Chinese Exclusion Act Centenary

Picnic in Asian Heritage Month to learn the history of “Chinese Exclusion Act”
2023-05-14 13:00 - 15:30 (America/Toronto) | Parc Angrignon, 3400 Trinitaires Blvd, Montreal, Quebec, H4E 4J3, Canada
Enjoy delicious Chinese food
CCFPA dragon boat team show / Children show etc.
The history of “Chinese Exclusion Act”
Promotion of Petition e-4395

May 14, 2023 1:00-3:30PM
Contact Tina – Tel: 514-260-5835
$15/person, RSVP before 13th 12:00AM

In My Yesterday
2023-05-13 17:30 - 2023-07-23 19:30 (America/Toronto) | Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, 1055 Marginal Rd, Halifax, NS, B3H 4P7, Canada
The Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 proudly presents In My Yesterday by JJ Lee, created in partnership with the Museum. In 2021, JJ Lee generously donated over 50 documents, photographs and artifacts to the Museum’s Collection. Complemented by Lee’s own artwork and family belongings, this acquisition tells a remarkable story of her family’s multi-generational emigration from China, between 1916 and 1957.
In My Yesterday is a timely exhibition as 2023 marks the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act. This discriminatory act banned almost all Chinese immigration to Canada only allowing 15 Chinese immigrants to Canada over a 23-year period.
Opening Reception May 13 5:30-7:30 pm
https://www.instagram.com/p/CrQXIm2ODBZ/
Image credit: JJ Lee on behalf of James and Hoi Lee [A2021.48.18]

Opening Reception – Longing Belonging, 100 Years 100 Stories
2023-05-13 14:00 - 16:00 (America/Toronto) | Varley Art Gallery of Markham, 216 Main Street Unionville, Markham, ON, L3R 2H1, Canada
Come out to the Varley Art Gallery of Markham on Saturday, May 13, and celebrate the opening of Longing Belonging,100 Years 100 Stories curated by Long Time No See. This free public event will feature a ceremonial lion dance performance, artist tours, refreshments, and more.
Long Time No See is a collective of friends, artists and educators, is very interested in the untold stories of identity, place, traditions and people in community. Central to our work is the notion of Belonging. Centred in Toronto, we strive to honour our ancestors by sharing and teaching the stories of how Chinatown came to be, the histories that have been erased, and our responsibilities to act in solidarity with Indigenous peoples.
Over the last few decades immigration has increased to suburban areas: Scarborough, Markham, Richmond Hill, while bypassing the older downtown Chinatowns. How have diasporic communities shaped their sense of belonging in these newer communities?
Presented by the Varley Art Gallery of Markham in partnership with Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival. Supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Varley-McKay Art Foundation of Markham, and the City of Markham.
Reserve a spot: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/opening-reception-longing-belonging-100-years-100-stories-tickets-597928268547
For more information, visit: https://www.markham.ca/wps/portal/home/arts/varley-art-gallery/all/upcoming/20231305

Longing Belonging, 100 Years 100 Stories
2023-05-13 - 2023-09-04 | Varley Art Gallery of Markham, 216 Main Street Unionville, Markham, ON, L3R 2H1, Canada
Longing Belonging, 100 Years 100 Stories, a community engagement project and exhibition organized by the collective Long Time No See (LTNS), tackles Canada’s troubled colonialist history by marking the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act. LTNS members engaged with local Markham communities, interviewing and photographing people in spaces that elicited sentiments of belonging, and gathering images and stories to be presented in the gallery. It is important to note that 2023 is also the centenary of the signing of The Williams Treaties—bureaucratic legislation signed by the Government of Canada and seven First Nations resulting in the surrender of the final portion of southern Ontario territory to the Canadian Government, including the land that the Varley Art Gallery sits on today.
With this project, LTNS asks us all to reflect on the questions: What is our place on this land? What is remembered? What is forgotten? What is our role in reconciliation? How do we all belong?

Henry Tsang: The 1907 Anti-Asian Riots in Vancouver
2023-05-08 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Vancouver) | Vancouver Central Library, 350 West Georgia St., Vancouver, BC, V6B 6B1, Canada
What happened in 1907 that led to racist and violent demonstrations against the Asian immigrant communities in Vancouver? How can we make sure something like it doesn’t happen again?
Based on his 360° Riot Walk, Henry Tsang has curated a book that combines essays and photography to shine a light on the darkness of Vancouver’s past and its uncertain future: White Riot.
Henry Tsang will be in conversation with two contributors from the book: community organiser Melody Ma and educator karine 吳玨穎. Join them for a powerful conversation about community, solidarity and resistance.
Henry Tsang is an artist who explores the spatial politics of history, language, community, food, and cultural translation in relationship to place. His artworks take the form of gallery exhibitions, 360-degree video walking tours, curated dinners, and public art. Henry teaches at Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver.
Melody Ma 馬勻雅 is a community organiser and neighbourhood advocate for Vancouver’s Chinatown. She led a campaign called #SaveChinatownYVR that helped defeat a controversial development project at 105 Keefer, and coordinated the Chinatown Summer Events series as a way for the community to reclaim space. Melody is a member of VPL’s Board of Trustees.
karine 吳玨穎 (she/佢) is an uninvited immigrant-settler-occupier un/re-learning on the stolen and shared lands of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), and xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. She is grateful for finding a home in the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance in BC, where care and decolonization are practised collectively.
REGISTRATION REQUIRED – https://vpl.bibliocommons.com/events/641605b8263d5f4c754b59a6

Gallery 101 presents: After Exclusion, Happy Fruit by Ed Kwan & Don Kwan
2023-05-06 14:00 - 2023-06-10 17:00 (America/Toronto) | Gallery 101, 280 Catherine St, Ottawa, ON, K1R 5T3, Canada
Gallery 101 presents: After Exclusion, Happy Fruit by Ed Kwan & Don Kwan
May 6 – June 10 2023
280 Catherine Street, Ottawa
After Exclusion, Happy Fruit by queer Chinese-Canadian brothers Ed Kwan (aka China Doll) and Don Kwan explores two centenary legacies. The first: the federal government of Canada’s racist enactment of the Chinese Immigration Act on July 1, 1923, which effectively banned persons of Chinese origin from entering Canada for 24 years before it was repealed. And the second: the Kwan family’s own centennial in Canada – a legacy that began with the arrival of their maternal grandfather Chow Kwai Fong in British Columbia.
The exhibition delves into the legacies in two parts. After Exclusion reflects on the both the immediate and lasting impacts of discriminatory government policies, including the Chinese Head Tax (1885-1923); the revocation of voting rights at provincial and federal levels from Chinese-Canadians and those of South-Asian origins (1872, 1907, and 1920 until 1951); and the Chinese Immigration Act (also known as the Chinese Exclusion Act, 1923-1947); as well as continuing effects of colonialism and racism. In contrast and defiance of these histories is Happy Fruit: one literal translation of gay ( 开心果 ) and a celebration the brothers’ queer Chinese identities and family history using language and play.
Through installation, sculpture and performance, Don and Ed challenge traditional cultural norms and reflect on the intersections of culture, identity, and history. Their remarkable works embody the power of art as expression, truth-telling, and activism.
After Exclusion, Happy Fruit opens Saturday, May 6 from 2:00-5:00 PM at Gallery 101. Join us for art installations, performances, food, mahjong and more to celebrate Asian Heritage Month and the opening of the exhibition. Artist talks, tours, and a special China Doll Karaoke and Bingo fundraiser for Yet Keen Seniors’ Day Centre are also in the works throughout the month. Follow @G101Ottawa on Instagram and Facebook, or visit our website G101.ca/exhibits/after-exclusion-happy-fruit for upcoming event details.
Gallery 101 acknowledges the support from the City of Ottawa, Ontario Arts Council, Ontario Trillium Foundation, and Canada Council for the Arts. We honour and respect the original people of the territory we currently occupy: unceded and unsurrendered Anishnaabe-Aki who have been living and working on this land since time immemorial.

In Solidarity With The Chinese Community - Fighting Against Inequality, Injustice And Racism
2023-03-19 10:00 - 11:30 (America/Toronto) | Place Sun-Yat Sen, 1055 Rue Clark, Montréal, Quebec, H2Z 1K3, Canada
In Solidarity With The Chinese Community – Fighting Against Inequality, Injustice And Racism
Time: March 19, 2023 10:00-11:30 am
Start point: Place Sun-Yat-Sen, 1055 Rue Clark, Montréal, QC H2Z 1K3
End point: Guy-Favreau Complex, 200 René-Lévesque Blvd W, Montreal, Quebec H2Z 1X4
10:00-11:00am Several representatives of organizations read open letters of solidarity and voluntary speakers speak
11:00-11:10am Departure from Place Sun-Yat-Sen towards René Lévesque, turn left and follow the pavement to the Federal Building
11:10-11:30am After a short speech by the organizers, public speaks out their voices.

"Two-Gun" Cohen & China Lecture
2023-02-28 15:30 - 17:00 (America/Toronto) | University of Alberta – Pembina Hall 3-58, Pembina Hall, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2H8, Canada
Two Gun Cohen (Morris Cohen) was a realtor in Edmonton in early 20th century. In the dark days of racism against Chinese Canadians, Cohen stood up protecting Chinese Canadians and performed as their spokesman. In early 1923, the Chinese community in Edmonton informed Cohen of the “Act” for help, who was then Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s bodyguard in China. Dr.Sun “dispatched a telegram on May 17, 1923, to the Minister of Interior requesting that discussion of the bill banning immigration be suspended…”

A lecture led by Dr. George Dong, author of General Two Gun Ma Kun- Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Jewish Bodyguard, a biography of an Edmonton-based Jewish Canadian, who travelled to China and
became a leading military advisor for the Chinese army and Dr. Sun Yat-sen (the national father of modern China).
It is the first historical novel in Chinese in memory of Morris Cohen.
This lecture marks the 100 year anniversary of Cohen’s move to China.
George Shouliang Dong, M.A in English Literature from the University of Guelph and ABD in Comparative Literature from the University of Alberta; is a retired Journalist for the CBC and RCI(Radio Canada International), and retired staff reporter for the BBC World Service, and OMNI TV.
He is the recipient of the Daya Feng International Literature Award (2014), First Chinese Film-TV Literature Award (2022), Canada China International Film Festival Script Competition 2022, and Alberta Newcomer Recognition Award (2022).

SWALLOWING MOUNTAINS - Exhibition by Karen Tam
2023-02-17 10:00 - 2023-08-13 17:00 (America/Toronto) | McCord Stewart Museum, 690 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, QC, H3A 1E9, Canada
As part of its Artist-in-Residence program, the McCord Stewart Museum presents the exhibition Swallowing Mountains by multidisciplinary artist Karen Tam, a tribute to the women of Montreal’s Chinatown from the 19th to the 20th centuries. In this immersive installation, you will discover objects from the Museum’s collection, works created by the artist, objects belonging to members of the Chinatown community, and photographs.
The exhibition explores the relative silence in public records and historical accounts of women in Montreal’s Chinatown in the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as the discrepancy between the historical attraction to chinoiseries and Japanism and the reality of Chinese women living in Canada since the late 19th century.
2023 marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the Chinese Immigration Act, which banned virtually all forms of Chinese immigration to Canada. This policy, combined with a head tax, led to a strong imbalance in the proportion of women within Chinese Canadian communities, who were prohibited from joining their husbands there. Despite their under-representation in the early 19th and 20th centuries, Chinese women’s contribution to Chinatown’s vitality and economy was considerable. The exhibition Swallowing Mountains thus pays homage to the many contributions of women who have lived and worked in the neighborhood over the past century and a half.
SWALLOWING MOUNTAINS
The title of the exhibition refers to the name that the first waves of immigrants from China gave to Canada, Gold Mountain, in reference to the gold rush and the opportunity to make a fortune in Canada. Over time, the gold mountains of Canada’s El Dorado also became synonymous with the separation of families. Swallowing Mountains becomes a metaphor symbolizing the need to swallow, one kilometre at a time, the immense distance that separates loved ones in order to reunite them.
