quality is excellent enough to be part of their offering so this makes me very proud. It's a collector tin, a celadon green canister with 100 g...
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In the region, it is difficult to match the creativity of Lao weavers, in particular when it comes to wedding costumes. The quality of the silk, from China, the golden threads and the marriage of colors make them very unique. No wonder why there are so...
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Interesting to contrast the video of the weddings in the US and Germany with this one, from a wealthy family in Lao with groom Khamgneun and bride Siewyian. Admire the real gold jewelry of the bride, golden thread embroidery of her blouse. Beautiful wedding...
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Watch the well done 13-minute video of the wedding of James and Chanare. Very American indeed but lots of efforts to keep the Lao traditions with many years of exile from the elders. Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l9VmaQP4LM
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A well done video of a mixed marriage wedding between Dariny and Joshua. I particularly like the sound bite of the Lao prayer at the beginning of the video. Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TylpeoboN4A
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Much has been written about Marc Leguay with a complete compendium of his works gathered by Francis Benteux, "Marc Leguay, le Peintre du Laos" (Maisonneuve and Larose, Paris, 2001). Leguay arrived in Laos in 1936 and felt in love with the country and...
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Sixty years of love, of life together. How will I continue without you? How will I fill my days? I know these are questions Bouasambhon has been asking herself since the loss of her husband Siphrachanh on November 19th, 2016 - and that many of us will...
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A declassified cable reveals that back in January 1974, John Gunther Dean, chargé d'Affaires of the US embassy sent a cable to Ambassador Richard Helm (Director of Central Intelligence until February 2, 1973 and then ambassador to Iran from 1973-1977)....
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It's rare to have designs of Lao costumes for men ! Discover the Winter collection 2016-2917 of Lao costumes with a twist of Marquis de Sade by Nithaya Somsanith. The collection was launched at the Lao National Museum in Vientiane on August 21, 2016....
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This is the most beautiful video of a contemporary Lao Wedding I have seen in years: the wedding of Maryka and Gregoire (by Estelle Beauvais, "Le Coeur de l'Homme"). The title of the video is "Aurore" in French which means in English "Dawn". Congrats...
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In case you are blase with real flowers, why not decorate your wedding with paper decoration by Wirin Chaowana, who elevates paper folding/cutting to works of art. The photos shown here are ceremonial trays and offerings we do with banana leaves and fresh...
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They have inspired the story of my book “A Lao Wedding” and have inspired many things in my life too. It is a sad and happy story interwoven with our country’s history. I don’t know if this is sad because our world has disappeared or because they have...
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The trend of weddings in Vientiane is to have these fancy flower decorations that can amount hundred thousands dollars. Not too far from home, I have admired (on the internet) the most jaw-dropping decoration from India or Thailand. Among the florists,...
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