The title, Eating Bitterness, (吃苦 – chi ku) refers to a Chinese proverb on how the endurance of hardship can bring great strength. Many Chinese Canadians had to endure bitter circumstances posed by racial discrimination and public policy that denied them many civil liberties and equal rights. The exhibition highlights the resilience of Chinese Canadian individuals and communities under difficult circumstances, whose stories are often omitted from the major canon of Canadian history.

And we extend an invitation for all Canadians to ask ourselves, what would Canada be without me and my family?