In commemoration of the 116th anniversary of the 1907 Anti-Asian Riots in Vancouver, artist and author Henry Tsang will be reviving his RIOT FOOD HERE pop-up food art project. Chef Kris Barnholden will be recreating the original menu that reflects five cuisines of the people in the area at the time of the riot: European, Chinese, Japanese, Indigenous and Punjabi.

RIOT FOOD HERE was installed in 4 locations over 4 weekends in May and June 2018. These sites track the route taken by the Asiatic Exclusion League’s parade and demonstration demanding a White Canada, inciting a mob that attacked Chinatown and Powell Street for the following two days. The project launched with a walking tour led by Michael Barnholden, author of Reading the Riot Act: A Brief History of Riots in Vancouver, which inspired Henry to create 360 Riot Walk, a 360 video walking tour of the 1907 riots, which in turn further developed and expanded into the recently released book, WHITE RIOT: The 1907 Anti-Asian Riots in Vancouver (Arsenal Pulp Press).

Henry will reflect on his motivations and experiences in creating and presenting RIOT FOOD HERE, as well as 360 Riot Walk and White Riot, accompanied by the food offerings. Larger portions will be served because it will be dinnertime.

This is a ticketed event, tickets are extremely limited and cost $40 + fees.

Menu:

Candied salmon with pickled spruce tips

Sweet corn congee with bbq pork

Lentil daal with naan

Roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, with horseradish

Sweet red bean mochi

RIOT FOOD HERE stimulates dialogue and awareness of this historic event as a way to reflect upon the ongoing struggle since colonial times about who has the right to live and eat here. Join us for a taste of the times and lively conversation.

WHITE RIOT: The 1907 Anti-Asian Riots will be available for sale and signing by the author.

About the book White Riot:

WHITE RIOT: The 1907 Anti-Asian Riots in Vancouver explores the conditions leading up to and the impact of a demonstration and parade in Vancouver, Canada, organized by the Asiatic Exclusion League and the ensuing mob attack on the city’s Chinese Canadian and Japanese Canadian communities. Emblematic of a systemically racist era, White Riot reveals the social and political environment of the time, when racialized communities were targeted through legislated as well as physical acts of exclusion and violence.

Based on 360 Riot Walk, a 360-degree video walking tour by artist and author Henry Tsang, White Riot offers an intersectional approach to this pivotal moment in the history of racialized communities and a cultural and social context for understanding for the current wave of anti-Asian sentiment. It features photographs of the riots colourized by Tsang as well as those of contemporary Vancouver where the riots took place. Essays by Tsang and others speak to the colonial times that preceded and followed the 1907 riots, as well as issues that Chinese, Japanese and other racialized communities in North America are facing today. White Riot poses the question: in the current ethos of anti-racism and decolonization, what does it take to reconcile our collective histories within the legacy of white supremacy?

Includes essays by the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance, Paul Englesberg, Melody Ma, Angela May and Nicole Yakashiro, Jeffery R. Masuda, Aaron Franks, Audrey Kobayashi and Trevor Wideman, and Andy Yan, with a foreword by Patricia E. Roy.

About the author and chef:

Henry Tsang is an artist and occasional curator who explores the spatial politics of history, cultural translation, community-building and food in relationship to place. His projects employ video, photography, interactive media, convivial events, and language, in particular, the west coast trade language Chinook Jargon. Presentations take the form of gallery exhibitions, pop-up street food offerings, 360 video walking tours, curated dinners, ephemeral and permanent public art. Henry is a past recipient of the VIVA Award and is Associate Dean at Emily Carr University of Art & Design.

Kris Barnholden is … (bio coming soon)

Venue & Accessibility

The event will be hosted at the Massy Arts Gallery, at 23 East Pender Street in Chinatown, Vancouver.

The gallery is wheelchair accessible and a gender-neutral washroom is on-site. Please refrain from wearing scents or heavy perfumes.

For more on accessibility including parking, seating, venue measurements and floor plan, and how to request ASL interpretation please visit: massyarts.com/accessibility

Covid Protocols: Masks keep our community safe and are mandatory (N95 masks are recommended as they offer the best protection), except when eating and drinking. We ask if you are showing symptoms, that you stay home. Thank you kindly.