Chinese Canadian Artifacts Project
UVic has embarked on a new endeavour, in association with the BC Museums Association and in partnership with the Nanaimo Museum and the Cumberland Museum and Archives, to compile a publicly accessible database of Chinese Canadian artifacts held by local museums in BC for use by libraries and museums in Canada and elsewhere.
The Chinese Canadian Artifacts Project (CCAP) will culminate this year in a select inventory of Chinese Canadian artifacts in BC and an index of historic buildings owned by Chinese Canadians outside of Vancouver and Victoria. This project will support the university’s ongoing efforts to engage with communities, share knowledge through workshops and conferences, and to provide educational opportunities for students to work with museum collections.
The CCAP is supported by a $85,000 provincial grant (see today’s provincial government news release) from the BC Ministry of International Trade, Asia Pacific Strategy and Multiculturalism, as part of the Chinese Historical Legacy Initiative announced last year.
Drs. John Price and Zhongping Chen of the Department of History at UVic will lead CCAP, in association with Dr. Tusa Shea of the Cultural Resource Management Program (CRMP) at UVic.
A first step in the project takes place next month with a training workshop for participating museums. The workshop will focus on Chinese Canadian/Asian Canadian history as well as technical dimensions of the database creation. Throughout the duration of this 10-month research project—initiated with a planning stage in February and March and culminating this winter with the launch of the database—team members will continue to liaise with museums, provide museum training support and supervise student involvement from the CRMP.
The project is currently soliciting expressions of interest from local and regional museums and archives with Chinese Canadian holdings. Small grants or in-kind assistance will be available to participating museums with significant holdings.
The Humanities Computing and Media Centre at UVic is also involved in the CCAP, specifically in the development of a pilot database upon which the new inventory will be modelled.
The CRMP within UVic’s Division of Continuing Studies is committed to fostering knowledge and professional growth within the cultural sector. More info: www.uvcs.uvic.ca/cultural
More info about the UVic history department: www.uvic.ca/humanities/history
To participate in the CCAP or for further information, please contact: ccap@uvic.ca.
Three images of artifacts available on Dropbox
Dr. John Price (CCAP Principal Investigator/Dept. of History) is on research leave and is available today on cell at 250-888-8546. Dr. Shea is available for questions on an ongoing basis.
Dr. Tusa Shea (CRMP Program Coordinator) at 250-721-6119 or crmcoord@uvic.ca
Tara Sharpe (University Communications + Marketing) at 250-721-6248 or tksharpe@uvic.ca
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