Shoulder Bags and Ethnic Identity in Southern Yunnan, China

China’s Yunnan province is home to numerous ethnic groups. This exhibition focuses on a type of fabric art found among several peoples living in the southern parts of this province—the Jinuo, Dai, Hani, and Bulang. Each of these groups is one of the fifty-five minority nationalities recognized by the government of China. 

The shoulder bags exhibited were collected in December 2023 in parts of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture and Pu’er Prefecture-Level City. This is a tropical and mountainous region famous for the unique Pu’er tea grown there and for the richness and diversity of its local cultures. The shoulder bags presented and discussed in this exhibition are emblematic of that cultural richness. They are aesthetically complex, but still practical. A shared cultural item, shoulder bags are both a form held in common across groups and—in the ways that each are made and decorated—a way of differentiating groups and expressing identity.

This is an incredibly collaborative project; with immense thanks to our many contributors.

Research Planning and Support Surna, Li Huawen 

Cultural Experts Tang Haiyan, Bai Guiying, Buludu, Yu Xiangbing, Yan Xiangzai, Li Jingmei, Yu Men 

Fieldwork Wuerxiya, Jason Baird Jackson, Liu Wangchao 

Writing and Photography Jason Baird Jackson, Wuerxiya, Touhidul Islam 

Editing and Design Emily Bryant

Research Funding The Theory and Practice of the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Traditional Handcrafts under the International Perspective Project, Minzu University. 

Exhibition Funding College of Arts and Sciences, Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana University Bloomington Libraries 

Curation Alyssa Denneler, Zhou Chunfen, Wuerxiya, Touhidul Islam, Jason Baird Jackson 

Publishing Support Indiana University Press, Scholarly Communication Department, Copyright Program, all at IU Bloomington Libraries

Exhibition Support The Elizabeth Sage Historic Costume Collection

Promotional Support Makenna King