On November 2, 2024, we celebrated the opening of our latest exhibition, Haq and History: The Punjabi Canadian Legacy Project: A quest for community voices. Thank you to everyone who attended and supported this event. The exhibit continues until January 25, 2025.
We were honoured to have Cecilia Point, a member of the Musqueam Nation, grace the event with a warm welcome and a call to learn about Indigenous and immigrant histories.
Deputy Consul General Satomi Okagaki from the Japanese Consulate in Vancouver
I am particularly keen on learning more about the intersection of South Asian and Japanese Canadian communities here in Canada. Especially the stories of the Toyota, Urabe, and Yano families in Paldi on Vancouver Island. I’m sure these connections will serve as a reminder that our histories are interconnected. And together they enrich the cultural fabric for everyone.
Dr. Satwinder Kaur Bains, Associate Professor in School of Culture, Media and Society at the University of the Fraser Valley and the Director of the South Asian Studies Institute.
There is a challenge to historians, for all of us, to write history in a way that is inclusive of everyone, so we don’t feel so alone. So we don’t feel that our histories are alone… When you read the stories of Paldi where Chinese, Japanese, First Nations, European white settlers, South Asians lived together, played together, went to school together, had events together, ate food with each other—those are the stories we need to tell.
Dr. Tzu-I Chung, award-winning museum practitioner and cultural and social historian at Museum of Anthropology, UBC.
The exhibit continues to travel for the next five years and will grow to become a very comprehensive exhibit with a lot of different community stories to add. And what is really monumental about this particular one is that because of the theme and very community based work that both NNMCC and SASI have done, this is the first ever intercultural community iteration of the add-on, with amazing work from people like Mike and all the people in the communities. And we are so grateful that we came to this point.
City of Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley
These are inspiring and sometimes difficult stories, showcasing struggles and triumphs of these families as they founded families and worked to keep their cultural traditions alive… The character of our community is in large part shaped by the inequivalent cultural diversity in Burnaby which makes it entirely wholesome. It is what makes our community so vibrant and special today.
Satsuki-kai Japanese dancers
Bhangra performance by Shan-E Punjab Arts Club
Photos by Adam PW Smith
