Mekong Voices: A Transnational Appeal

There is concern and a yet some vibrant hope in the "Mekong Voices" speaking through artshows, workshops and installations at

Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University from 14 September until 22 February 2026.

"The commodification of the river and global demand for its products are resulting in massive biodiversity loss, while dams, pollution, and compounding impacts of climate change take further tolls. In the face of these existential threats, those who know the river best— those who yet know how to listen to the myriad voices of the Mekong — are also its fiercest protectors," wrote Guests Curators Amanda Flaim, Marina Pok, and Kelsey Merreck Wagner in the brochure presenting this one-of-a-kind cultural event:

MSUB-Mekong Voices-Brochure-October-2025.pdf

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The voices come from Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia (up to the Tonle Sap Lake) and Vietnam (down to the Mekong Delta), with artists Ruangsak Anuwatwimon, Baan Had Bai Tai Lue Weavers Group, Pao Houa Her, Wa Lone, Kalyanee Mam, Dylan AT Miner, Vasan Sitthiket, Ubatsat, Kawita Vatanajyankur, and from Cambodia Nim Kong, Yim Maline, Lim Sokchanlina, Thang Sothea, and Sao Sreymao (who authored the artwork for the event poster reproduced above).

Contemporary visual arts rub shoulders with traditional crafts, with the remarked contribution by The Baan Had Bai Tai Lue Weavers, a collective of expert craftswomen from the Chiang Rai area near the international Thailand-Laos border presenting their work, entitled “Weaving the River of Life of Tai Lue”.

Above: The Baan Had Bai Tai Lue Collective at the Broad Museum exhibition. | Co-curator Dr. Kelsey Merreck Wagner introducing their weaving at a guided walkthrough(photos via The Mekong School).

And in this creative effort for the common well-being of some 65 million human lives (and countless traditions) the Mighty Mekong supports day after day, harmony flows naturally. For instance, the Thai artists, really impressed after seeing the pictures of  the  overall exhibition, told Co-curator Kelsey Merreck Wagner they were keen to with Cambodian artists for a joint exhibition in the future. 

Above:The huge and intricate mural Mekong Flow by Thang Sothea (acquired by The Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum)| Detail of its 103 kilos of up-cycled cans.

Art is also a way to lend an impacting voice to those who keep researching and reflecting on the many ways to do the River justice. The long-term Mekong Culture WELL Project, launched in 2020 by Michigan State University to encourage interdisciplinary and internationally collaborative exchanges on water, ecologies, land and livelihood transformations, has already helped in assessing challenges and envisioning solutions. At community level in the region and at academic level internationally, there is still work ahead. The Mekong Voices event is showing the potential.

Views of Mekong Voices installations by (from left to right)Yim Maline, Sao Sreymao, Lim Sokchanlina.

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Mekong Voices: Transnational River Justice in Mainland Southeast Asia is organized by the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University and co-curated by Marina Pok, chairwoman, Anicca Foundation; Kelsey Merreck Wagner, Ph.D. graduate, MSU Department of Anthropology; Dalina A. Perdomo Álvarez, assistant curator; Dr. Amanda Flaim, associate professor, MSU James Madison College and Department of Sociology; and Steven L. Bridges, senior curator and director of curatorial affairs; with support from Mekong Culture WELL Project Postdoctoral Fellows Wisa Wisesjindawat-Fink and Sopheak Chann, and from student research assistants Savitri Ashalata Anantharaman, Leo Baldiga, Katherine Chamberlin, Madison Kennedy-Kequom, Maddie Morrison, Thanh Tran, and Apichaya Thaneerat. Support for this exhibition is provided by the Eli and Edythe Broad Endowed Exhibitions Fund. The Mekong Culture WELL Project (2020–25) is generously funded by a Henry Luce Foundation LuceSEA grant.

 Now through Feb 22, 2026