Kaitlyn Lee (she/her) is a 4th year Sociology major and Asian Canadian and Asian Migration minor at UBC. Her passions for community engagement, representation, and accessible storytelling for change have guided her experiences in and out of academic spaces. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, drawing, and capturing memories on her digital camera.
Born and raised in so-called “Vancouver” Julianna Yue is a third-year student majoring in Sociology and minoring in First Nations and Indigenous Studies interwoven with some interdisciplinary content in Asian Studies. She is Métis-Cree with Chinese and mixed European settler roots. She is interested in diasporic representations, storytelling, social justice, and identity. Additionally, she enjoys spontaneous adventures and exploring new places.
As an undergraduate student of Economics and International Relations at the University of British Columbia, Kelly is excited to learn more about inclusive research, economic patterns to Asian migration, and policy development. In her spare time, you can find her exploring the bubble tea shops of Vancouver with a book in hand.
Felicity Gutierrez (they/them) is a first-generation Filipino immigrant and 3rd year student at UBC, majoring in International Relations and minoring in Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies. Outside of INSTRCC, they are also involved in project-oriented and peer mentorship work. When Felicity has free time, they enjoy drawing, writing poetry, and eating good food.
Deborah is a 4th year Global Resource System student studying environmental sustainability at UBC, also enrolled in the B+MM program. As a 1st generation Canadian immigrant, she is passionate about exploring diverse cultural narratives and bridging Asian and Western cultures. Beyond school and work, Deborah is a multi-talented individual in singing, playing Chinese Zither, and dabbling in new hobbies such as embroidery. She also finds joy in long walks with her dog, cherishing simple but meaningful bonds that enrich life.
Burnaby, BC – Since 2018, students from the Initiative for Student Teaching and Research in Chinese Canadian Studies (INSTRCC) at UBC have been working with the Burnaby Village Museum (BVM) to develop projects that highlight Chinese Canadian history in Burnaby. Through the collaboration, the students have interned with the museum and created materials that explore and contextualize Asian Canadian and Chinese Canadian stories and experiences in Burnaby.
The students’ projects have spanned a wide range of mediums and approaches to museum programming. They include the creation of a smell station designed to engage visitors in the Chinese Herbalist Shop, a visitor survey aimed at improving site design and immersion, an interpretive exhibit that explored the history of Chinese Canadian farmers and their contributions to BC’s food system, as well as an additional interactive pop-up space where visitors could share their personal stories of food, migration and gardening.
Projects continued during the pandemic and were focused on building BVM’s digital repository. Rose Wu, currently a Masters student at UBC’s School of Community and Regional Planning, was a UBC INSTRCC student researcher who worked with BVM in 2020 and 2021. “Working with the BVM was a transformative experience. The flexibility and support of the BVM team encouraged us to embrace our creativity, pursue our passions, and have fun on the job.”
“Having INSTRCC students at Burnaby Village Museum has brought new and creative ideas to our institution. The students bring with them such a rich multi-disciplinary approach and we’ve learned a lot from them and hope they’ve learned from us as well,” said Jane Lemke, curator, BVM.
“These projects have been a significant part of the historical redress undertaken by the City of Burnaby and BVM to recognize both the history of the Chinese Canadian communities of Burnaby and the racism and exclusion they faced and struggled to overcome, said Dr. Henry Yu, Director, INSTRCC, UBC.
Ky Kim and Wei Yan Yeong, student researchers from the 2022-2023 team, created a retrospective video looking back on the last five years and the impact the collaboration between UBC and BVM has had on students, alumni, UBC staff/faculty and museum staff.
Initiative for Student Teaching and Research in Chinese Canadian Studies (INSTRCC) at UBC
Full-length retrospective video
Dr. Henry Yu
Professor; Director, INSTRCC
henry.yu@ubc.ca
University of British Columbia
Jenny Lu
Coordinator and Team Manager, INSTRCC
jennifer.lu@ubc.ca
University of British Columbia
Jane Lemke
Curator
jane.lemke@burnaby.ca
Burnaby Village Museum
In 2021, UBC INSTRCC student research assistants once again had the opportunity to partner with the Burnaby Village Museum (BVM) on summer projects that support their museum programs. This year, there were two student teams who supported program development and program evaluation.
“The Hands on Our Food”
Wei Yan Yeong and Rose Wu, both graduates of UBC’s Faculty of Land and Food Systems, collaborated with BVM staff on programming the empty space beside the Chinese market garden near the Love Farmhouse.
“The Hands on Our Food” was a signage-guided journey through the BVM garden space that showcases the “hands” through which food passes through to get to our tables. The “hands” represent specific roles that Chinese Canadians played in the local food system—such as market gardeners, delivery people, restaurants, greengrocers, etc. The signs were life-sized, standing at six-feet, with illustrated characters of the various roles grouped under the categories of Producers, Distributors, Consumers, and Importers & Exporters. Each character was accompanied by short text boxes that gave historical background about each role. The standees provided context for the market cart and Chinese kitchen garden also in the area.
With the help of BVM staff, the students built a Chinese kitchen garden—based upon the personal gardens many Chinese farmers and restaurateurs kept—and planted vegetables such as bok choy, bitter gourd, and winter melon. The garden was a big hit with the visitors, especially those who had their own gardens at home and enjoyed learning about new crops and gardening tips.
The market cart, which represented the carts used to sell produce, included an activity board for children to discover facts about the vegetables growing in the garden and recipe cards strung across the top—an addition included because many visitors had never seen many of the vegetables growing in the garden and were curious about how to eat them.
The goal of the project was to attract visitors to the garden space and help them better understand the systems and networks that were involved in the Burnaby food system back in the day; to showcase how food is not just a commodity, but something with a complex story before it ends up at the dinner table.
“The Hands on Our Food” Photo Gallery
[Click to Enlarge]
Visitor Study
The second student team, consisting of Celine Co and Kareena Shamdasani, were tasked with conducting a study on visitor trends and providing recommendations on how to improve traffic to under-visited parts of the museum. In their study, which involved engaging with and surveying visitors, they learned about visitors’ favourite exhibitions and those that were less popular. A valuable aspect of their work was discovering visitor preferences and the reasons behind liking a certain exhibit, be it the nostalgic value or the interactions with interpreters—which paints a story for the BVM on what factors are important to visitors. Additionally, visitors provided ideas and suggestions on what would make the exhibits with less traffic more interesting or attractive.
Building off this initial study, the student team piloted prototype changes to some of the less visited exhibits, including changing the entry and exit points to the Seaforth School to encourage more visitors to the Brookfield Lane area. Additionally, for somewhat “hidden” exhibits that were easily missed, such as the Ofuro (Japanese bathhouse) and Tin Smith shop, the team decided to add ambient sounds to the exhibits to catch the attention of visitors. This strategy helped increase foot traffic to the Tin Smith shop.
The students’ study and prototypes helped inform a set of recommendations for the BVM team on how to enhance some of their existing exhibits and also as general suggestions for enriching future programs.
In wrapping up another successful summer of student internships, we express thanks to the Burnaby Village Museum for their ongoing support of student learning and their continued commitment to this partnership. We look forward to continued collaboration in the future!
Written by Rose Wu
As an undergraduate student of English Literature and History at the University of British Columbia, Alexandra’s interests include public history and cultural heritage. When given the chance, she enjoys visiting art galleries, browsing antique shops, sketching landscapes, and baking desserts. On most days though, you can find her curled up with a book and a warm cup of tea.
After two and a half years, the award-winning A Seat at the Table exhibition, jointly hosted at the Museum of Vancouver (MOV) and the Chinese Canadian Museum (CCM), has come to a close and will continue as a travelling exhibition throughout Vancouver Island museums. Using food and restaurant culture as narrative entry point and visual platform, the exhibition addressed themes of mobility, belonging, racism, agency, resilience and reparation. UBC is proud to have played a key role in bringing together the historical and contemporary voices of Chinese Canadians in British Columbia. From the early days of its inception to public engagement and educational programming, students, faculty and staff of UBC INSTRCC and the Asian Canadian Asian Migration Studies (ACAM) program have worked alongside the community advisory committee, storytellers, artists, and the project team to bring this exhibition to life.
Some ways UBC was involved in the exhibit include:
Over the past few years, the A Seat at the Table exhibition has shaped the many projects of UBC INSTRCC, as well as the educational, professional, and personal experiences of the many student research assistants. Below are what some of our research assistants had to say about the experience:
“Being a UBC INSTRCC RA for the A Seat at the Table Exhibition was truly an eye-opening experience for me. It gave me the opportunity to connect with and document many important stories of the Chinese Canadian community. Before this, I’ve thought of museums as a place of history, but working with the exhibit has shown me that a museum can be a place of the present and a source of inspiration for the future we want.”
– Wei Yan Yeong, INSTRCC Research Assistant
“Being part of the A Seat at the Table opened my eyes for what an exhibition could mean for a community. I was interviewed for my immigration journey and core food memories growing up in North America. Once minute elements in my life, such as what I ate for breakfast, were being placed under the spotlight. Overall, seeing our collective stories curated into a piece of cultural history has been a validating experience and has made me more appreciative of the cultural diversity in Vancouver.”
– Daniel Chen, INSTRCC Research Assistant
“I edited videos, drew illustrations/made short animations, did some translation, and helped design the common look-and-feel for the videos using the decided theme colours and fonts. This project allowed me to learn and flourish both on the creative front and in the story-telling space; I enjoyed being able to appreciate and showcase different sides of Chinese Canadians, especially the aspects that might seem a less “news-breaking”. These stories help paint a more dynamic picture of Chinese Canadians. Because of this almost ‘exploratory’ project, I’m much more braver than I was before when I’m curious about something and more expressive when I appreciate something.”
– Debbie Liang, Former INSTRCC Research Assistant
See also:
Photo gallery (click to expand):
Written by Rose Wu
This project was my introduction to working with INSTRCC, and I am very grateful for everything I learned from the experiences and people I got to work with! The “What’s your blend?” garlic pickling workshop was the final part of the summer project, where we got to see our work be used and shared with the public, but I found immense value in the behind-the-scenes work leading up to the workshop throughout the summer as well.
I was presented with the idea to work at the Museum of Vancouver garden because it aligned with my interests and studies in agriculture, and I gladly accepted what sounded like a perfect opportunity. Throughout my work, this assumption proved true, but not because I was already experienced in the field, rather that I was able to learn so much and gain new interests. Although I had experience on farms and agricultural science, I had never had hands-on gardening experience. I was able to learn and thrive with help from Wei Yan Yeong, who had already worked on the “MOV Backyard Garden” project in previous years. Together we went through the process of selecting which vegetables to plant, tending to their growth, and designing the programming that would eventually become the garlic pickling workshop.
At the beginning of the summer, we decided to center our work around a theme of “culture as collection.” Our goal was to emphasize that although there are specific cultural and historical experiences shared between people, that each person’s identity is formed by their own unique collection of these experiences.
Our first task was to update the information panels in front of the garden to reflect our work for the summer season. I had the opportunity to share my story about cultural food, which was something I had not realized would be so important and impactful to my own sense of identity. We also created a series of short videos to document our progress and give updates on social media each time we tended to the garden, sharing what we learned along the way. Being able to share our work with the public in these ways was very meaningful to my own experience of the project and objectives of the project to engage and connect with the community.
Finally, we were able to share our work in-person, by using what we grew in the garden for the garlic pickling workshop. We were very pleased with the eagerness of the participants to expand both their food skills and techniques, and their concepts of culture and identity. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to work on this project and be able to see this crossroads of my passions!
Check out our garden updates and other content on the MOV Backyard Garden @chinesecanadianstories on Instagram!
Written by Cat Hung
Faculty of Art