The Hongcouver | In Vancouver’s ‘Cantosphere’, a sense of responsibility and an identity under siege
Artists and academics in Vancouver are carving out a space to examine both the fate of Hong Kong and the diaspora identity
There is a space occupied by the Hong Kong diaspora and their children in Vancouver, that is neither entirely here nor there.
Within that piecemeal identity is a sense of longing - and an increasing sense of responsibility towards the fate of Hong Kong and the broader “Cantosphere”.
As next month’s 20th anniversary of the Hong Kong handover closes in, Vancouver’s HK diaspora is looking for ways to highlight an identity that feels under siege. In Hong Hong, the roiling debate over nativism and the Umbrella Movement for political reform have provided an imperative. But in Vancouver, too, there are mounting pressures.
There’s the gentrification of Chinatown, and the dilution of Cantonese usage in former bastions such as Richmond’s No 3 Road, where Mandarin usage is rising.
Artists and academics alike are finding a sense of purpose.
Natalie Tin Yin Gan, 28, was the lead artist on Room 2048, a dance and multimedia performance that she described as an “urgent celebration for the Cantonese diaspora”.