Hearts of Freedom: Exhibit Launch
Stories of Southeast Asian Refugees
Hamilton Immigration Partnership Council and The City of Hamilton are proud to host a pop-up exhibition which shares the emotional and impactful stories of Southeast Asian refugees who came to Canada between 1975 and 1985, and the stories of those who assisted them.
Join us for the exhibition launch event at Hamilton City Hall on Wednesday, June 5 at 5 pm.
Enjoy delicious food, hear speakers who were part of Hamilton’s incredible reception of more than 3000 refugees, and stay for the screening of Passage to Freedom, a 50-minute documentary that features powerful oral histories of Southeast Asian refugees that made the dangerous journeys from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam to Canada.
The exhibition will be on display in Hamilton City Hall (71 Main Street West) 8:30 am to 4:30PM through June 20, World Refugee Day.
The exhibition is comprised of a variety of panels detailing the stories of refugee journeys through photographs and shared memories captured in interviews. Each panel’s interpretive text gives the reader further insight into the paths and obstacles faced by those making the difficult and often dangerous expedition. For further information: https://heartsoffreedom.org/
The exhibition was created by Dr. Stephanie Phetsamay Stobbe and the Hearts of Freedom Museum Exhibition Committee, in collaboration with Canadian Mennonite University, Carleton University, the Canadian Museum of History, the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, the Canadian Immigration Historical Society, the Vietnamese Canadian Federation, the Lao Association of Ottawa Valley, and the Cambodian Association of Ottawa Valley. The Hearts of Freedom exhibition tour is funded in part by SSHRC and private funders.