Re:Recording Chinese Histories

Re-recording Chinese Histories examines the cataloguing of Chinese artifacts, photographs and newspaper articles housed in the Kamloops Museums and Archives. As a method of reimaging ones history, I have “mined” through the Kamloops Museums and Archives in search of material that connects the history of the Chinese in Canada to the city of Kamloops.

Historically, stories of the Chinese in Canada were told either through the lens of racism via the Exclusion act or through the lens of the Chinese pioneers who have paved the way for future generations of Chinese Canadians. My research about the Chinese Canadian experience has lead me to think about the ways that stories have been told in the past. This work is very much a comment on the various ways that stories have been told about the Chinese community and how they have been perceived in newspapers, photographs and city records. As a method of working I’ve allowed myself to get lost in the archives of the museum; while reshuffling historical narratives in photographs I’ve been able to discover a rich history filled with complicated stories of Chinese pioneers in Kamloops.

Through the process of uncovering and reinterpreting the historical artifacts in the collection of the museum I am unpacking and bring to light questions of originality, narrative, and speaking for others. I hope that the work acts as a jumping point for understanding how history is recorded, spoken for and interpreted in the future.