Retrospective on "A Seat at the Table"

Retrospective on “A Seat at the Table”

UBC INSTRCC Team Celebration at the A Seat at the Table Exhibition (Museum of Vancouver location) in 2022

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: 

  • Dr. Henry Yu (INSTRCC director) and Denise Fong (PhD candidate and INSTRCC Research Director) were co-curators for the exhibit, alongside UBC alumnus Dr. Viviane Gosselin (MOV’s Director of Collections & Exhibitions and Curator of Contemporary Culture). 
  • As part of the virtual storytelling experience integral to the exhibit, our team of student research assistants created, shot, edited, and made animations for 50+ unique short films, subtitled in three languages (English, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese). Films also included past student projects like the stop-animation “Food Fight,” and a pair of virtual reality experiences filmed in Hoiping, Guangdong, China. 
  • Student docents led tours at both the Chinese Canadian Museum and Museum of Vancouver locations, including offering multilingual-guided tours, as well as students and alumni who worked as visitor services staff.  
  • Student research assistants led the activation of the MOV backyard garden space, as complementary outdoor programming to the exhibit, showcasing the vibrant and diverse gardening scene of Vancouver through the motifs of food and cultural heritage.  
  • INSTRCC students were involved in the coordination of a communications strategy, including the social media campaign #SATMyFamily, and an INSTRCC student takeover of the MOV Instagram, highlighting favourite parts of the exhibit.   
  • INSTRCC and ACAM were involved in a series of public programming events, including:
  • INSTRCC research assistants created an education program Chinatown Existing in collaboration with the Chinese Canadian Museum and the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Gardens 

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):

Video display at the Chinatown location, featuring videos made by UBC students
INSTRCC student featured in exhibit short film
Dr. Henry Yu and Denise Fong giving a tour of the exhibition
Signage for the MOV Backyard Garden
Vegetables grown in the MOV backyard garden
INSTRCC students filming an interview outside the Museum of Vancouver
Denise Fong giving a tour of the exhibition for the Day at the Museum event
Day at the Museum
INSTRCC students touring the exhibition
Film screening for the Food, Film, & Activism event
Panel speakers at the Food, Film, & Activism event
Group photo from the Day at the Museum event

Written by Rose Wu

‘What’s Your Blend?’ Garlic Pickling Workshop [blog]

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

Richmond Growing [Blog]

This summer, we (Shirley Ting and An Xu) were offered the amazing opportunity to develop Richmond Growing, a social media campaign, in collaboration with Urban Bounty. 

As a community-based food security initiative, Urban Bounty has over 20 years of experience in community programming, engagement, and advocacy. Their expertise and guidance was invaluable in co-developing Richmond Growing in alignment with community strengths and objectives. In essence, we wanted to help showcase the unique methods and practices of Richmond’s local gardeners, but we also wanted to create some connections— between the gardeners, Urban Bounty, and the local community at large through personal stories. 

Richmond Growing was a very fun and rewarding project to do. We commuted around the city to interview community gardeners, conduct archival research, and explore Richmond’s green spaces. Neither of us grew up in Richmond, so we didn’t know the communities very well, but we were so touched by how kind and generous everyone was. We were often treated to and sent home with armfuls of fresh produce, snacks, and even whole pizzas. As Ian Lai, Urban Bounty’s executive director, puts it, “Nobody should ever leave empty handed!” 

Even more than our bounty of fresh produce, was the bounty of amazing stories that the local gardeners shared with us. They welcomed us into their gardens, their homes, and shared with us their migration stories, treasured childhood memories, and profound life philosophies. 

Our favourite moment of the whole project was when the gardeners alongside Urban Bounty and INSTRCC staff trekked to Terra Nova Rural Park for a community potluck. Folks brought food harvested from their own gardens, snacks made by their Grandma, and Ian Lai prepared a showstopping only-once-a-year galette. As research assistants, we had been in contact with everyone throughout the summer, but it was so nice to see, sit down, and enjoy a meal with the gardeners. Perhaps even more importantly, the gardeners, who had been following each others’ stories on social media, were able to chat and meet each other for the first time. One of the gardeners, Maitrayee Shah, remarked that it felt “just like a family gathering.” It reminded us that while this project was a “social media campaign” intended to reach and resonate with folks over the internet, it’s also important to celebrate and center these seemingly small scale interpersonal relationships. We think that’s what makes community-based projects so amazing to facilitate—finding commonality and bonding over differences within the community ultimately creates more of a sense of belonging and connection. 

What’s Next?

We are pleased to share that the team is at work developing the next stage of our partnership with Urban Bounty, further exploring community story sharing and the foodscapes of Richmond. 

To view more of Richmond Growing, please visit Urban Bounty’s Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook. 

Written by Shirley Ting and An Xu

Richmond Growing

Richmond Growing is a social media campaign developed in 2022 by INSTRCC research assistants An and Shirley in collaboration with Urban Bounty, a Richmond-based food security initiative. 

Following the stories of 3 local community gardeners, Richmond Growing provides an interactive platform for the city’s under-told community stories. Through this project, audiences can explore connections between land, food, and the gardeners tending to these valuable green spaces. Richmond Growing also offers supplementary stories to highlight (hi)stories of BIPOC engagement and resilience in the city’s food systems. To increase reading accessibility, the project is multilingual and features traditional Chinese and Punjabi in addition to English. 

Watch our project trailer on Instagram here.

Read the blog post

Written by Shirley Ting

Finding Community: Connecting with Other Chinese Immigrants in Richmond (Short Film Series)

In the past few decades, Richmond has solidified its reputation as a vibrant diasporic community. The journey of Chinese immigrants to Canada has been exciting, challenging, and nothing close to monolithic. For many, the decision to immigrate was not an easy one. Migrants had to leave behind their homes, their families, and their communities in order to start a new life in Canada.

Our recent collaboration with Richmond Museum tasked our student researchers to interview immigrants to unveil intergenerational experiences of migration and multilingualism among Chinese Canadians in Richmond.

Watch the video series!

Stories of New Beginnings

INSTRCC student researchers Gillian Chan, Kristy Lin, Tiffany Mak, and Daniel Chen talked with Chinese immigrants about their experiences in Richmond, BC and Canada, asking them about everything from language and food to Asian heritage and discrimination. The result was an 11-part short film series that’s now posted on Richmond Museum’s Vimeo channel. 

“What dishes remind you of home?”

“What local resources helped bring you closer to the local community?”

“What lifestyle changes did you have to make after moving to Canada?”

Breaking Barriers

Adjusting to a new culture, learning a new language, and facing racial discrimination were just a few of the obstacles they had to overcome. It was not always easy, but with support from the local community and determination, they were able to build a new life for themselves in Canada.

Shortly after Lee Chen (from Shanghai, China, 2014) first immigrated to Powell River, BC, she saw signs that said Asians and Chinese people should get out: “Our community… organized a town hall and invited… Chinese immigrants plus immigrant residents from other ethnic backgrounds.”

Illustration and Animation by Debbie Liang

In addition to gathering families to meet and hang out, the organizers ran an activity where attendees shared when their families first arrived in Canada. Chen reflects: “The purpose of the activity is to show that not many folks have been Canadian for more than 3 generations… I was extremely touched by everyone’s empathy and the welcoming culture I experienced that day.”

You can find the rest of Lee’s migration story and the stories of 6 other participants on Richmond Museum’s Vimeo channel. 

UBC INSTRCC is proud to have produced these videos in partnership with Richmond Museum. We would all like to thank the wonderful participants who volunteered to share their experiences in this project.

Written by Daniel Chen

INSTRCC 2022 Recap

In a blink, another year has flown by! In 2022, we at UBC INSTRCC saw our biggest cohort of student researchers yet, working on a record number of projects with a diverse range of community partners. Thank you for your continued support of our students’ work! 

Here’s a taste of some of the projects we worked on in 2022:  

Celebrating Asian Heritage Month with Richmond Museum – Student RAs partnered with the museum to create a series of short films that highlights aspects of Asian culture and experiences in celebration of Asian Heritage Month in May. 

“Food, Film, & Activism” event at the Museum of Vancouver – To celebrate the release of Cheuk Kwan’s book, “Have You Eaten Yet?,” and his docu-series that inspired the book, INSTRCC and partners hosted a film screening and panel in dialogue with the A Seat at the Table Exhibition. 

“Virtual Storytelling Workshops” with PCHC-MoM – Student RAs led a workshop series with members of the community to document their family histories using digital media. 

“Food, Farms, and Funerals” ACAM390A/ANTH362 Course –  INSTRCC RAs/TAs planned for the first-ever summer global seminar to Vancouver Island. The course was offered in partnership with Vancouver Island University.  

“Richmond Growing” with Urban Bounty Richmond – Student RAs gathered and shared stories from three community gardeners in Richmond to celebrate their important contributions to the community. 

Punjabi Market tour – INSTRCC RA and Punjabi Market Collective Director of Education, Gurleen Cheema, gave us a walking tour of Punjabi Market, pointing out long-lasting neighbourhood businesses and their stories, and ending with a delicious meal at Himalaya Restaurant. 

Other achievements from 2022: 

Looking for other ways to support our work?

Consider making a donation at: https://give.ubc.ca/projects/instrcc/ 

Follow us @ubcinstrcc where you can watch our IG story highlights for more about these projects and events!

Yaohua Frank Luo

Student Research Assistant
Groups: Alumni


Biography

Luo Yaohua is a graduate student of Wuyi University in China, majoring in architectural heritage protection. He loves ancient Chinese architecture and hopes to become a master of traditional houses.

Tiffany Lee

Student Research Assistant
Groups: Alumni


Biography

Tiffany is pursuing a dual degree BA in International Relations and Asian Canadian & Asian Migration Studies, and a Master of Management. She is ecstatic about the opportunity to engage with her heritage as a 2nd generation Chinese-Canadian while applying her skills and experiences in project management and community engagement.

Sophia Diamonds

Student Research Assistant
Groups: Alumni


Biography

Sophia is a Political Science student hailing from Vancouver, BC. Her greatest passions are health, politics, and history. She enjoys conversing with people over coffee, and finds inspiration through reading biographies and memoirs. She lives by these words — “do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” – Nelson Mandela.

Patrick Leong

Student Research Assistant
Groups: Alumni


Biography

Patrick is a graduating History Honours with International Relations student at the University of British Columbia, with a focus on twentieth-century Canadian and East Asian histories. As part of the Sciences Po Paris and UBC Dual BA, he spent his first two years of undergraduate study in France, where he majored in Politics and Government. Born and raised in Ottawa, he is fascinated by the intersection of politics, history, culture, and identity. He recently completed his Honours thesis about the anti-W5 movement, which was a significant anti-racist movement led by Chinese Canadians.