Montreal Asian Heritage Festival History

The following information was based on Asian Heritage models established in the United States in 1976 and Canada in 1993. The Montreal Asian Heritage Month collective revised this in 1995 and remains in the original form to indicate where we were, where we are now and where we are going.

Montreal is one of the most culturally diverse urban centres in Canada and includes a significant Asian population. However, the Asian population of Montreal is quite diverse in that it is comprised of many communities, each with its own racial, ethnic, linguistic and/or cultural identity. In addition to this cultural diversity, Asian communities are also geographically fragmented across the urban expanse of greater Montreal and its suburbs.

Such an environment renders dialogue, exchange and collaboration between these communities very difficult and generates great obstacles in the struggle to establish any kind of solidarity. Asians wanting to maintain their culture may often become isolated or ghettoized within their own small community and find themselves at odds with the mainstream. Others, perhaps because of alienation from their own community or because the pressure to assimilate weighs more heavily on them, may abandon their community or their cultural identity altogether.

Barriers to mainstream culture

Even though Canada has officially adopted an ideal of multiculturalism, long held prejudices about what constitutes Canadian identity remain institutionalized. The images of Canadian culture and identity propagated by the media remain predominantly “white”. As with many other communities, Asians have had great difficulty in reconciling this image of Canadian culture with their need to assert and to express their own identities.

Media stereotypes continue to have a profoundly disempowering effect on Asians. The struggle to establish that feeling “Canadian” while also taking great pride in one’s Asian culture do not have to be mutually exclusive has only recently begun to receive the kind of attention it deserves.

With regard to Asian artists, the mainstream often groups all artists of colour and their work together in ways that fail to recognize differences of race, class and culture. Since their work is not seen to fit into the arbitrarily defined norms of what constitutes “white” Canadian culture, it is almost automatically excluded from the mainstream.

Barriers between Asian communities

Historically, there has been cultural and economic reciprocity between the different communities in Asia. However, after arriving in Canada, the various Asian communities tend to fragment. This isolation is often the result of trying to adapt to a social environment that is considerably different from the one in the country of origin. Consequently, the interaction and dialogue that was present outside Canada is severely reduced and cultural differences, religious and language barriers further compound this effect.

Barriers for non-traditional artists within their own communities

Many Asian artists are doing work that is either experimental or constitutes a fusion of “east” and “west”. In order to do this kind of work, they have often had to do so outside their communities. As a result, Asian communities are unaware of these artists, are not exposed to their work and rarely have opportunities to support them. Consequently, it has become imperative to facilitate reconnection of these artists to their communities.