Community learning · Visual heritage
Local identity, shared across generations.
The Kam people of Dimen have sustained a distinctive language, craft traditions, songs and visual motifs. The project brings local artisans, children, museum staff and students together to explore how those traditions can remain meaningful in a rapidly changing world.
Instead of treating heritage as something to be observed from a distance, the workshops and collaborations make it an active, shared practice.
Make · Learn · Share
Workshops and a living visual vocabulary
Traditional patterns become a starting point for printing, illustration and conversation across generations.
Screen-printing with children
Participatory workshops encouraged young people to explore the motifs, stories and aesthetics of their village.
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Workshops with adults
Artisans and museum staff experimented with screen-printing and applying traditional motifs in new contexts.
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Indigenous motif collection
Photographed embroidery and other patterns are documented and translated into reusable vector designs.
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Smithsonian Folklife Festival
In 2014 Kam artisans shared their designs and skills directly with visitors in Washington, DC.
Explore project ↗Young voices · Personal stories
Seen and told by the next generation
Student collaborations give children and young adults opportunities to tell their own stories and represent the places they know.
Through Young Kam Eyes
Photography by young people in Dimen, facilitated by student Anastasya Uskov.
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Their Then and Now
Joanne Kwan’s graphic novel explores five young villagers’ lives, memories and hopes.
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Dimen Animals Coloring Book
A student-designed coloring book introduces local animals to children through illustration.
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Student-designed prototypes
Student concepts combine traditional Kam visual forms with usable everyday products.
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Learning by making together
During the 2014 workshops, museum staff, artisans and children participated directly rather than only observing a design process. Some children brought drawings of their relatives’ embroidery motifs to later sessions. At the Smithsonian, artisans became teachers to visitors with whom they did not share a language.
These encounters made traditional knowledge visible as a living resource and created new opportunities for pride and dialogue.
From the project archive
Dimen in Transition · 2012
The Reynolds Gallery exhibition brought together the research of Marie Lee, Jennifer Little, Joanne Kwan, and Anastasya Uskov, including Through Young Kam Eyes and Their Then and Now.
