Prince Nithakhong Somsanith is not your typical prince. He is
one of the last gold thread embroiderers in the ancient tradition
of the court of Luang Prabang, former kingdom of Laos.
This art and its techniques used to be passed on from one generation to
the next, from mother to daughter of noble birth. Prince Somsanith
started his apprenticeship at an early age from his grandmother,
with whom he spent time during hot summer days. It was there that
he was introduced to and helped with intricate and tedious embroidery
tasks.
His Life
Prince Nithakhong Somsanith was born in Luang Prabang,
the former royal capital city of Laos, one of the 730 World Heritage sites.
Prince Somsanith graduated from the National School of Medicine in Vientiane, Laos,
before leaving his homeland in 1985 to continue his higher education in France.
He received his Master's degree from the Institute of Visual Arts
in L'Universite d'Orlean, and his Ph.D. in Psychology from L'Universite de Sorbonne.
He has made France his adopted home, and pursued a career in mental health counseling in
Orleans until summer of 2003. He now devotes his time predominantly to his art.
Though he has been occupied with other aspects of life, Prince Somsanith has held on to
his childhood memories; he has deep passion for Lao folk arts. He is a self-taught folk
artist and feels it is a special gift that has been passed on to him from many generations.
He spends countless hours painting the sceneries of Laos, gently carves woods, and creates
traditional crafts. He especially devotes most of his time to the very fine art of gold thread
embroidery of the royal Lao palace, with precise and calculated stitches and movements,
giving life to collars, skirts, pillows and many other religious objects.
Prince Somsanith is an internationally known embroidery artist. In the last ten years he has
exhibited his works in Germany, England, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
He continues to show his arts and crafts in France. Today, his works are well accepted and
recognized by the French cultural society.
His Work
In Laos, a typical embroiderer's career starts
very early, when their fingers are still nimble. They begin
with tracing edges to frame designs and learn to decorate pillows.
In their teens, they embroider collars and skirts. As women,
they work on their wedding dresses, ceremonial and burial clothes.
At the height of their career, they slowly shift to making religious
items for offerings.
In his spare time, he traces the course of his childhood
memory back to his secret garden, of temple ceilings with beautiful
designs and elaborate inscriptions. It is there that he finds
inspiration to produce some of the most magnificent embroideries,
on religious fans for Buddhist monks and on royal garments.
But his richly ornamented jackets and finely embroidered skirts
will never be worn by queens or princesses: the monarchy was
abolished when the Communist took over Laos in 1975.
But to Prince Somsanith, it is not a question of technique,
of usage, or even of monetary value. This art is the fragile
thread that ties him to the land of his ancestors. It has a
cultural importance, a spiritual implication, and an intrinsic
meaning. Each color and design has special significance and
represents different social status. Today, it has lost its inherent
value in place of commercialism. With the need of American dollars,
the art has become a manufacturing process. Prince Somsanith
maintains his firm standing of sharing his embroidery and the
lifestyle that accompanies it. He has for mission the preservation
of this dying art, both its techniques as well as its meaning.
In an effort to promote the art of gold thread embroidery, Prince
Somsanith has exhibited his works in France and in other European
countries. He traveled to the US for the first time in 2004
to specifically reach out to the younger Lao-Americans. As one
of the last masters of this endangered tradition, he only has
one objective: to pass it on.
