Pai Nam Kan (Go Together): Lao American Artists Zine

Hello! My name is Kim Sandara and I am spearheading this creative Lao American artists zine because I think it needs to exist. With the censorship of the Secret War (1959-1975), many Lao Americans don't get the platform to express themselves or even have their cultural identity acknowledge by the wider American audience. Practically all our refugee families have migrated here during the Vietnam War era so our parents and grandparents generation are too traumatized to document the history that is in their bodies. That remembrance is inherently in the next generation so it's up to us to help process some of those feelings. Creativity is one way that manifests. Inspired by Vietnamese zines like Vagabond and Vanguard, I feel Lao diaspora creatives need a space to process their identities and ground that processing in the times we live in today. Here is the plan:

Pai Nam Kan ໄປນຳກັນ (Go together)

Creatives in the Lao American Diaspora

Thesis:

“Pai Nam Kan” is a phrase in Lao I often associate with siblings and cousins, especially when it comes to an older sibling leading younger siblings. My elders would always tell us to travel together whether it was to the temple, to the movies, down to the park. In Lao “Pai Nam Kan” usually means to go somewhere together but its English translation “Go Together” without any other context, could also mean a group of things that belong with one another. As we reflect on diaspora identity, what moments helped us learn about ourselves? Who did we go there with?

This zine interviews 8 artists of different disciplines to explore what it’s like to be creative in the Lao diaspora.

Themes: Remembrance, nostalgia, community, intersectional identity, diaspora processing

Specs:

intro:

4 intro pages including cover

(inside)

main body:

64 pages total,

8 pages (aka 4 spreads) per artist

(4 of the interview and 2 of images of their work)

extra spread:

+2 page (1 spread) table talk on current events

= 70 page perfect bound booklet (7”x9”/ 100lb paper)=$1000

Funding needs:

Printing: $1000 (for a special edition of 100)

Retail pricing will be sliding scale of $30-40 to hopefully keep it more accessible

Zine shipping to artists: $50 (Timothy, Thongxy, Jen, Liv, then I can hand deliver to Alana, Britney and Michelle)

Gofundme fee: around $60-100? Dependent on how many donations

Artist stipend goal: $100 each ($800 total)+ $100 for the graphic designer

= $2,100 goal

Timeline:

June 2024- Intro zoom call, get to know each other a little, offer space for anyone to add to the zine plan! Does anyone know a graphic designer who’d want to help?

July- Scheduling zoom call or in person interviews/ Call for graphic designer help!/ Fundraising begins

August- Kim transcribes the text/format/ Britney offered to proofread!

September- 9/1 Deadline to submit 3-4 project images with title/medium/year, bio headshot (with photo credit if you can) & Address to send your zine copy/ Begin advertising on social media

November- Hopefully printing by early November because I’m trying to go to Laos in December!

End of December/ early January 2025- Sending out zines and putting them up for sale

Artists:

Writer- Jenn Maypheth Batton (Los Angeles, CA)

Poet/ Activist -Thongxy Phansopha (Sacramento, CA)

Filmmaker -Britney Vongdara (Brooklyn, NY but from Nebraska)

Ceramicist -Alana Giarrano (From Queens,Ny, grew up in Florida, currently in Queens,NY!)

Animator -Vanessa King (Northern VA)

Digital artist/Organizer of Lao New Queer -Timothy Singratsomboune (Columbus, Ohio)

Painter/ Multidisciplinary -Kim Khouan Khong Sandara (from Northern VA, now in Brooklyn, NY)

Textile/Nail/Agitprop- Michelle Bounkousohn (Currently NYC)