Please join us for a conversation around Morris Lum’s latest book Chinatowns: Tong Yan Gaai, recently co-published by Delmonico Books and WORK BOOK.

Over the past decade, Morris Lum has embarked on an extensive exploration of the Chinatown communities across Canada and the United States. Focusing on the architecture and evolution of these enclaves, Lum delves into how “Chinese” identity is shaped and expressed through their structures. Using a large-format camera, he has captured Chinatowns in cities such as Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, and Boston, chronicling the rapid transformations these communities face and documenting their shifting architectural and economic landscapes. His colourful photographs offer a poignant visual record, spotlighting both historical and modern cultural landmarks—small family-owned businesses, iconic Chinese restaurants and vital community organizations—that define these neighbourhoods

In this event, Lum presents his photographic practice, how this project came to be, and the process of putting it into a book, in conversation with Lily Cho and Jessica Chen and moderated by Katie Addleman, Curator, Photography and New Media.

The JIA Foundation has organized a walking tour on Sunday, 14 December, followed by a book signing session at Chinatown House, 116 rue de la Gauchetière O.

This event is co-organized by the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute for Studies in Canadian Art and is free of charge. Space is limited so registration is required.

Morris Lum is a Trinidadian-born photographer and artist whose work explores the complex hybridity of the Chinese-Canadian experience through photography, form, and documentary practices. Lum’s work has been exhibited and screened across Canada and the United States. Currently, he is focused on a cross–North American project examining the transformation of Chinatowns and capturing the evolving architectural and cultural landscapes of these communities. Morris is an Assistant Professor in the Visual Studies Department at the University of Toronto’s Daniels Faculty of Architecture Landscape and Design.

Lily Cho is Associate Professor of English at York University. She is the author of Eating Chinese: Culture on the Menu in Small Town Canada (2010) and Mass Capture: Chinese Head Tax and the Making of Non-Citizens (2021). She has also written the introduction to Chinatowns: Tong Yan Gaai.

Jessica Chen is a Canadian city planning professional currently based in Tioh’tià:ke/Montreal, Quebec. As an immigrant from Taiwan, uprooting and rerooting her life many times and calling multiple cities home, her work has often been driven by her interest in people and the way they set roots and form their sense of belonging in places. Jessica has been active in Montreal Chinatown since 2019 to advocate for a new approach to cultural heritage conservation. Jessica co-founded the JIA Foundation in 2022 and is currently the executive director of this growing community organization.