Program and Event

U.S. Embassy Grants $30,000 for Research of Ethnic Minority Group Culture

U.S. Ambassador Ravic Huso and TAEC Co-Director Tara Gujadhur after the grant signing ceremony

On September 12, 2008, U.S. Ambassador Ravic Huso signed a grant for $30,126 for the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Center (TAEC) as part of our ongoing efforts to preserve and protect the rich cultural heritage of Laos. This project will allow TAEC to research and document the religious and cultural traditions of the Lanten (Iu Mien) and Yao (Kim Mun) ethnic minority groups. 

The funds for this project have come from the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation, established by the U.S. Congress in 2001 to support heritage preservation in countries around the world.  Through this fund, the U.S. government is currently helping 57 nations preserve historic sites and manuscripts, museum collections, and traditional forms of music, dance and language.

The research and education project for TAEC will be the sixth Ambassador’s Fund project in Laos.  In previous years, we have supported programs to:

-          map and document standing stone sites or menhirs;

-          build displays and trails for tourists at the Menhirs Archeological Park in Huaphan Province;

-          train Lao staff in restoring the murals at historic Wat Sisaket in Vientiane;

-          create an inventory and display of artifacts in Wat Ho Prakeo;

-          and preserve the artifact collection at the National Museum in Vientiane.

The Ambassador’s Fund, and the efforts to protect historical artifacts and cultural traditions around the world that it makes possible, express the great value that the American people place on contributions that varied cultures  have made to world civilization.

[Ambassador Speech in Lao and English]