November 19, 2020 - April 2, 2023

The Museum of Vancouver and the University of British Columbia proudly present the feature exhibition, A Seat at the Table, Chinese Immigration and British Columbia. This exhibition explores historical and contemporary stories of Chinese Canadians in BC and their struggles for belonging. It looks to food and restaurant culture as an entry point to feature stories that reveal the great diversity of immigrant experience and of the communities immigrants develop.

A Seat at the Table is an opportunity to consider the contributions that Chinese migrants and their descendants have made to British Columbia, a province built from the interaction of successive and concurrent waves of migration and uninterrupted occupation by Indigenous peoples.

Restaurants and food offer compelling portals to understanding the Chinese Canadian experience in British Columbia. A close look at the food industry reveals the impact of racial discrimination on Chinese Canadians, but it also tells us much about their ability to resist, organize, seek justice and thrive.

Bamboo Terrace restaurant at 155 East Pender Street, 1960-1980 City of Vancouver Archives: COV-S511---: CVA 780-457

Victoria Chinatown, Dim Sum Restaurant, 1981 Royal BC Museum and Archives: I-03388

Seamstress working at Wing Hing Dry Goods, 1981 City of Vancouver Archives: AM1523-S6-F72-: 2008-010.0494, photographer Paul Yee

200 block East Pender Street looking west, 1979 City of Vancouver Archives: AM1523-S6-F70-: 2008-010.0450, photographer Paul Yee

ACCESS A VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE EXHIBITION

Shadow Buffet @ MOV

Ended on October 20, 2021

This interactive shadow installation by Mere Phantoms is presented in conversation with the A Seat at the Table project.

Also using food and restaurant culture as entry point, the central installation takes the form of a "shadow buffet". A series of round, plate-shaped paper food suspended from the ceiling just above eye level, hovering over a long white table. Each piece is top-lit so that its shadow – a collection of food items -- is cast onto the tabletop below. These paper cut-outs not only reference food, they connect to moments and places associated with the experience of eating.

By inviting audiences to take on an active role in creating their own cut-outs and animating the work, these immersive environments explore audience/performer relationships and the opportunity for interplay between the two. By combining multiple hand-held light sources, the artists and their public audiences animate the artwork, playing with the size, scale, and intensity of the layered shadows.

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The official exhibition catalogue for A Seat at the Table is now available in 2 versions (English & Simplified Chinese) (English & Traditional Chinese)!

Visit the MOV online shop or the MOV admissions desk to order your copy.

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Professor Henry Yu, a member of the UBC History Department and Principal of St. John's College, presents an overview of the systemic discrimination experienced by Chinese immigrants to Canada, mixing his own family's story with the broader history of Vancouver's, BC's and Canada's policies and regulations. Prof. Yu is co-curator of an upcoming exhibit on Chinese-Canadian immigration entitled A Seat at the Table, opening soon at the Museum of Vancouver and in Chinatown.

Video by the Vancouver Historical Society

Love, genetic and ancestral relations are all characteristics that can define family. To some, groups of people sharing a cause or a passion and supporting each other also qualify as families. Immigrants and their descendants have created many groups or families, to feel connected to a place, traditions, and each other.⁠
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Share a photo of your “family” and tag #SATMyFamily. Your story and portrait will be featured in the physical A Seat at the Table MOV exhibition and online. ⁠If you do not have a public social media account, you can submit your photo here: www.tinyurl.com/SATMyFamily

Share your visit of both exhibition locations using the hashtag #ASeatAtTheTableBC!

Co-Curation
Denise Fong
Viviane Gosselin
Henry Yu

Content development/Interpretive Planning
Catherine Clement (Chinatown Exhibition)

Design
Goodweather (Exhibit Design)
Yen-rong Hsiao (Graphic Design)

Film and Virtual Reality
Centre for Digital Media
Hammer & Tong
INSTRCC Initiative for Student Teaching and Research in Chinese Canadian Studies

Advisory Committee
John Atkin (Civic History), Larry Bafia (Centre for Digital Media), Belle Cheung (City of Vancouver), Catherine Clement (Vancouver Chinatown History), Kim Gough (Royal BC Museum), Kevin Huang (hua Foundation), Vincent Kwan (Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden), Winnie Kwan (Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden), Imogene Lim (Vancouver Island University), Sarah Ling (Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC), Tina Loo (UBC), Carmen Papalia (Art and Accessibility), Hayne Wai (Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC), Michelle Willard (Cumberland Museum and Archives), Baldwin Wong (City of Vancouver), Bill Yuen (Heritage Vancouver)