Peering into the Past

Creating innovative ‘living museum’ spaces in Chinatown

Chinatowns, located throughout the Americas and other continents, are important sites of tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Today, they face myriad changes and crises, including balancing new urban developments, gentrification, population shifts, and the preservation of historical architecture and aura.

The Peering into the Past study documented the process of creating a short-term exhibit that animated and enriched an unconventional outdoor space, and considered the long-term goal of making Canada’s oldest Chinatown in Victoria a future “living museum” site.

The opportunity arose in November 2019 when the Salient Group (a development company) offered the Victoria Chinatown Museum Society and the Royal BC Museum a 103 square foot space in a courtyard off Fan Tan Alley, a famous landmark.

The result of this collaboration was a dynamic urban pop-up exhibit that opened in July 2020 at 3 Fan Tan Alley. Visitors experienced a mix of digital media and panels displayed on the courtyard walls and windows, all designed to highlight the space’s historical location and context and a single artifact through digital animation.

This study, conducted by Dr. Tzu-I Chung in partnership with the Victoria Chinatown Museum Society, Royal BC Museum, and the Salient Group, addresses the challenges and future possibilities of working with community and development partners to create living museum sites in unconventional spaces, as a new way to revitalize and reimagine the future of Chinatowns.

Click the button below to view and download, “Peering into the Past”.