JIA Foundation is an initiative of the Chinatown Working Group to form a non-profit organization with a mandate to foster the cultural heritage of Montreal’s Chinatown through storytelling and place-making in order to continue some of the work initiated by CWG and build community capacity and expertise.
JIA foundation aims to…
Activate
Work to protect, preserve and grow Montreal Chinatown’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage by creating projects that activate public and significant historic spaces through cultural and art-based practice.
Cultivate
Foster a process of inclusive place-making of Montreal’s Chinatown by and for its diverse communities.
Empower
Develop expertise, capacity and tools for Montreal’s Chinatown communities, as well as Chinatowns at large, to map out, secure and advocate for its future.
Unite
Act as a resource hub and project incubator for initiatives that advance the public’s appreciation for the living culture and communities of Montreal’s Chinatown and Chinatowns at large.
Featured Projects
The Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act
This is a project to commemorate 100 years since the passing of the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act in Canada. A 100th anniversary national exhibition will open on July 1, 2023, hosted by the Chinese Canadian Museum in the historic Wing…
Nomination of Montreal Chinatown as a National Historic Site
Following the announcement by the City of Montreal and the Government of Quebec to designate Montreal Chinatown as a heritage area, Jia Foundation is working with various Chinatown family associations and benevolent societies, as well as Heritage Montreal to nominate…
Reimagine Clark Street and Montreal Chinatown
This is a partnership between Jia Foundation and Next-Generation Cities Institute at Concordia University Montreal to form an interdisciplinary team and collaborate on a number of projects with an equitable and community-driven approach toward issues of heritage, housing, cultural spaces,…
National Trust Conference Panel
JIA members have been invited to speak this Saturday October 22nd, 2022 on a panel at the National Trust Conference in Toronto. What happens when historic places we take for granted suddenly come at risk? Often this is due to…
Chinatown Connections
This is a partnership between Jia Foundation and UBC INSTRCC (Initiative for Student Teaching and Research in Chinese Canadian Studies) to facilitate strategic collaborations and communications between Chinatowns. Chinatowns across North America were born out of the experience of discrimination….
Our Official OCPM statement
The Office de Consultation Publique de Montréal launched a consultation in spring 2022 to seek input from citizens, organizations and stakeholders on the proposed bylaw modifications for Montreal’s Chinatown. Here is Jia Foundation’s Official Statement:
Photo credit: Richmond Lam
What is JIA?
家
Where is home? What makes a home? How many homes can one have? Is home about the sense of belonging? Or is home about putting down roots? How can one put down new roots? What happens to the old roots you had? When does one start or stop feeling at home? Am I feeling at home now?
Jia is a word in Mandarin that has layers of meaning: family and home. Jia-ren means “members of family” and hui-jia means “to return home”. Like chez-soi, home is more than housing, jia is more than a home. Jia offers the sense of refuge, security and belonging, and jia is where the roots are and where we return to.
Why now?
Chinatown is a place that has offered generations of people a sense of home when they were excluded or marginalized by society at large. Chinatown is a place filled with stories of struggle and resistance that are ingrained in its buildings and development patterns. Chinatown is a place that symbolizes connection, resilience and a sense of community. Essentially, Chinatown is Jia. That is why a group of us are setting up the Jia Foundation to protect and grow Montreal’s Chinatown’s cultural heritage with a focus on storytelling and placemaking. We want to make sure the Chinatown that has witnessed our collective past, can help weave together our often untold and disjointed histories, and provide an opportunity to demonstrate what an inclusive, equitable and sustainable community can be.
Who We Are
The following members with diverse backgrounds form the Jia Team and are working to establish Jia Foundation as a non-profit cultural and community development organization in Montreal’s Chinatown.
Jessica Chen
City Planning Professional
Karen Cho
Documentary Filmmaker
Murielle Chan-Chu
Translator, Writer, Teacher
Parker Mah
Multimedia Artist and Community Organizer
Jonathan Cha
Landscape Architect and heritage expert
Sandy Yep
Educator