The San Joaquin County Historical Museum presents “Cloth as Community: Hmong Textiles in America,” showcasing the textile works that Hmong women traditionally produced that used abstract designs, created by embroidery, appliqué, reverse appliqué, and batik. The show runs now through Oct. 20. For hours and admission, call the museum at 209-331-2055. The museum is at 11793 N. Micke Grove Road, Lodi.

The showcase is a program of Exhibits USA, a national division of Mid-America Arts Alliance and The National Endowment for the Arts.

Hmong flower cloth (or paj ntaub) is one of the world’s great textile traditions and an excellent example of cloth as community. Despite its deep roots in Hmong culture, this complex art was not widely known outside Asia until after the Vietnam War, when Hmong refugees arrived in the United States. The works illustrate the profound relevance of textiles as infrastructure in the Hmong culture, an art form that shifted as it adapted to fit new realities. The exhibit features 28 textiles – flower cloths and embroidered story clothes – by those in the Hmong community