Her Selected As Star Tribune's Artist Of The Year

Pao Houa Her ’09 has been selected as Artist of the Year by Star Tribune. Known for her photography documenting migration, displacement, and the social and ecological resilience of the Hmong diaspora throughout the United States and Laos, Her became the first Hmong American to have been selected for the Whitney Biennial in New York, as well as debuting a solo exhibition at Paris Photo.

Despite all the attention in the art community, Her is not really all that famous in her own. "Sometimes I really relish the fact I'm a nobody in the [Hmong] community," said Her. "I down have an audience—or the perception is that I don't have an audience, so what I have to say doesn't really matter. There's something really powerful about that—not being a public figure and not having to answer to anybody has really helped me in the ways I am able to work."

Her currently has an exhibit at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. The exhibit, Paj qaum ntuj / Flowers of the Sky, is on view until January 22 in Gallery C.

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• Internationally renowned photographer Pao Houa Her illuminates Hmong culture
  (December 11, 2022–startribune.com)