Group calling for action on B.C.’s proposed South Asian Canadian Museum gathers in Surrey

A group calling for movement on B.C.’s promised South Asian Canadian Museum gathered in Surrey Tuesday night.

The event, organized by the Museum Liberation Force, was held at Surrey City Hall to build momentum behind the museum’s creation and open meaningful dialogue about the anticipated centre.

“Tonights event was just born out of impatience,” Museum Liberation Force member Mo Dhaliwal told CityNews.

The province committed to opening a South Asian museum back in 2017. Public engagement about the museum was launched by the provincial government in October 2023. This month, an online public survey and community workshops were launched.

However, in an Instagram post, the Museum Liberation Force says, so far, the province’s engagement process has been full of “broken promises, harmed relationships, and excluded community voices.”

One of the contentious issues the group notes it hasn’t been given the chance to unpack is the use of the words ‘South Asian’ in the museum’s title, which some community members have said doesn’t accurately capture those the museum is meant to represent.

“The frustration came about that we just couldn’t get things moving in any meaningful way,” Dhaliwal said.

“Even two years ago we were asked to provide advice, the advice we were given wasn’t needed, the timelines we were provided by the province weren’t being followed. There was just no meaningful activity.”

The event featured a panel discussion between speakers such as Dhaliwal, Simon Fraser University professor Anushay Malik, and University of Fraser Valley professor Sharanjit Kaur Sandhra.

In a clip posted online prior to the event, Kaur says it’s important for people who live in Canada to see themselves reflected in the country’s cultural spaces.

“Museums are like a pathway to our feeling of belonging,” she said.

The group says this museum is an “overdue,” but essential step in the province advancing its anti-racist policies.

“Our stories continue to belong to us, and we cannot allow the performative language of decolonization and white fragility from the institutions and their agents to dictate the way our space and storytelling should take form,” it states.

“The only way this museum works is if this is in the hands of the community.”

According to the province’s website dedicated to the museum project, the release date of its final ‘What We Heard Report’ is yet to be determined. Currently, people can go to the website to complete the online survey, facilitate a community-led conversation with funding support, and submit an online video or written feedback.