Date: Thursday 11 April 2024

Time: 12:00 pm to 13:30 pm (BST)

Venue: Online

The talk will be given in English. Simultaneous translation into Mandarin Chinese is provided.

Chair: Yow Cheun Hoe, Director, Chinese Heritage Centre, Nanyang Technological    University

Speaker: Melissa Karmen Lee, CEO, Chinese Canadian Museum

This talk features the Chinese Canadian Museum, a new cultural institution partnered with the Province of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. This inaugural public museum honours the history, contributions, and culture heritage of Chinese Canadians. Since its founding seven months ago, the museum has launched three exhibitions, secured a permanent museum site in the oldest building in Vancouver Chinatown, and received several Canadian heritage and museum awards. Lee will discuss the new Canadian museum as well as it’s featured exhibition ‘The Paper Trail’ on the Chinese Exclusion Act in Canada from 1923-1947.

The event is jointly hosted by HOMELandS (Hub On Migration, Exile, Languages and Spaces) at the University of Westminster and the Chinese Heritage Centre of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. It is organised as part of the ‘Global Diasporic Chinese Museums Network Initiative’ project funded by AHRC.

About the speaker:

Dr. Melissa Karmen Lee (Ph.D) 李林嘉敏 was born in Vancouver, Canada. She currently holds the appointment of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the Chinese Canadian Museum, in British Columbia, Vancouver. From 2019 to 2022, she was the Director of Education and Public Programs at the Vancouver Art Gallery. From 2016 to 2019, she was on the founding team to open Tai Kwun Centre for Heritage and Art, Hong Kong, serving as the Education and Public Programs Curator.