Momentum: Power and Identity in Sports | Chinese Canadian Museum

Sport is where identity, belonging, and national pride are put on the line.

Momentum transforms the gallery into an electrified, sports bar–inspired environment that captures the energy of collective spectatorship, where history, media, and contemporary art collide. Through archival objects, striking photographic portraits, and a newly commissioned moving image work, the exhibition traces over a century of Chinese Canadian presence in sport.

Featuring athletes such as Patrick Chan, Lori Fung, Bryan Chiu, and Alexa Loo, the exhibition highlights moments of excellence that have shaped Canada’s sporting landscape, stories that have too often been left out of the national narrative. Momentum brings them back into focus, reframing sport as a powerful arena where recognition, citizenship, and belonging are contested and claimed.

The exhibition also invites audiences to step directly into the game through visual artist Rirkrit Tiravanija’s interactive ping pong installation which activates the space through competition and play. Alongside these histories, contemporary Asian artists push sport into new territory. New commissions by YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES, alongside works by Wong Ping and Felicia Chang, explore how the language of sport including strategy, discipline, endurance, and teamwork, extends beyond the game to shape broader conversations about identity, resilience, and power.

Game on. Who gets to belong?