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Lao Community New Year Celebration at the Lao Temple, Morris, 2019

Date2019 April 14

Mediumborn digital video

DimensionsDuration: 30 Seconds

ClassificationsGraphics

Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections

CopyrightIn Copyright

Object number2015.196.397.6

DescriptionVideo of a part of the Lao New Year celebration at the Wat Lao Ariyamett Aram temple in Morris, Connecticut. This portion of the celebration is a procession outside the main temple building,with drumming and khene playing, and participants carrying flowers, pah khuane ornaments, and money trees. The procession circles the large statue of Buddha where participants sprinkle water on the deity and on each other to symbolize the cleansing aspect of New Year.

NotesSubject Note: Lao New Year is celebrated in Connecticut by members of the Lao community each April. Known as the Boon Pee Mai or the festival of the fifth month, this is a time of special meals and ceremonies lasting for several days. Traditionally, on the last day of the old year houses are cleaned and put in order as a symbolic activity intended to expel any bad spirits that may be hiding in the home. On the first day of the new year, people go to the temple where they wash the statues of the Buddha with perfumed holy water. The ceremonies ensure good health and prosperity in the new year. In Connecticut, Lao gather at temples for religious ceremonies, and hold special banquets that feature music and dance by local dance groups such as Lao Narthasin led by dance educator and chef Manola Sidara. Other events have included an annual presentation by the students of Lao Saturday School which ran for many years at Jefferson School in New Britain organized by Manola Sidara and Howard and Sue Phengsomphone. Many of these events are organized by the Lao Association of Connecticut. Many Lao New Year celebrations in Connecticut have involved guest artists from other cultural backgrounds and traditions. In 2008 and 2009, CHAP collaborated with WNPR’s acclaimed radio discussion show Where We Live to document several ethnic festivals across the state. Words and sound were woven together to create podcasts and audio slide shows that take viewers and listeners right to the festivals. This project visited and documented a festival at the Lao Temple in Morris.

Subject Note: Pah Khuane - Originally made from banana leaves, these ornamental sculptures are used in Lao ceremonies and celebrations as a focal point for gathering people together and encouraging health and healing. They can also be an altar piece for a wedding ceremony, or given to people coming out of hospital to replenish their spirit. Khuan means spirit, and the decorations carry strings which are symbols of bonding and holding of the spirit, as also seen in Lao Buddhist ceremonies when the monk will tie a string around someone’s wrist as a sign of spiritual connection and well-being.

Subject Note: The basi or sou khuan (ceremony) that features the tying of a string around a person’s wrist is called mat khene. This ritual is a central part of Lao Buddhist events as well as weddings, births, house warmings, or after a death. The practice by a monk or honored elder tying a white cotton thread around a person’s wrist, or tying a cotton thread around the wrists of a bride and groom, symbolizes the connection and well-being of the person’s or family’s spirit.

Subject Note: Wat Lao Buddha Ariyamett Aram Temple, Morris CT is a center for the Lao community and their Buddhist worship, situated on several acres of land in rural northwestern Connecticut. Founded in 2002, the temple has beautiful statues of deities and traditional figures as well as several buildings for worship and community gatherings, many of those decorated and constructed in traditional fashion by the resident monk. Khoutavong Yongchaiyuth, traditional Lao ceremonial woodcarver, serves as the resident monk of the Wat Lao Ariyamettaram Lao temple in Morris, rural northwestern Connecticut, having moved there from the temple in Danbury. Khout has been a monk since he was fourteen years old, and in the temple in Laos he learned woodcarving, sculpture, stonemasonry, and painting. He was brought to the US in 1999 by the resident monk in Danbury to build decorative stone and woodwork, and Khout practices the same traditional crafts at the temple in Morris where he serves the spiritual needs of the Lao community. CCHAP has documented activities at the temple over many years, including New Year festivals, the water ceremony, temple dedications, and led a cultural tourism group to visit the temple in 2006. CCHAP connected the temple and community to a 2007 WNPR project on health care in Connecticut ethnic communities. As part of the Southern New England Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program Year 18 (2015-2016), Khout was a mentor to two monks, Xaiyo and Somchay, from the Smithfield RI Lao temple who came to the temple to learn how to build, restore, and decorate Laotian spiritual statues and buildings. Over an intensive few weeks, the young monks from RI gained skills of designing, molding, casting, cutting, and applying that helped them to revitalize the older structures at their temple. They presented their learning at a festival at the temple in 2016.

Biographical Note: Khoutavong Yongchaiyuth, traditional Lao ceremonial woodcarver, serves as the resident monk of the Wat Lao Ariyamettaram Lao temple in Morris, rural northwestern Connecticut, having moved there from the temple in Danbury. Khout has been a monk since he was fourteen years old, and in the temple in Laos he learned woodcarving, sculpture, stonemasonry, and painting. He was brought to the US in 1999 by the resident monk in Danbury to build decorative stone and woodwork, and he practices the same traditional crafts at the temple in Morris where he serves the spiritual needs of the Lao community. Khout was also invited to St. Petersburg, Florida to build a temple and carve several sculptures, which took him only a month. He has passed on his knowledge to other Lao Americans, teaching the young monks from the large Lao community in western Rhode Island, in Year 18 (2015-2016) of the Southern New England Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program.

As part of the Southern New England Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program Year 18 (2015-2016), Khout was a mentor to two monks, Xaiyo and Somchay, from the Smithfield RI Lao temple who learning to build, restore, and decorate Lao spiritual statues and buildings. Over an intensive few weeks, the young monks from RI gained skills of designing, molding, casting, cutting, and applying that helped them to revitalize the older structures at their temple. This apprenticeship was coordinated by Silaphone Nhongvongsouthy, a cultural leader in the Lao community in Rhode Island. She facilitated the public presentation of the group’s learning at Lao Buddha Ariyamettaram Temple in Morris CT

Subject Note: Connecticut was a major resettlement site for Southeast Asians in the 1980's. The Lao population numbers over 3000, living primarily in urban areas such as New Britain, Bridgeport, East Hartford, and Danbury and for a time in the 1990s-2007, in rural eastern Connecticut. While many Lao have found employment in factories, service industries, farming, and trades such as food, they continue to face barriers of language, lack of education, and lower income levels, all against a common backdrop of serious emotional wounds from the Viet Nam War era. Youth aged 10 - 19 years old have been by far the largest age group among Connecticut Southeast Asians. Maintaining young peoples’ awareness of heritage, culture, values, and language is a major goal of Lao leaders and parents. The Lao community sustains its traditional cultural practices in several ways. Several temples around the state provide gathering places where Buddhist monks and nuns offer spiritual services and cultural festivals. The largest temple is in Morris, where the resident monk Khoutavong has created exquisite Buddhist statues and traditional architecture with symbolic carvings, ornamentation, and shrines. Dancer and educator Manola Sidara developed and has directed Lao Narthasin, a traditional dance group now in its third generation of dancers. They perform classical, folk, and social dances that highlight cultural values such as respectful behavior and appreciation for elders. Manola also specializes in creating ceremonial decorations that express wellness, spirituality, and bonding during community celebrations, and she also promotes health and healing through her work as a master chef. The Lao Association of Connecticut formed in 1980 to unite the community and assist in economic development, cultural preservation, education, and health. For many years LAC offered classes in language, history, food and medicine, verbal arts, traditional music, and singing at Jefferson School in New Britain, and the group organizes several heritage festivals each year at the Morris temple that are attended by hundreds of Lao people. Other Lao community groups around the state also develop and present spiritual and cultural programs as well as health initiatives.

Additional audio, video, and/or photographic materials exist in the archive relating to these events and this organization.

Cataloging Note: This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-245929-OMS-20.

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