Winnie L. Cheung (張麗玲)

Having completed her MA as a Commonwealth Scholar in New Zealand, Winnie Cheung served as an educator in universities in both Hong Kong (her birthplace) and Vancouver (current home for over 30 years). As the former Head of International Student Services and later Director of Community Engagement at the University of British Columbia, she founded many signature programs to foster interactions between students (both domestic and international) and the larger community so as to promote international understanding and racial harmony. A published writer and art lover, she works hard to create public platforms for meaningful dialogues and story-telling to discover and strengthen the common bonds in our diverse community.  She also actively integrates First Nations history and perspectives into her works. To further develop the concept of Multiculturalism, she plays a leadership role in local organizations such as the Laurier Institution, the Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society (VAHMS) and has co-founded the Pacific Canada Heritage Centre - Museum of Migration (PCHC – MoM) Society. She is instrumental in mounting a Trans-Pacific Cantonese Opera Project that involves artists, academics and community members from Hong Kong, Vancouver and Toronto to mark Canada’s 150th anniversary and the even longer history of Cantonese opera in Canada. Currently, she is the project lead of a research project on the early Hong Kong – Canada relationship for the Hong Kong Museum of History.

Tyler Russell

Tyler Russell is the Executive Director/Curator of Centre A: Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art. Russell has worked in a curatorial capacity since 2001 and held positions at Seoul’s samuso: space for contemporary art, the Busan Biennale 2004 and the Yokohama Triennale 2005. He was the founder of the Korea-Japan Arts Camp in Nakatsue and curated BRAVO!!: an exhibition of 6 artists from Korea and Japan. At Centre A, he has curated a series of exhibitions that deals with the concerns of Chinatown and the ever-shrinking space for Cantonese language and culture. He has published pieces in Fillip, Plato Art, and the Japan Foundation’s Kokusai Kouryuu. He holds a B.A. in International Development Studies from Dalhousie University, Canada and an M.A. in New Media Art from the Tokyo National University of Fine Art and Music. His Master’s thesis was titled “Dancing at the End of Pax Americana: Contemporary Art and International Relations in North East Asia.” Working in post-war communities in the former Yugoslavia during the mid-1990s profoundly influenced his interest in the role of art in inter-communal and inter-cultural relations.

Hayne Y. Wai

Hayne Wai has been a participant and researcher in Chinese-Canadian community affairs for over 40 years and has authored articles on Vancouver’s Chinatown and Strathcona communities. Born in Hong Kong he immigrated to Canada at a young age and grew up in Vancouver. Hayne is a graduate of the University of British Columbia (B.A.) Queen’s University (M.A.), and Simon Fraser University (P.D.P).His professional experiences include work in anti-racism, diversity, human rights, multiculturalism, and organizational change with community organizations, government, and institutions. He has served on federal, provincial, municipal, post-secondary and local committees in these fields. Hayne worked for the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the Provincial Ministry Responsible for Multiculturalism; and was a sessional instructor in the Faculty of Education and School of Social Work at the University of British Columbia teaching courses on diversity, culture, ethnicity and race. Hayne is a founding member and past president of the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of B.C. and is a co-author in CCHS‘s Finding Memories, Tracing Roots and Eating Stories, a Chinese Canadian and Aboriginal Potluck. He served on the Board of Trustees of the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden Society and continues as a volunteer docent. He is a recipient of the Government of Canada, Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Canada (1992) and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Commemorative Medal (2012).