Chinese art to get new local showcase

Vancouver China Culture Centre in Richmond seen as ‘cultural bridge’

Metro Vancouver has a new facility dedicated to increasing the presence of Chinese art and culture.

While the field in Metro Vancouver is already crowded with proposed Chinese art museums and facilities, officials say each may have enough of a niche to coexist, despite overlapping in some ways.

The latest entry is the Vancouver China Culture Centre, which opened this month in Richmond. CEO and executive director Ye Hongtao, a graduate of the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing who has brought a number of folk dance and music outreaches to UBC’s Chan Centre, said the physical base for the centre of about 8,600 square feet was the next logical step.

“This is a cultural bridge between China and Canada,” Ye said. “First, it’s a place where Canadians can get the most authentic, top-level cultural exhibits from China today. Second, it gives Chinese-Canadians — no matter how many generations they’ve been here — a visual and tangible link to what their ancestral culture has to offer.”

Ye said exhibits from various parts of China will be able to use the centre and it provides a venue for hosting promotional functions such as Chinese tourism campaigns and business networking exchanges.

The culture centre is at 120-8171 Ackroyd Rd. Admission fees and hours depend on the events and exhibitions hosted. Its website is vanccc.com. Among the first exhibits is a paintings and calligraphy exhibit by Chinese artist Ni Ping.

Funding, a total of $1 million, came from seven Chinese-Canadian investors linked to the China Observatory of Music. Officials said day-to-day expenses will be covered by charging fees to Chinese artists and government bodies looking to use to space for exposure in North America.

Other Chinese/Asian art projects in the works include the Vancouver Art Gallery, which is planning a new building that would include an Asian arts wing, while Chinese art auction giant Poly is interested in creating a museum to showcase collections from company clients.

West Vancouver philanthropist Robert Ho has brought several high-profile Chinese exhibits to the West. In 2012, he helped found China Global, a non-profit seeking to establish “a world-class institu- tion” of Chinese art in Vancouver.

Former Asia Pacific Foundation president Yuen Pau Woo, also one of China Global’s founders, said the group welcomes others.

“Chinese art and culture is so rich and varied that no single institution can hope to present a comprehensive view of it,” Woo said, but added that China Global’s goal of a museum differs from Ye’s efforts, given the latter’s focus on being a venue for trade and tourism fairs as much as it is an art display space.

“We are looking to establish a world-class museum of Chinese art and culture that is part of B.C.’s mainstream,” Woo said. “Our museum is not about the Chinese community in B.C. and its particular connections to the Mainland; rather, it is about the importance of Chinese art and culture as part of a shared global heritage.”

Ye agreed that the new Richmond cultural centre serves a “cultural diplomacy” role, but added he also plans on bringing Metro Vancouver’s art exhibits back to China through the same platform.

“We will promote Canadian culture to local Chinese communities and across the Pacific Ocean, all the way to China,” he said. “It’s my belief that we will bring the Chinese and local Canadians closer.”

We will promote Canadian culture to local Chinese communities and across the Pacific Ocean, all the way to China.