HEIRLOOMS IN FRAMES

Heirlooms in Frames is a cinematic and art initiative intertwined with historical storytelling to examine the psychological and socio-cultural struggles that Chinese Canadians have undergone while trying to preserve both dimensions of their identity. It challenges the one-dimensional stories often imposed on multicultural groups by most media and historical narratives. 

In a series of films, plays, and artworks analyses, writer Emma Q. Zhou invites us to take a renewed and critical view of Canadian history. Each article weaves together historical situations, personal narratives, and artistic interpretations to revive the voices of the Chinese-Canadian experience, retelling the “counterhistory” (evocation of a particular history of racial injustice) which seeks to reverse the cultural amnesia, erasure of trauma, and refusal to accept culpability from contemporary thought. 

At its core, Heirlooms in Frames invites a renewed and critical view of Canadian history and challenging the majority view that there has been some level of settlement and closure, which was formed after Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s gave the public government apology to people of Chinese descent in 2006. The language surrounding the reconciliation still reflects a reluctance to admit harms done from race-based policies such as the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Chinese Head Tax. The whole project draws upon cultural memory studies and historiophoty, using written plays and films as creative vessels to interpret, preserve, and reframe Chinese diasporic identity and history. The project title Heirlooms in Frames reflects its layered nature: “heirlooms” speaking to cultural stories, identities, and memories passed down through generations, and “frames” having multiple meanings across cinema and art—both the visual structures of the cinema and the artistic act of preservation. 

This project stands as a cinematic and artistic tribute and a wish for a world rooted in compassion and empathy—where friendly relationships can be formed between different cultural backgrounds, and histories are preserved, celebrated, and shared across generations.