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Refugee exhibition curated by CMU professor arrives in Manitoba
The Hearts of Freedom exhibition at the Manitoba Museum, curated by Dr. Stephanie Phetsamay Stobbe, Associate Professor and Chair of Conflict Resolution Studies at CMU
A travelling exhibition called, Hearts of Freedom: Stories of Southeast Asian Refugees, is being showcased in the Manitoba Museum's Festival Hall from January 5 until April 7.
Dr. Stephanie Phetsamay Stobbe, Associate Professor and Chair of Conflict Resolution Studies at Canadian Mennonite University, curated the exhibition. It is the product of a larger Hearts of Freedom research project, which Stobbe worked on with four other researchers, beginning in 2018.
The project documents, through interviews, the stories of Vietnamese, Laotian, and Cambodian refugees who came to Canada between 1975 and 1985, fleeing conflicts like the Vietnam War. The team has also produced a book, documentary film, school curriculum, and website.
The museum exhibition launched in February 2023 in Gatineau, Québec, then travelled to numerous venues throughout British Columbia and showed in Halifax before arriving in Winnipeg. "I'm very excited to bring it to Winnipeg and Manitoba and to really share it with the communities here," Stobbe said.
The physical exhibition consists of six panels in English and French, filled with photos, quotes, and maps. They all include QR codes that lead to a digital exhibition containing more information and photos. The content is organized into three themes: experiences of escape and refugee camps, government policies and sponsorship agreements, settlement and integration.
Dr. Stobbe worked with CMU alumni Shayne Bloomfield-Wong (left), current PhD student in Peace and Conflict Studies at University of Manitoba, and Taewook Bae (right), graduate of CMU's Master of Arts in Peacebuilding and Collaborative Development program.
The Manitoba Museum has also created a small theatre beside the exhibition to play the documentary film, Passage to Freedom, on a rolling basis so visitors can stay for as long or as short as they wish. The museum will be screening the full documentary on March 1, a free event that will also feature the film's producer, who will fly in from Ottawa to attend.
The Hearts of Freedom project interviewed 173 people across Canada in five languages: Vietnamese, Laotian, Khmer, English, and French. "It really helped the interviewees who are more comfortable speaking in their native language," Stobbe said. "The way they are able to express themselves comes across much more vividly."
Canada resettled 210,000 Southeast Asian refugees between the years 1975–1997, an unprecedented action that was the largest and longest non-European refugee resettlement to Canada in history and the first mass movement that resettled visible minority populations. These immigrants were highly successful in their integration, making incredibly important contributions to Canada and now sponsoring and helping refugees themselves.
It's a piece of history that is personally significant for Stobbe. "This project is very important to me, as my own family came here to Canada as refugees from Laos, so I have personal experience with resettlement and integration. To be able to hear these different stories from the different communities and bring all of these stories together and share it with the communities and the general public has been really amazing. I have just been thrilled to see the support...and interest it has created across Canada," she said.
Dr. Stobbe at the Hearts of Freedom exhibit at the Manitoba Museum (photo: Mark S. Rash)
Stobbe has done extensive study in conflict resolution, refugees, and forced migration, but this is her first time curating a museum exhibit. She said it was a wonderful experience collaborating with advisors from various museums, designers, historians, and representatives from the ethnic groups portrayed in the project. She also worked with graduate students, who will be helping her lead guided tours of the exhibition at the Manitoba Museum for high school and university classes.
The exhibit continues to be relevant amidst the current refugee crisis and a social climate of increased polarization and xenophobia. According to a United Nations Global Trends Report, in 2022 there were 35.3 million refugees worldwide and that number becomes larger when including internally displaced peoples. "Maybe we need to look at that and see how Canada can be at the forefront again," Stobbe said.
After Hearts of Freedom's residency at the Manitoba Museum concludes, it will make stops in Edmonton, Calgary, Hamilton, Toronto, Kitchener, Waterloo, and Montréal. Its tour runs until December 2024. Find more information at heartsoffreedom.org.
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