Chinese Canadian Museum to Launch Two New Exhibitions: Montréal Chinois and Collector's Corner
Vancouver, BC, September 17, 2025 — The Chinese Canadian Museum is excited to launch two new exhibitions this fall: Montréal Chinois: The Lost Decades / Les Décennies Perdues Photography 1945–1960s, which unveils a rarely seen photography archive of Chinese Canadian life in Montreal from 1945 to the 1960s, in collaboration with the McCord Stewart Museum in Montreal; and Collector’s Corner: Roger Lee, a new evolving exhibition series, featuring Yixing teapots taken from Lee’s personal collection and his generous donation to the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.
On view from October 15, 2025 to May 10, 2026, Montréal Chinois features the work of five self-taught photographers who captured friendship, swagger, and everyday flair — revealing a world where Chinese Canadians shaped the city’s sense of style and cool. Set against the Quiet Revolution and Beat Generation, their portraits, cityscapes, and gatherings show how Chinese Montréalers were active in cultural transformations.
“Montréal Chinois is about more than photography — it is about recovering lives and stories long left in the shadows,” says Dr. Melissa Karmen Lee, CEO of Chinese Canadian Museum. “These images pulse with memory and style, showing Chinese Montrealers as vital contributors to the city’s rhythm. We are honoured to partner with the McCord Stewart Museum to bring these hidden histories back into the light.”
MONTREAL CHINESE PHOTOGRAPHERS
Between 1945 to the 1960s, Arthur Lee (1916–2002), his brother Samuel Lee, their friend Peter Wong, Vancouver-born Chuck Yip (1922–2016), and later Chong Hong Ho (b. 1936), quietly yet powerfully documented their communities.
Their photographs captured snapshots of tight-knit friendship circles, recording moments at the beach, on ski trips, and in everyday gatherings, offering a rare window into Chinese Canadian life during a period of profound social change.
Arthur Lee, eldest son of early migrants from Toisan, built a life in Montreal through family businesses like Wing Noodles Ltd., while also working with his brother Samuel Lee and close friend Peter Wong to document community life. His albums, filled with images of family and friends, formed an early archive of Chinese Canadian presence in the city. Chuck Yip, who was the grandson of pioneer Yip Sang and founder of the Wing Sang Building — home to the Chinese Canadian Museum, extended this impulse with an engineer’s precision, creating annotated albums and collages layered with travel, memory, and diasporic ties. Later, Chong Hong Ho, who moved from Guangzhou to Manitoba and Arkansas before settling in Montreal, carried this documentary spirit forward, photographing migration, family, and everyday gatherings.
As part of the opening on October 15, a fireside chat entitled “Through the Lens: Preserving Montreal’s Chinese Canadian Histories” with Anne Eschapasse, President and CEO of McCord Stewart Museum, and Lee will be held at the museum. Visitors will also have an opportunity to submit photographs as part of the exhibition.
COLLECTOR’S CORNER: ROGER LEE
In addition to Montréal Chinois, the Chinese Canadian Museum is also launching a new evolving series titled Collector’s Corner: Roger Lee that spotlights individuals whose passion for collecting transforms how we understand Chinese Canadian identity, visual culture, and belonging.
This exhibition highlights the extraordinary Yixing teapot collection of Vancouver-based art historian and cultural advocate Professor Roger Lee. Born in Vancouver with family roots in Victoria, Lee taught art history at the University of Regina for over three decades while cultivating a cross-cultural perspective through his travels between Canada and China. Lee began collecting Yixing teapots in the 1980s, captivated by their sculptural form, porous clay, and central role in Chinese daily life. Together, these works illustrate Lee’s discerning eye and his dedication to preserving the finest examples of this storied craft.
“Collector’s Corner allows us to celebrate the personal passions that shape collective memory,” explains Dr. Melissa Karmen Lee. “Roger was Canada’s first Chinese Canadian art history professor, teaching Fine Art at a time when few voices of colour were represented in the academy. He approached Yixing teapots with a Western-trained historical lens, yet his deep passion for these objects was rooted in his own Chinese ancestry. It’s precisely this hybridity — where scholarly analysis meets cultural memory — that fascinates us, and speaks to the uniquely Chinese Canadian way of seeing and valuing art.”
“When I first encountered Yixing teapots in the 1980s, I was struck by their formal elegance and the quiet presence reflecting daily life,” says Roger Lee. “Collecting them became a way for me to connect art, history, and Chinese cultural identity. I’m honoured to share this collection with the Chinese Canadian Museum, and I hope visitors will see in these teapots not only as objects of beauty, but also the innovative aspects of Chinese cultural traditions.”
The exhibition also features a special earthenware sculpture by renowned Canadian sculptor Joseph Fafard, on loan from the Remai Modern in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. A special talk exploring the range and significance of his collection of these celebrated teapots with Lee will be held on Wednesday, October 29, at the museum.
For more information about Montréal Chinois and Collector’s Corner: Roger Lee, please visit chinesecanadianmuseum.ca.
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About the Chinese Canadian Museum | chinesecanadianmuseum.ca
The Chinese Canadian Museum Society of British Columbia is an independent, non-profit organization established in March 2020 to create a museum honouring and sharing Chinese Canadian history, contributions, and living heritage. Guided by its mission statement “Connecting to the Chinese Canadian story – addressing inclusion for all”, the Chinese Canadian Museum aspires to provide an invigorating and transformative experience for present and future generations through its exhibitions and educational programming throughout B.C. and Canada.
The first of its kind in Canada, the Chinese Canadian Museum opened to the public in 2023, and is located in the historic Wing Sang Building in Vancouver Chinatown.
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Sophia Cheng, sophia@sophiachengpr.com, 604-828-3102, @chengsophia