One of the villages in Miao country where I visited I was warned I’d have to sing to be hosted. So we arrived at the elder’s house and the women were all lined up in chairs on one side of an upper room. The Miao live above their pigs, so living space is always on the second floor, with the roof being completely hung with drying rice. So each woman sang to me, and then my assistant said it was my turn. I was so nervous I ended up singing the only song that came to my mind – Leaving on a Jet Plane by John Denver. I’m sure it was misery listening to me but I was pretty drunk soon afterwards! The female elders told my assistant that they loved seeing my soul in my eyes when I sang.

Material: Beads, Fabric

Origin: China