Canadians of South Asian Heritages B.C. Museum
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Overview
Who:
- The Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport
- Ministerial Advisory
- BC Museums Association
What: A community-led, province-wide engagement to inform the vision for a new museum or cultural centre celebrating the contributions of Canadians of South Asian heritages in B.C.
Where: Province-wide
Why: To highlight the history, culture, and contributions to British Columbia made by Canadians of diverse South Asian heristages.
How: See engagement process and how to participate
Vision
The ways we work together on a shared vision for this new museum/cultural centre will become part of its legacy.
The engagement process will be guided by the principles of equity, inclusion, accessibility, cultural safety, anti-racism, and anti-casteism. It provides multiple and different opportunities for participation, where communities, groups and individuals from across the province can come together to discuss their vision for a museum/cultural centre, including its location, name, and mission.
Background
The Province committed to start work to advance a museum focussed on the contributions of Canadians of South Asian heritages to B.C. in 2017.
This initiative builds on the Punjabi Canadian Legacy Project (2014-2018) and the South Asian Canadian Legacy Project (2020-2022) led by the South Asian Studies Institute and supported through funding from the Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Branch of government. This work includes a website, education curriculum supplements, a social history book, a travelling exhibition, historical site inventories, settler stories and community specific projects.
Additionally, government further celebrated and acknowledged the diversity and contributions of Canadians of South Asian heritages in British Columbia through Heritage BC. Heritage BC was contracted to administer the public nomination process for places of historical significance to Canadians of South Asian heritages in British Columbia. The nomination period in 2016 resulted in the naming of 15 historical sites throughout the province and a South Asian Canadians Map on Heritage BC.
Canadians of South Asian heritages have an extensive, diverse and inspirational histories in British Columbia dating back to the early 1900’s. The contributions of Canadians of South Asian heritages, both past and present, are integral to the legacy and continued success of our province. From endeavors in agriculture and forestry, to entrepreneurship and social activism British Columbians of South Asian descent have established and improved many aspects of our province. However, these accomplishments and contributions are not without great adversity.
It is integral to recognize that the province was not always welcoming to people with South Asian heritages. Canadian communities of South Asian heritages have been subject to extensive discrimination, exclusion and racism which continues to manifest. Looking back there are various established instances of harm to these communities: discrimination through the restriction of immigration for women, children and families of already arrived Canadians of South Asian heritages; exclusion through disenfranchisement and restrictions on the ability to come and go from Canada; as well as many overt acts of racism through work, education, and community.
The limitations and diminishment applied to Canadians of South Asian heritages through history were applied regardless of individual heritage, culture, or religion. As such, policy and legislation to harm and restrict Canadians of South Asian heritages was enacted through, at that time, anti-Asian immigration and sentiment. The diversity and unique identities of Canadians of South Asian heritages was reduced and minimized by colonial worldviews. This created a shared experience in establishing roots in B.C. for individuals and communities of South Asian heritages.
There has been work done to date to highlight this history and celebrate the contributions and accomplishments of Canadians of South Asian heritages. However, there is more needed to address these historical injustices, to fight discrimination and to create a more welcoming and inclusive province. The goal for this project is to gain insight from Canadian communities of South Asian heritages on what is important and meaningful for them. As well, to create a museum/cultural centre that celebrates, recognizes, and shares the stories, culture, and success of Canadians of South Asian heritages.
Considerations: learning, language, and definitions
No aspect of this engagement is simple, and no aspect of creating this new museum/cultural centre will be simple. It means that sharing and building on one another’s ideas in a spirit of genuine cooperation is vital. The name of the new museum/cultural centre – and how we refer to it during this engagement process – is a useful example.
The temporary working name “South Asian Canadian Museum” was intended to be a placeholder until a name is determined through this engagement. The terms “South Asian” or “South Asian Canadian” share the virtues and the shortcomings of any broad category: these categories reveal as much as they obscure. “South Asian” can be a unifying term and it can be a divisive term. Through initial engagement with the Ministerial Advisory and communities it became clear that the temporary working name “South Asian Canadian Museum” as a placeholder does not accurately reflect the diverse individuals and experiences that this initiative aims to celebrate. As such, the placeholder for this initiative is being updated to “Canadians of South Asian heritages in B.C. Museum (or cultural centre)” until an official name can be determined.
Naming an institution such as a new museum/cultural centre presents an opportunity to think deeply about the museum/cultural centre’s purpose. Knowing that no name will be perfect or preferred by everyone, what should this new museum/cultural centre be called? What “image” does the new museum/cultural centre’s name need to convey? These are the kinds of questions, along with the location, vision, and purpose of the new museum/cultural centre, that we imagine will energize the conversations during this engagement process.
Additionally, the definition of a museum/cultural centre comes into question when discussing the vision and purpose of this space. As individuals and communities share their culture, languages and heritages the vision may emerge as something other than a traditional museum model.
Definitions:
- South Asian Canadian has been a broadly used term over the past 20 years by academics and others. Statistics Canada describes South Asian Canadians as a sub-group of Asian Canadians consisting of a range of ethnic, religious and linguistic groups whose ancestries, immigration histories and personal experiences include those with Bangladeshi, Bengali, East Indian, Goan, Gujarati, Hindu, Ismaili, Kashmiri, Nepali, Pakistani, Punjabi, Sikh, Sinhalese, South Asian, Sri Lankan and Tamil ancestry. South Asians may have been born in Canada or other parts of the world, but their heritage is associated with the Indian sub-continent.
- Diaspora refers to the dispersion or spread of a people from their original homeland.
- Community-led: when we use this term, we are referring to communities engaging amongst themselves, within their spaces in ways that work for them to discuss aspects of the project specific to their perspective, experiences, and vision.
Balancing what is common and what is unique
We are seeking feedback from a wide and diverse range of perspectives to carefully balance what is shared, and what is unique and distinctive, between and within particular communities.
We will work together to design this process. Words, places, images, calendars for events, languages, and other elements of the process will need to be considered with great care and respect. The guidance of communities will be very important on these and other matters.
Engagement process
How a museum/cultural centre is created plays a role in the museum/cultural centre’s future culture. This engagement process has been designed and shaped by different communities, groups and individuals and will continue to be refined in ways that make sense to those communities, groups and individuals. The process has been designed to be inclusive, transparent and multi-faceted.
We are excited to partner with the BC Museums’ Association(BCMA), to collaboratively deliver engagement opportunities. BCMA leads by supporting, empowering and advocating for the BC museum community. BCMA’s guiding principle is how the transformative power of museums creates synergy between its approach and the process of discovery for this project.
This engagement will not focus on curatorial content (what the museum/cultural centre will and won’t feature). That stage will come much later and will also be determined by communities. What this engagement will focus on is determining the vision for the new museum/cultural centre:
- What should be its purpose(s)?
- A museum and archive? A community gathering place? An interactive space or something more?
- What might we call the museum/cultural centre?
- Where should it be located?
Share your thoughts through the engagement opportunities below:
- Complete our online survey
- Facilitate a community-led conversation (with funding support available)
- Submit an online video or written feedback entry
The process is sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport. The engagement process has been shaped with strategic inputs and guidance from a Ministerial Advisory drawn from members of various communities with a stake in this conversation as well as engagement experts at Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue.
How to participate
There are multiple ways for communities, individuals, and organizations to contribute their thoughts and ideas about the museum/cultural centre. See details on engagement opportunities to submit your thoughts and ideas.
Possible ways for you to share your thoughts may include:
- An online public survey
- Self-hosted community-led conversations (with funding support available)
- Online video and written submissions
- Please contact SouthAsianCanadianMuseumEngagement@gov.bc.ca