Celebrating Chinese-Canadians in Sports

Table tennis anyone? That's the question!

Last weekend we checked out the latest exhibition at the Chinese Canadian Museum in Chinatown that is coincidentally sort of tied to the World Cup in Vancouver.

Entitled Momentum: Power and Identity in Sports, the exhibition showcases Chinese-Canadian athletic talent in all kinds of disciplines, like ice hockey and basketball, Canadian football, figure skating, snowboarding and swimming.

Many cool items on display at the exhibition

It's a fantastic way to celebrate these people who have excelled in their sport at the highest level. There's Patrick Chan, who has medalled three times in the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics, Lori Fung, who won the first gold in rhythmic gymnastics in 1984, and Norman Kwong the first person of Chinese heritage who played football for the Calgary Stampeders and the Edmonton Eskimos, and was even the Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta.

On display are Chan's ice skates and one of his medals from Sochi that looks banged-up, Fung's gymnastic suit and ribbons, and a giant pair of sneakers that Zach Edey wore while playing for the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA! Edey's mother is the daughter of Chinese immigrants in Toronto.

There's also some other Asian artists whose work are in the show. Visitors are first greeted by an indoor tennis table that has the words "Tomorrow Is The Question" in caps by Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija. I've seen his work over the years, with other tennis tables written with "Demain Est La Question".

Tiravanija's thought-provoking message

But most interesting are Tiravanija's works where he takes newspapers from a specific city and writes thought-provoking messages. 

The first and most memorable one I saw at Art Basel Hong Kong one year featured the message, "Freedom Cannot Be Simulated" written on the pages of the South China Morning Post newspaper.

There's also a funny animation called "Furry Ball" about what happens to a golf ball by Hong Kong artist Wong Ping, and photographs of young female field hockey players by Canadian-Malaysian artist Felicia Chang.

Momentum: Power and Identity in Sports is on until July 19, 2026.

Chinese Canadian Museum

51 East Pender Street

Vancouver