Catherine Clement – Curating Chinatown’s history
Catherine Clement interview segment
Produced by Trevor Marc Hughes
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“I don’t think of myself as an author,” begins acclaimed curator Catherine Clement, “I think of myself as a street historian or community historian first, and the only reason I create books is to solidify those memories, to lock them in for future generations to find.” Although she finds writing trying, she knows it’s necessary in order to do justice to the stories she has uncovered through a great deal of social research. Clement herself is no stranger to the interview. She furthered her understanding of her own father’s involvement in the Second World War through interviewing war veterans. But through the interview research she did, she found for herself, someone of mixed Chinese and European ancestry, the contributions made by Chinese Canadians during that all-encompassing war.
“I rediscovered my own roots in history,” Clement says, “and also heard this fascinating story of these Chinese Canadians who at the time didn’t have citizenship, didn’t have the right to vote, and yet who volunteered to serve for their country.” The historical research she did at this time would change her life.
It was through that process that she eventually became aware of the prolific studio photographer Yucho Chow, based in Vancouver’s Chinatown, and the impact he made for the city’s marginalized immigrant groups. The result of that work was the book Chinatown Through a Wide Lens: The Hidden Photographs of Yucho Chow. Soon Catherine Clement will take her work from a recent exhibition into book form again, with The Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act.
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Trevor Marc Hughes was a freelance arts reporter at CBC Radio from 1997 to 2007. In and around that time he worked as a researcher and associate producer on documentary and current affairs programs that aired on Knowledge Network, The Discovery Channel, and Discovery Health, and were produced by Transatlantic Films, the UK’s oldest independent film production company. His own documentary projects include The Young Hustler, a film he produced and directed, about his grandfather’s days operating a Fraser River tugboat during The Great Depression. He has recently uploaded his interviews with Graeme Menzies, Henry Yu, Yasuko Thanh, Rodger Touchie, Vanessa Winn, and Robert Amos.
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The British Columbia Review
Interim Editors, 2023-26: Trevor Marc Hughes (non-fiction), Brett Josef Grubisic (fiction)
Publisher: Richard Mackie
Formerly The Ormsby Review, The British Columbia Review is an on-line book review and journal service for BC writers and readers. The Advisory Board now consists of Jean Barman, Wade Davis, Robin Fisher, Barry Gough, Hugh Johnston, Kathy Mezei, Patricia Roy, and Graeme Wynn. Provincial Government Patron (since September 2018): Creative BC. Honorary Patron: Yosef Wosk. Scholarly Patron: SFU Graduate Liberal Studies. The British Columbia Review was founded in 2016 by Richard Mackie and Alan Twigg.
“Only connect.” – E.M. Forster