2024 Asian Heritage Month Events
The Strive for Cross-cultural Understanding: The Story behind Asian Heritage in Canada | Opening Ceremony of Asian Heritage Month 2024
Date: Saturday, May 11, 2024 | 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Venue: City Hall Rotunda, City Hall, Toronto, 100 Queen Street West. Google map of event venue.
Admission is free | Please register at this link.
Message from the Mayor, City of Toronto, Her Worship Olivia Chow
Schedule
1:30 p.m. | Welcome and Opening Remarks
MC: Ms. Bo San Karantjas
Land Acknowledgement: Ms. Bo San Karantjas
Welcome speeches:
Her Worship Olivia Chow, Mayor, City of Toronto
Greetings by Deputy Mayor of Richmond Hill Godwin Chan
Photo by Chinese Canadian Photographic Society of Toronto (CCPST)
Greetings by Mr. Justin Poy, Honourary Patron of Asian Heritage Month-CFACI, and Chinese Canadian Legend Award holder
Photo by Chinese Canadian Photographic Society of Toronto (CCPST)
Presentation by Deputy Mayor and Regional Councillor of the City of Richmond Hill Godwin Chan
Keynote and Asian Heritage Month Lecture
Resilience: The Ongoing Journey from Adversity to Acceptance
Mr. Justin Poy, Honourary Patron, Asian Heritage Month-CFACI, Chinese Canadian Legend Award Winner
Award Winner interviewing the director and producer of the new film Exclusion: A Centenary of Silence
Mr. Justin Poy, Honourary Patron of Asian Heritage Month-CFACI, will interview people involved with the film “Exclusion: A Centenary of Silence,” which will be completed in time for submission to TIFF. Mr. Poy is the Executive Producer of the film, which is about the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act. The director is Keira Loughran, who is the granddaughter of Madame Jean Lumb, the first Chinese Canadian woman and first restaurateur inducted into the Order of Canada. Lumb is also best known for her role in successfully lobbying the federal government to change its discriminatory immigration policies that separated Chinese families. The award-winning producer Craig Thompson will also be interviewed.
In addition to celebrating Asian Heritage Month, this interview will be particularly well-timed because the month of June is National Indigenous History Month in Canada, a time to recognize the rich history, heritage, resilience and diversity of First Nations, Inuit and Métis.
About Justin Poy:
Justin Poy is the Founder and Creative Director of The Justin Poy Agency (JPA), an award-winning advertising agency that specializes in multicultural advertising. In 2020, JPA became the exclusive ad agency for iQIYI North America in Canada (iq.com). iQIYI (NASDAQ: IQ) is one of the world’s largest media streaming companies with hit shows such as “The Rap of China” and “Youth With You 3.” Justin is the Honourary Patron of Asian Heritage Month (CFACI) and the recipient of the Queen’s Golden and Diamond Jubilee Medals. He has been awarded the Chinese Canadian Legend Award and is recognized as Alumni of Distinction by Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) and The Toronto French School. He has received the prestigious Arbor Award from the University of Toronto. Mr. Poy eagerly supports education and sits on the Dean’s Advisory Board for the Faculty of Science at York University and supports Canadian media as the Founder of The Justin Poy Agency Award at Toronto Metropolitan University’s RTA School of Media.
Music from the operas Chinatown by Alice Ping Yee Ho and Iron Road by Professor Chan Ka Nin
Video: https://youtu.be/91HP4-hmVCM
Professor Chan Ka Nin with performing artists: Soprano Vania Chan
Professor Chan Ka Nin’s Dora Award-winning opera Iron Road remains a most significant opera on the Chinese Railway Workers. “When they reach Canada’s shore, the Chinese railway workers’ dreams of a better life collide with the brutal realities of the land, dangerous work and harsh living. At the same moment, they meet the force of another collective dream: the historic laying of the last tracks of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Iron Road begins as a humble, individual quest and opens into the immigrants’ epic struggle for dignity and identity. Iron Road is truly a crossroads—where two vastly different cultures meet and strong characters confront their deepest fears and desires. A creative crucible for the melding of history, myth and cultural styles, Iron Road is a story that brims with universal themes.” More information at this link.
Chinatown opera —Wenli’s Aria
Music by Alice Ping Yee Ho
Libretto by Madeleine Thien
“Chinatown—although a Western opera—incorporates traditional Chinese themes, sounds and sensibilities. It is a story of racism and resistance, neighbourhood and family. And it is a love story.
It is the story of two families, and a chorus of ghosts, beginning with the building of the Canadian Pacific Railroad through to our own times. It deals with violence and despair, the Head Tax, the Exclusion Act, paper sons, and paper promises.
Fusing both Chinese and Western instruments together, Chinatown is the first opera written about any Chinatown in Canada. The libretto interweaves English, Cantonese, and Hoisan.” https://cityoperavancouver.com/productions/chinatown/
Vania Chan
Paradise Regained for the Sacred Bird of the Orient
Stephen Siu (Chinese Canadian Legend Award Winner)
Videos:
Part I: https://youtu.be/uAzFqOK-gRs
Part II: https://youtu.be/WgZVQ1-5rbw
Part III: https://youtu.be/DM2h03cjG5I
A group of photographers from Canada, Hong Kong and Taiwan set out for a journey to Hokkaido, Japan, in late winter this year, taking pictures and tracing the myths and legends of the red-crowned cranes, the rarest cranes in the world. In Taoism, the crane is a symbol of longevity, wisdom and spirituality. In art and literature, immortals are often depicted riding on cranes. The crane is revered in many Asian cultures for its beauty, grace and charisma. It invites us to explore a deeper understanding of patience, vigilance and serenity. Let us embark on this visual journey together with pictures taken during this “photo pilgrimage.”
About Stephen Siu:
Mr. Siu, former Executive Director of the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto, is currently the President of Yee Hong Community Wellness Foundation. Yee Hong is largest Chinese Canadian charity in Canada. He has served as chair of Chinese Canadian Photographic Society of Toronto, and advisor to several non-profit groups including the Ontario Cross-Cultural Music Society and the Canada-Hong Kong Library. He was presented with the Chinese Canadian Legend Award in 2009, the Arbor Award in 2010, the Canadian Senate 150 medal, and the House of Commons “Canada 150” medal in recent years.
Tour of the Asian Heritage Month Art and Photo Exhibitions with Artists Booths
Participants can interact with the Asian Canadian artists, photographers and musicians during the tour and at the booths.
Event co-organizers: Asian Heritage Month—Canadian Foundation for Asian Culture (Central Ontario) Inc.; Toronto Public Library; Asian Institute at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto; Richard Charles Lee Canada Hong Kong Library, University of Toronto; Chinese Canadian Photography Society of Toronto; WE Artists’ Group; Social Services Network; Cambridge Food and Wine Society
Asian Heritage Month Festival is partially funded by the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Asian Canadian Artists in Digital Age is funded by Canada Council for the Arts Digital Strategy Fund