Martha Cooper and Seth paint three schools

In November 2025, NK Seeds brought two world-renowned artists to northern Laos. Martha Cooper, a New York photographer, documented the early days of New York street art and the birth of hip-hop in the 1970s. Seth, a French mural artist, paints murals that give voice and colour to children all around the world.

For three days, with the NK Seeds team, they painted, shared and brought smiles to hundreds of children. Three schools, three murals: in Nong Khiaw, Hoy Pong and Hoy Bor. The project was coordinated by Alisa Phommahaxay, a Franco-Lao curator, and by Mélissa, from NK Seeds.

For Martha Cooper, it was a return: she had not been back to Laos for 60 years, since her Peace Corps days in Thailand.

In Hoy Pong, 30 minutes from Nong Khiaw, Seth paints the image of a young child taking flight on a classroom wall. The mural is called “L'envol” (Taking flight). Then the primary school students create their own birds in turn: each one paints a favourite bird flying towards the light. The children also show their handmade toys, crafted from bamboo and banana leaves.

Hoy Bor is a village of Khmu farmers, among the oldest inhabitants of northern Laos. With the children, the team decorates a wall that has just been built to separate the school's two classes. In the courtyard, Seth paints a Khmu woman in her everyday clothes, carrying her child. This mural is called “Passé futur” (Past future).

Between two walls, Seth also runs his “In My Head” workshops, where children paint their dreams and aspirations. And the playground keeps its games: a race with a hobby horse made from a large leaf, a walk on bamboo stilts.