Dream Factory: Cantopop Mandopop 1980s-2000 | Chinese Canadian Museum

Welcome to Dream Factory — where pop stardom, migration, and music history collide.

This bold, genre-defining exhibition celebrates the golden age of Cantopop and Mandopop — the iconic sounds that took Asia by storm and sparked a global music revolution.

On view from May 28, 2025 at the Chinese Canadian Museum, Dream Factory dives into two unforgettable decades of pop — from idol fandoms to fashion flashpoints — and reveals Canada’s unexpected starring role in launching these sounds onto the world stage.

For generations of Chinese Canadians, these songs echoed through living rooms, karaoke bars, and car stereos — becoming powerful symbols of home, longing, and identity across borders.

Tracing deep cultural flows between Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mainland China, and Canada, the exhibition captures the nostalgia, resilience, and creativity of a diaspora that shaped — and was shaped by — the music of its time.

Curated by Dr. Melissa Karmen Lee with Yilin Chen and Bofei Zhang.