The American Folklife Center is excited to announce the online availability of another excellent fieldwork and research collection created through its Community Collection Grants (CCG). The new collection, “Lao Buddhist New Year Festival in Southern Louisiana,” documents the Louisiana Lao New Year Festival (LLNY) presented in 2022 by Wat Thammarattanaram, a Buddhist temple and monastery in Broussard (Iberia Parish), Louisiana.
A community-based research team led by project director Phanat Xanamane, videographer Bader Hamdani, historian Dr. Shane Bernard, and assistant director Sami Sion Haggood conducted interviews and captured video of events, ceremonies, and celebrations to document the social, cultural, and environmental expressions that have shaped this important cultural event over its more than 30 year history.
The collection features videos and digital images of the celebration’s rich tapestry of Buddhist activities, food culture, social interactions, crafts and artwork, textiles and fashion, music and dance, and other cultural artifacts reflecting the culture and history of the Acadiana Lao. Interviews with multi-generational members of the community illuminate various facets of the LLNY and document six major themes: Religion, Parade, Food, Music/Dance, Kinship, and Temple, along with some documentation of miscellaneous aspects of community expression. Films, videos, and still images of past festivals held between 1985 and 2019 are also featured.
This CCG project was launched in 2022 as part of the Library’s Of the People: Widening the Path! initiative. Funded by the Mellon Foundation, the CCGs create new opportunities for communities to engage with the Library and add their perspectives to the Library’s collections. Including their stories allows the national library to compile and share a more comprehensive story of America–now and for future patrons and researchers.
To access and explore the LLNY collections, visit this link!