In January 2013, Amika Gupta travelled to Thailand for two months with Kleo.

While in Thailand, I worked with the students living at Jen’s House. I wanted to bring stories of the Karen back to Canada, while involving the students. Through this thought came the idea to do a modified “photovoice” project. Photovoice is a method traditionally used in community development projects whereby participants are asked to represent their point of view by taking photographs, discussing them together and then creating stories to go with their photos. Photovoice aims to represent the perspectives of those who lead lives that are different from those traditionally in control of the means for imaging the world.

Jen’s House students live away from their villages. While they are still connected to their culture, life is removed from all the traditional Karen ways. This posed a problem for implementing the project. However, it came to light that many of the students were visiting their home villages for a wrist-tying ceremony, which was the perfect opportunity for them to capture their culture through photographs.

The wrist tying ceremony is generally practiced among those Karen who follow aspects of animism — the view that natural physical entities possess a spiritual essence. The ceremony, also known as a unity ceremony, brings distant family members and relatives living in different places back to the village for the restoration of spirit and strengthening of the soul. A Karen person (generally an elder) speaks a prayer or blessing for another while tying a string around his or her wrist. This stems from the belief that the spirit or soul may depart the body, putting a person in danger of illness or death. The ceremony summons a wandering soul, and a string tied around the wrist ensures the spirit remains inside the body.

These 22 photographs were taken on the day of the ceremony in the villages of Maw Wah Kee (consisting of about 45 houses), located two hours south-west of Chiang Mai, and Ban Mai (about 30 houses), located two and a half hours southwest of Chiang Mai. I gave the students three cameras to share and suggested what I wanted them to photograph by explaining the word “culture”. Previously I had taught them the concept of photography angles. The students then composed short captions to illustrate each image.

The resulting photographs capture Karen culture, and through the close relationship of the photographers with the subjects, they capture an intimacy and beauty that could not have otherwise been revealed. 

—Amika Gupta

The women of the co-op

Jalu

Jalu lives with her husband and four children, ages 20, 16, 14 and 7. Her sister, Lu Paw, and daughter, Suneesa, are members of the weaving co-operative. Needing to take care of her brothers and sisters, she could not continue her schooling beyond the third grade — a common story for Karen women. She currently owns a small shop in Nong Tao, hopes that her daughter Suneesa will continue her studies, and that her other children will attend University.

Lu Paw

Lu Paw, sister of Jalu, was born in Nong Tao in 1973 and is a single mother of 2 children, aged 14 to 16. Lu Paw attended school in Nong Tao and completed her education up to Grade 4. Today, she farms for a living and grows flowers. Lu Paw has not had the means to send both her children to school, and hopes that her participation in the co-op will allow one daughter at least to attend University.

Ma Knee

Ma Knee was born in Nong Tao in 1979 and lives with her husband and children, who are aged 2, 3 and 9. Ma Knee graduated from Grade 6 at the Nong Tao School, travelled to Mae Win and then to Ban Kad to complete her secondary school studies. She then travelled to the Ma La Refugee camp (near Mae Sariang), where she studied English for 5 months. Ma Knee was 10 years old when she was taught how to weave by her mother. She hopes that her participation in the co-op will allow her children to have good jobs in the future.

Tamla

Tamla was born 1973 in Mae Sariang and is the house mother of Jen’s House, a KLEO run program in Thung Siao – Thailand, which provides living and school expenses for Karen children to attend high quality Thai Schools. Her husband and two children, a son and daughter, also live with her at Jen’s House. Tamla recently went back to school to complete her Grade 12 education. Tamla was taught how to weave by a neighbour when she was a young girl. She hopes her children will attend University and go on to achieve great things.

In Ottawa, you can find the weavings of the Ladies of Nong Tao here: