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Posts from the ‘Jinuo’ Category

Feb 7

Shoulder Bags and Ethnic Identity in Southern Yunnan, China

I am happy to announce the opening of a small exhibition titled Shoulder Bags and Ethnic Identity in Southern Yunnan, China. For such a small exhibition, the project has gathered in a large team of collaborators. Thanks go to all of them!

The exhibition is now open in the Scholars’ Commons at the Wells Library on the Indiana University Bloomington campus. The exhibition presents a purchased collection made by Wuerxiya and I in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture and Pu’er Prefecture-Level City in Southern Yunnan, China during December 2023. Learn more about the exhibition at: https://libraries.indiana.edu/shoulder-bags-ethnic-identity-southern

The cover of the catalogue, Shoulder Bags and Ethnic Identity in Southern Yunnan, China.

Accompanying the exhibition is a thirty-five-page color catalogue co-authored by Wuerxiya, Jackson, and Touhidul Islam and designed by Emily Bryant. Published by the Material Culture and Heritage Studies Laboratory, it can be downloaded for free from the IUScholarWorks Repository: https://hdl.handle.net/2022/33339

At right, a woman walks away from the camera. Seen from the back, she wears the clothing of the Jinuo people, including a white, pink, and orange shoulder bag, which rests on her left hip. At left, also seen from behind, is another women in commercial clothing. The two women are in conversation while walking towards a bamboo grove on a deck.
Wuerxiya (left) and Tang Haiyan (right) discussing Jinuo clothing. Ms. Tang wears a should bag in Jinuo style. Jinuoshan Junuo Ethnic Township, Jinhong City, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan, China. December 24, 2023.
IU Libraries digital promotion image for the exhibition “Shoulder Bags and Ethnic Identity in Southern Yunnan, China.

The exhibition will close May 19th 2025. Special thanks to IU Libraries for hosting it!