The Royal B.C. Museum has opened a travelling photography exhibition at a major metro station in Guangzhou, China, depicting the beginning of a long relationship between the city and Canada.
Guangzhou to British Columbia: The Chinese Canadian Experience, 1858 to 1958 located in the Yuexiu Park station shows how the gold rush in B.C.'s Fraser Canyon caused many Chinese migrants to journey from Guangzhou to the province in search of wealth.
The exhibition, which is a partnership between the Guangzhou Metro Corporation and the Royal B.C. Museum Foundation, includes images of both Guangzhou and B.C., of people, landscapes, cityscapes and work environments.
“These compelling images speak to the false hope and struggle of early migration to Canada from Guangzhou,” said Jack Lohman, CEO of the museum. “Gold Mountain was less lucrative than anyone could have imagined, but a number of these stories do end well with success in future generations outshining all other migrant narratives. The Royal B.C. Museum's photographic collections are important witnesses to the herding and discrimination of early settlers from China.”
More than one million people travel through the corridors of Yuexiu Park in a month.
The exhibition sets the stage for a larger exhibition at the Guangdong Museum of Chinese Nationals Residing Abroad, which is a travelling version of the Gold Rush! feature exhibit at the Royal B.C. Museum.
Guangzhou to British Columbia: The Chinese Canadian Experience runs until Nov. 28.