The Pocket Gallery in the Royal BC Museum’s Lobby offers small, free exhibits to those visiting the Museum. The current exhibit takes a fascinating look at the resilience of families during challenging times.
Titled A Tale of Two Families: Generations of Intercultural Communities and Family Lessons, the exhibit was curated by Tzu-I Chung, Curator of History at the Museum.
“I wanted to put up something that actually addressed the COVID time,” says Chung. “In terms of how this very unprecedented global pandemic crisis has brought a lot of insecurities and difficulties for a lot of people, I believe that we can learn a lot of lessons from history.”
One of the powerful and moving inclusions in the exhibit is a series of letters, written from father to son, during the Chinese Exclusion Era.
Chung explains that she included these letters because of “all these different lessons about how to treat your family, how to treat your mother, how to be kind to your siblings, and how to be faithful and loyal to your customers. And also how to follow the Laws of Heaven, whatever you do. Writings such as ‘don’t be afraid to be charitable and kind,’ which really resonates with what Dr. Bonnie Henry has been saying during this pandemic.”
A Tale of Two Families will be on display in the Museum’s Pocket Gallery until January 31st.
Veronica Cooper
