
Art lovers often tend to destroy what they most admire. How
many masterpieces have lost all meaning and power after being exposed
to uninformed admiration and popularity? Many instances will come to
mind. But fortunately this coin has two sides. Sometimes this passion
for art of which 1 am complaining can help to reveal a new area by
focusing attention on objects vanishing unnoticed by the outside world.
This is exactly what has happened to the Yao taoist paintings during the
past four years. These unique art objects might have been thrown away
in despair by worshippers who (for reason of poverty or political
pressure) could no longer practice the prescribed rituals, or burned at
the order of some Christian missionary groups, or destroyed by
communist zealots. Instead, they have been spared such a fate thanks to
the interest shown in them by curio collectors and connoisseurs of Asian
art. As a result, the sacred paintings of the Yao have made their way to
international recognition.
Their value to their original owners was a purely religious one.
But, as they became more widely known, they acquired also a consider-
able monetary value, increasing in proportion to the growing interest
shown in them by would be buyers. Since 197 5, their price in the open
market has risen no less than fifteen fold. This has no doubt led to a
better understanding of their true worth on the part of the Yao and
those through whose hands they pass. Orders to bum these treasures as
'Satan's paraphernalia' are less often heard since they certainly would
not be fonowed nowadays. In Laos, one may venture to hope that
even a zealous revolutionary may one day decide that Yao paintings
are worth preserving for exhibition in a future 'People's Museum'. But,
by that time, it is likely that not many of them will be left to acquire.
As a matter of fact, the present abundance of these paintings stems from
severe changes in the life of the Yao, caused by the Pathet Lao take over.
Whether they fled to Thailand, or remained in their villages in the hope
of surviving the drastic measures imposed on them by the Lao communist
bureaucracy, many Yao people nevertheless found it impossible to
continue their traditional religious practices. As a result they decided
to dispose of their most treasured possession: that is, the set of taoist
paintings which every true devotee should ideally possess.
Some dealers estimate that at least three to four hundred sets
must have been sold already. But this abundant flow to the international
market is already diminishing, and will dry up entirely if political
pressures are eventually relaxed. One must remember that, only ten
years ago, Yao religious paintings would have been kept with diligent
care beyond the reach of prying eyes; and, until recently, only a few
anthropologists had been allowed to see them, d~-ing religious ceremo-
nies they were privileged to witness. As indicated above, the sudden
appearance of these paintings in antique shops is not an accident, but is
largely due to the dire circumstances of the hew life' which the Yao
face in revolutionary Laos.
However, once relead to art dealers and connoisseurs, a new
danger arises: the series risk being dispersed world-wide as individual
paintings, with no indication of their provenance and history. It will
thus be virtually impossible to date and classify them in the future
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https://www.bates.edu/museum/exhibitions/2014-2/art-of-the-shaman-from-vietnam-and-china/
above are 12 of my first acquisitions, reminding me of the Nepalese and Tibetan thangka's. you'll find bookcovers for further studies and an yao shaman exhibition link. Below are more examples , paper shaman masks as well a wooden, shaman implements, making me think of the Newar of Nepal!
Following; Antique Yao Shaman’s robes from Laos, 19th century. The provenance is from the ex Roger Hollander collection.