Pằng & Dê (H’mông)
2020 10m HD 16:9
Heritage Shorts #5
In the fifth of a new series of short films from Heritage Centre Sapa in association with Open Cinematic, we meet Pằng and Dê – two H’mông friends from Mù Cang Chải district in Yên Bái province. As for every H’mông woman of the region, batik textiles form an important part of Pằng and Dê’s culture. Each cotton panel requires about six hours work. The process is completed with embroidery and appliqué to give the textiles flashes of colour.
As the cockerel welcomes the dawn, work starts early for the H’mông. Batik panels form the most exquisite part of their traditional jacket. The smell of hot wax is one familiar to every batik artist.
Placing cotton fabric onto large wooden boards, a template is etched by fingernail with rice stalks used as measuring tools. Each assured stroke of wax quickly hardens to form patterns representing saw blades, elephants’ feet and mountains.
Once complete, the cotton is dipped in lukewarm water laced with rice liquor, dipped in indigo dye, rinsed and dried. The dipping process is repeated many times over a series of days. Boiling water is used to melt off the wax and reveal the finished design. Four panels are required for a single jacket meaning the whole process takes weeks to finish.
Unlike many languages, H’mông didn’t have a widely used written form until the second half of the 20th century. Textiles therefore constitute an important form of expression. The inspiration for many batik motifs is derived from the natural environment. Snail shells, animal teeth, ferns and pumpkin seeds are all represented.
Generations of knowledge are suffused into each of these swathes of fabric, with the H’mông thought to be among the first to develop the Batik technique. To this day, the group’s textiles are imbued with the spirituality that underpins their identity.
