Friends of mine in Washington DC picked up this embroidered cloth in a thrift shop. It shows people in some kind of traditional garb apparently farming under the guns of soldiers. In the center some are fording a river. On the other side they are received by a soldier in a different uniform and perhaps are transported to refugee camps.
We haven’t been able to identify what conflict or area this is intended to depict. The clothing of the people hopefully give some clues.
The people appear to be pink skinned, and the person in the upper right is apparently digging potatoes, so my first guess is Europe. But I couldn’t rule out the Middle East or Southeast Asia.
You nailed it. I’ve always been interested in the Hmong but never thought about their art. There are a lot of these that are very similar and, like you say, they depict crossing the Mekong to Thailand and a better life.
