Dej Txiaj Ntsim, Kuab Maiv Yaj, Koua Mai Yang
Saint Paul, Minnesota
kouamyang@kouamyang.com

EDUCATION

2017-2020    Master of Fine Arts, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota

2012    Bachelor of Fine Arts (Drawing and Painting). University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

FELLOWSHIP

2023-2024 - Chawrchā, NextGen ChoreoLab, Ananya Dance Theatre, Saint Paul, Minnesota

2023-2024 - Artist2Artist Fellows, PO Box 311, Prince Street Station, New York, NY 10012

2020-2021 - MCAD/Jerome Early Career Fellow, Minneapolis, Minnesota

2019 - Berlin Studio-Artist Residency Program, Milchhof, Berlin, Germany, funded through the University of Minnesota Twin Cities College of Liberal Arts, German and European Studies (CGES), the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), and the Department of Art, Minneapolis, Minnesota

2018 - University of Minnesota Twin Cities Department of Fine Arts Scholarship

2017-2018 - Diversity of Views and Experiences (DOVE) Fellowship, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota

2013-2014 - Community Arts Fellowship. John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, Wisconsin

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2024-sawv tsees rov los os, lift yourself up and return, April 4-25, 2024, Allen Preibe Gallery, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

2022- Tsho, October 10- November 11, 2022, Harry M. Drake Gallery, Saint Paul Academy and Sumit Hill School, Saint Paul, Minnesota.

2022- los os los os, March 7 - March 25, 2022, Renaissance Hall, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota.

2021- zaum no nej pom kuv thiab, July 23 - September 11, The Vault Gallery, Center for Visual Arts in Wausau, Wisconsin.

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023- When is a pot not a pot? | Science Museum of Minnesota Community Curators program, Saint Paul, Minnesota

2022- 2020/21 MCAD–Jerome Fellowship Exhibition | Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis, Minnesota

2020- 4,5,6, Graduating MFA Exhibition | Katherine E. Nash Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota

2019- THIRTY-THREE VIEWS | Second Shift Studio Space Curatorial Project Exhibition, Swedish Bank Building, Saint Paul, Minnesota

2019- Something I'm Thinking | Quarter Gallery, Regis Center for Art, Minneapolis, Minnesota

2018- "Continuum 2018: After 25 years" | Kenilworth Square East Art Gallery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

2018- Third Thursdays on Argyle: Tsev | Duo show. Axis Lab, Chicago, Illinois

2017 - Where Are You Now | University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin

2017 - Fresh Works | Quarter Gallery, Regis Center for Art, Minneapolis, Minnesota

2016 - Selected Works | Public Functionary, Minneapolis, Minnesota

2016 - Spirit: Tsho Hmoob, Hmong Shirt | Made Here Minnesota. Minneapolis, Minnesota

2016 - MANIFEST: Refugee Roots Exhibition | Little Mekong Art Walk. Saint Paul, Minnesota

2016 - Cause and Effect | Flow Art Space, Saint Paul, Minnesota

2016 - Storytelling: Hmong American Voices | James B. and Rosalyn L. Pick Museum of Anthropology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois

2015 - 17th Hmong National Development Conference: Visual Art Gallery | Hmong National Development, Saint Paul, Minnesota

2013 - Art Alumni Exhibition | North High School, Sheboygan, Wisconsin

COMMUNITY COLLABORATIONS, PROJECTS AND PERFORMANCES

2023- When is a pot not a pot? Community Curator Series, Science Museum of Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minnesota

2018-Tsev. Installation and presentation at the Art of Healing Transnational Healing Summit. Regis Center for Art, Minneapolis, Minnesota

2018- Tsev. Collaboration with Magnolia Yang-Sao Yia. In Motion: Performance and Unsettling Borders an interdisciplinary graduate student conference, and performance festival on April 27-29 2018. Northwestern University Department of Performance Studies, Evanston, Illinois

2018 - Weeds of Politics | Creative Collaborator. Katherine E. Nash Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota

2017- St. Paul Almanac IMPRESSIONS Project. Head House, Union Depot, St. Paul, Minnesota. Fall - September 1st, 2017  

2017- Mai. Choreographed by Magnolia Yang-Sao Yia. New Works 4 Weeks 2017 Festival. Red Eye Theater, Minneapolis, Minnesota

2016 - she can be seen walking alone. Choreographed by Magnolia Yang-Sao Yia. 2016 Naked Stages. Pillsbury House Theater, Minneapolis, Minnesota

2016 - she can be seen walking alone (excerpt). Choreographed by Magnolia Yang-Sao Yia. Choreographers’ Evening curated by Rosy Simas, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

2016 - Unsilencing Ourselves: Addressing and Shaming Hmong Patriarchy at Midwest Asian American. Student Union (MASSU) Conference, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Performance with choreographer Magnolia Yang-Sao Yia

2015-2016 - Storytelling: Hmong American Voices. Pick Museum of Anthropology Advisory Council. Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois

2015 - Restaging of Shh…. silence. Choreographed by Magnolia Yang-Sao Yia. Barker Center for Dance, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota

2014 - Milwaukee Area Hmong Writing Project: A symposium to give literary voice to Hmong Americans. Lubar Hall, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

INTERVIEW

2020/21 MCAD-Jerome Foundation Fellowship Exhibition at MCAD, Jerome/MCAD Early Career Artist Fellowship, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis, Minnesota. https://vimeo.com/697082604. 2021.

Arts of Asia Curriculum: Hnav Hmoob, Wear Hmong, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, Minnesota. https://vimeo.com/454080320. 2019.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Priest, Jennifer Kirker. (2016, March 28). ‘Storytelling’ celebrates 40 years of Hmong history in America. NIU Today. Retrieved from http://www.niutoday.info/2016/03/28/storytelling-celebrates-40-years-of-hmong-history-in-america.

Vang, B., Schein, L. (Fall 2015). Scenes Lost from Gran Torino: Hauntings of Hmong of Laos. (Re)collecting the Vietnam War. The Asian American Literary Review. 6, Issue 2: 295-303.

Yang, Koua. "VIII. Koua Mai Yang." Visual Anthropology 31 (01-02):177-179. doi: 10.1080/08949468.2018.1429782.

Yang, Koua Mai (2021) "Day 785," Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement: Vol. 16 : Iss. 1, Article 8. DOI: 10.7771/2153-8999.1227 Available at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/jsaaea/vol16/iss1/8  

TALKS AND WORKSHOPS

2023 - Lives on and Off Paper: HMong Art and Writing in the Everyday. Saturday, June 24, 2023. Merced County Library - Gracey Room. Hosted by the University of California Merced Center for the Humanities, and Asylum for the Arts in community collaboration with Hmong American Writers’ Circle. Merced, California.

2023 - “When is a pot not a pot?”, a response to the Science Museum’s collection of HMong objects. Friday, March 17, 2023, 6pm on Zoom. Community Curators, Science Museum of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN

2022 - Sim Naav/Hnav HMoob: Claiming Meaning and Sisterhood Through HMoob Clothes. Panel discussion. Hmong Heritage Month at the University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire and the University of Wisconsin—Oshkosh, Wisconsin

2021 - Making and Unmaking Hmong Spaces of Research. Panel discussion. 2nd annual SEASGRAD Conference at the University of California Riverside