The objective of the communications plan for “Strength of Tradition: Embracing Chinese Heritage” is to raise awareness and generate excitement and engagement about the online event among the both the Chinese-Canadian community and the wider public, encourage participation, and foster a sense of pride and connection to Chinese heritage. The Chinese-Canadian museum aims to maximize visibility, engagement, and attendance for the “Strength of Tradition: Embracing Chinese Heritage” event, ensuring a memorable and joyful experience for all participants. This plan proposes a day event in which exhibitions of new archives, performances online will be the point of convergence to bring people together to celebrate and honor the Chinese-Canadian culture through the museum’s website.
AUDIENCE
The event is aimed to the Chinese-Canadian community primarily, to celebrate their roots, their history and culture. However, this is an event open for people of all backgrounds, everyone is welcomed, since the event is also a way to educate people on Chinese-Canadian history and importance to avoid stereotypes and prejudices in the future. It is a way to experience a joyful, symbolic and informative day sharing with everyone around us collectively and appreciating the culture.
RESEARCH
Within the museum, the recovered archives stand as silent witnesses to the profound importance of historical events. Here, in the middle of artifacts, photographs, and official documents, visitors embark on a journey through time, immersing themselves in the vibrant history of Chinese-Canadian culture.
These archives serve not merely as relics of the past, but as living testaments to the struggles and triumphs of past generations, gaining insight into the legacy of the Chinese-Canadian community, often marginalized and silenced and viewed as outsiders. Their stories have often been pushed to the margin, overshadowed by dominant narratives that fail to capture the true diversity of Canadian society, which is not consistent of only Indigenous people and white-European settlers, but also many minorities who have been part of history for many years.
By engaging, visitors confront the harsh realities of racism and exclusion. Yet, these archives also bear witness to resilience and perseverance, inspiring us to create spaces where cultural heritage is not only honored but celebrated, empowering communities to reclaim their heritage and identity. These archives serve as monuments to the enduring presence and intrinsic value of Chinese-Canadians in Canada’s story.
SPOKESPEOPLE
In the event, Grace Wong, the Board-Chair will be giving a speech on the importance of having a Chinese-Canadian museum in Vancouver, she will uncover the newly acquired archives, which consist of pictures of the community in Vancouver and other parts of Canada in the late 1800s. As visitors, the museum will also have the visit and participation of Dr. Henry Yu, an associate professor of history from the University of British Columbia, he will immerse into the Chinese-Canadian history, also showing archives, photos and videos. As another visitor, the voice of Imogem Lim, a 3rd generation Chinese-Canadian will talk about her story and cultural traditions and values of the past brought to the present.
CONTENT
This event is an empathetic appreciation of the Chinese-Canadian culture. The content will focus on the historical aspects of the Chinese-Canadian community, focusing on aspects like racism, and exclusion that the community has faced along the years, but it is also an event of resilience. It is to show how archives show the tragic history, but it also makes them seem as a community and how they have overcome this injustices. It is a way to install a sense of belonging, appreciation, honor and celebration of the Chinese-Canadian culture and history. It is a way to empower the community, but also a way to educate people who aren’t part of it, but are interested to learn more about it, in order to be more sensitive and aware of the diversity of minorities in Canada. It is an event where respect and participation is encouraged. People will also be encourage to share their experiences and stories. To make the event interesting and engaging and performances will be present. Chinese dances and music will be part of the program. The event is meant to be a full immersion on Chinese-Canadian culture, commemorating the past, sharing the present and giving a path to the future.
CALENDAR
The event will start at 11 am in Saturday morning, by clicking a special link in the museum’s website. Wong will start with a welcome speech and showing the new archives. Then Dr. Yu will start with the history and make an online walkthrough of the museum explaining dates and stories. After, a forum to share with other people will be open, people can talk to each other.
After there will be a performance of traditional dances and music online, followed by sharing stories by Imogem Lim. Then, people will be encouraged to share their experiences, and also people can search the online museum website with guides available. Finally the vent will conclude at 6 pm with closing words of Grace Wong and a final appreciation to everyone who attended and to the Chinese-Canadian culture, people are encouraged to leave comments.
CONCLUSION
This event promises to be a fascinating celebration and tribute to Chinese-Canadian culture, offering an opportunity to both acknowledge its rich history and heritage, while also fostering community engagement and participation to create a memorable and enjoyable day for all.