It’s often said that the joy is in the journey — and at the Royal BC Museum, so is the history.
On April 17, the museum unveiled its newest exhibit, Odysseys and Migration.
Produced by the Chinese Canadian Museum, the exhibit spans from the 18th century to the present day. It explores relationships from Hong Kong to Vancouver and beyond, chronicling the global migration of Chinese people and their role in Canadian history.
“What’s really important for me about this exhibition – because I curated it – is that we reorient our Chinese Canadian history,” said Dr. Melissa Karmen Lee, CEO of the Chinese Canadian Museum. She explained that the exhibit will help rewrite the common misconception that Chinese people first arrived in Canada during the gold rush.
“The Chinese have been here since 1788, so it predates the gold rush by over 80 years. The first Chinese came to Canada and interacted with the Indigenous people of this land. So that reorientation of our history towards a kind of interaction with Indigenous peoples is a big part of why this exhibition is so important.”
For RBCM CEO Tracey Drake, the exhibit presents a new opportunity for visitors to understand their history and how it shapes them.
“As with every exhibit, I want people to stop, take a breath, read, watch, interact, understand — and perhaps leave with a more expanded narrative of who we are as Canadians and British Columbians,” she said.
“It’s about tolerance, it’s about community acceptance, it’s about understanding. And to me, it’s a vital role of museums in today’s society.”
Spencer Chandra Herbert, B.C.’s minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport, also spoke at the event.
“This is an important step in sharing Chinese Canadian history,” he said.
“From the opening of the first Chinese Canadian Museum in July 2023 to the first time this exhibit has travelled outside the museum that curated it, it’s deeply meaningful to see Odysseys and Migration now on display.”
The new exhibition features artifacts, a large mural, photographs and interactive elements. One of these is a large world map made of wooden pegs. Next to it sit spools of string, which visitors can use to depict their own personal or cultural migrations.
“One of the things we’ve been focused on this last year is what a modern, progressive, inclusive museum looks like,” said Drake, who explained that inclusivity is not only important in terms of cultural diversity, but also in the visitor experience.
“Part of the way we can do that, of course, is through the telling of cultural stories and histories. But also, the ability to touch and smell and feel. Those are the moments where people leave a cultural institution with a lasting memory of what took place there.”
The exhibit is the second addition to the RBCM that highlights Chinese Canadian histories this month. On April 3, a new display honouring Chinese Canadian nurses was unveiled as part of Old Town, New Approach — a collaboration with the Victoria Chinatown Museum Society.
Lee said the RBCM’s recent focus on Chinese Canadian history was spurred not only by the opening of the Chinese Canadian Museum but also by the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act, marked in 2023.
“I think there is a particular kind of revisioning or reorienting towards these histories that have been left untold. And part of that is that centennial rememory of the Chinese Exclusion Act.”
Drake explained the RBCM's partnership with these museums began around this same time.
Looking ahead, Lee hopes the two institutions can continue collaborating.
“I think museums should collaborate more; we should share resources, we should curate exhibitions,” said Lee.
“We’re a startup museum — how often do museums start up? Almost never. Most of the time, they’re hundreds of years old. So it becomes a great partnership or affinity, where we have the vast knowledge and collection of the RBCM, but they can teach a brand new museum, and we can give our share of community history and stories”
