Radio Espacio Estación by Agustina Woodgate. Day 1.

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At times where space is limited and the sustainable uses of materials and outlets for community are required REE creates a network of geographically remote nodes. The airwaves are available spaces; this spaces now will be activated and become places where the imaginary and the real merge.
REE is an online nomadic bilingual radio transmission that aims at building relationships within communities by exploring connections between creative process and everyday cultural experiences. Its programming is based on site specific narratives, dialogues and story telling.
REE focuses on transmission as a mode for expression and exchange investigating the relationships with sound and its communicative value. A platform exploring ways for language learning replacing translation with integration. Its democratic format engages discussions of ideas, social and cultural issues. Interactions with the general public encourages active listening and social involvement. Each show is broadcasted live and archived online. This is a time and site specific project.

Interviews and music at the HmongTown Marketplace with musicians, artists, activists, and others. www.radioee.net

Day 1: author Kao Kalia Yang, musician Sonic Rain, curator Sandra Teitge, and members of the market clientele.

The incredible and esteemed author Kao Kalia Yang.

Kao Kalia Yang’s audience at the Hmong market.

Author of thelatehomecomer talks about her experience as a Hmong woman in the U.S.

Our next guest: Sonic Rain.

Sonic Rain played some music for Radio Espacio.

Passersby talking about their shopping experience and traditional recipes.

Last but not least: the curator and the artist.

Final conversation of the day.

Bathroom break: Agustina fascinated by the colorful fabrics.

Sketches for the Storefront Marketplace St. Paul by Pauline Beaudemont

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Appropriating the aesthetics of the Hmong market Pauline Beaudemont conceives of a backdrop for the Storefront Marketplace, in which Agustina Woodgate will set up her radio station this coming weekend. It combines elements of a photo studio, a stage design, and a store interior, especially the ones at the Hmong market.

Everything is sourced from Accent Fixtures, where the Hmong vendors also buy their equipment and material: mannequins, baskets, and other elements.

Supported by: Pro Helvetia, Schweizer Kulturstiftung; Fonds cantonal d’art contemporain, Genève

Pauline Beaudemont, Storefront Marketplace artist-in-residence.

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Pauline Beaudemont arrived from Geneva, Switzerland, on Saturday, 11 October 2014.

In her artistic practice, she is interested in concepts such as non-site, spirituality, dreams and mystic phenomena.

Her first solo show at SALTS in Basel, Switzerland, opened on October 4th. Previously, Beaudemont conducted a residency at Fieldwork: Marfa, in Texas, where her aim was to draw a cartography of the subconscious of the region by approaching the town’s onirism in a pseudoscientific and systematic way.

At the HmongTown Marketplace Beaudemont will develop an installation loosely inspired by elements of Hmong culture and aesthetics.

Supported by: Pro Helvetia, Schweizer Kulturstiftung; Fonds cantonal d’art contemporain, Genève

In anticipation for the Hmong New Year.

Investigating the DVDs on offer about hunting, cooking, and farming.

Colorful fabrics with traditional patterns.

Bon apétit. Beef mix with sticky rice.

College of Design in exile at the Storefront Marketplace

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Tasoulla Hadjiyanni brought her class to the market and held a very interesting lecture on culturally-sensitive housing, with a focus on three different immigrant groups and their ideal way of living: Hmong, Somali, and the Ojibwe. Fascinating research.

Lecture on cultural-specific housing.

A few impressions: Hmong people, the ones who believe in animism, co-habitate with their dead ancestors. They leave space between the furniture and the wall so the ancestors can move freely around the space. The altar, where they honor the dead spirits, should be across from the door so that the spirit can easily find its way when it is called by the shaman.

General Pao Vang, President Obama, and a Native American chief – interesting constellation.

Cooking spaces in Hmong, Somali, and Ojibwe culture.

Cooking spaces are large and well equipped. Traditionally, Hmong do not use disposable plates and silverware as this is considered rude. Hospitality especially towards family members is very important in Hmong culture. Gender roles are clearly defined and still very conservative. The women cook and serve the meals to the men who are seated at the table whilst the women have to find a space to eat their food without disturbing the male section.

Ancestor wall above the desk: a line of Hmong generals.

Different layouts of living spaces: Hmong prefer large communal spaces for family gatherings.

Siblings usually share a bedroom and sleep in one bed as they feel more comfortable that way – very different to the predominantly individualistic way of living in the United States.

Break from class, on the way to the restroom.

Storefront Marketplace Lunch Exchange.

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Stir fry –prepared out of collected produce: Chinese broccoli and onions–, hot tea, sounds by Emeka Ogboh, Can & Asli Altay, and Suat Ögüt, video by Rainer Ganahl and the prototype of Emily Stover’s mobile kitchen – a delicious lunch experience. Thank you to Ana Benson, Nengma, the head of the produce section, and Jamie Liu, manager of the HmongTown Marketplace.

Marketplace def. by Merriam Webster 

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1 a :  an open square or place in a town where markets or public sales are held

b :  market <the marketplace is the interpreter of supply and demand>

2 :  the world of trade or economic activity :  the everyday world

3 :  a sphere in which intangible values compete for acceptance <the marketplace of ideas>

Hmong Fashion Show “Fresh Traditions” organized by CHAT

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Storefront Marketplace’s collaborator CHAT (Center for Hmong Arts & Talents) organized this presentation of contemporary Hmong design produced in Saint Paul, MN. Hmong textile art (Paj ntau or Paj ntaub, or “flower cloth” in Hmong) looks back on a long tradition in Hmong culture. The embroidery consists of bold geometric designs and bright, contrasting colors such as neon pink or neon green. Different patterns and techniques of production are associated with geographical regions and cultural subdivisions within the Hmong community and continue to be passed down to the younger generations. “Fresh Traditions” reveals the strong interest in contemporary Hmong-American fashion designers in these traditional patterns whilst appropriating them for their idiosyncratic designs.

Hill Tribe Fusion’s new creations “Enchanted”.

Fusion of contemporary and traditional fabrics.

Ceceil’s collection “Something Borrowed”

Storefront Marketplace Opening feat. Dinner Exchange Americana.

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We collected, we cooked, we ate!

Thank you to the vendors of the HmongTown Marketplace who contributed their leftover produce, and to the sous-chefs Evan and Jacqueline.

Although a predominantly white situation in the beginning, towards the end, a few of the Hmong vendors approached us, tasted our creations, and gave us their culinary feedback: which vegetables to mix together, which spices to use for different combinations and types of food, how to prepare certain vegetables etc. – a true crash course in Hmong cuisine.

We are looking forward to future cooking adventures at the market in the month to come.

Setting up our dinner situation.

Chinese cabbage and other greens donated by the Hmong vendors.

Our guests tasted our creations.

Dessert.

Emily Stover’s mobile kitchen CookKIT for Storefront Marketplace …

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…being prepped for the October 3/4 weekend at the HmongTown Marketplace in Saint Paul.

Storefront Marketplace kicks off at the Hmong market in Saint Paul, MN.

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Storefront Marketplace infiltrates itself into three different market environments in the U.S. and Europe. Starting at a Hmong market in St. Paul, Minnesota, it travels to Thessaloniki, Greece and integrates itself into the city’s urban fabric and multi-layered, multi-cultural history. It resumes in Berlin, Germany, in an old restored indoor market. Its interest lies in investigating and experimenting with the marketplace as a space for exchange through performances, food, sound, and objects. An artist run program of films, lectures, performative interventions, radio programs, and culinary events engages and addresses large, central civic constituencies.

Featured artists and participants: Pauline Beaudemont, Hana Erdman, Jasmin Ihrac, Atalya Laufer, Emeka Ogboh, Ece Pazarbasi, Emily Stover, Fres Thao, Agustina Woodgate with Pao Houa Her, University of Minnesota College of Design, and many other local artists and architects.