Free museum entry for New Zealanders and people living in New Zealand
Open every day 10am-6pm
(except Christmas Day)
Free museum entry for New Zealanders and people living in New Zealand
Chinese Languages in Aotearoa is an ongoing project using language to highlight complex issues of cultural identity within various Chinese New Zealand communities.
It begins with a series of videos, of people – a poet, a restaurateur, a typeface designer, and an interpreter – sharing stories of their connection to their heritage Chinese languages, speaking in Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese, and Hakka. These videos have been made by local Chinese and Chinese New Zealand filmmakers.
The second part consists of illustrators responding to stories from people of diverse Chinese cultural heritages in Aotearoa. More on that to come.
Chinese Languages in Aotearoa is part of Voices of Asian Aotearoa. For more information, read our introductory blog ‘Exploring Asian Aotearoa’s diverse cultures through languages’.
Voices of Asian Aotearoa will see a variety of projects focused on the languages and cultural identities of different Asian New Zealand communities. Curator Grace Gassin introduces our first project, Chinese Languages in Aotearoa.
Henry Liu is an interpreter and the first and only New Zealander to have held office as President of the FIT (International Federation of Translators). Here, he speaks about language interpretation, the struggles of minority languages, and the difficulties of not being about to communicate.
Jack Yan was born in Hong Kong and grew up in Wellington. Here he discusses how he has remained connected to his mother tongue, Cantonese.
Tee Phee, owner of Wellington’s Little Penang restaurants, is a fluent speaker of Penang Hokkien and was always determined to ensure that her local-born children grew up speaking the language. Here she discusses her relationship with the language.
Ya-Wen Ho is a 1.5 generation Taiwanese Hakka New Zealander, a poet, and type researcher at Wai-te-ata Press in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. Here she discusses her complicated relationship with Mandarin and how it became her ‘mother tongue’.
You can never assume what a person’s relationship to a language is, says Ya-Wen Ho in a conversation with Grace Gassin, Curator Asian New Zealand Histories, about her past and present connections with heritage Chinese languages.
In the latest instalment of the Chinese Languages in Aotearoa project, curator Grace Gassin talks with interpreter Henry Liu about Hakka and how it has influenced his career.
Curator Grace Gassin and magazine publisher and typeface designer Jack Yan talk about Cantonese, an especially significant language in the history of Chinese migration to Aotearoa New Zealand.
Curator Grace Gassin and Tee Phee of Wellington’s Little Penang restaurant introduce Hokkien, a Chinese language originating in the southern Chinese province of Fujian.
“I only learnt to speak Hokkien in my 20s to connect with my roots, and more importantly to communicate with my grandmother.”
Hsen-Han Khoo talks about his relationship with Hokkien.
“My story is simple and ordinary. A mother trying to pass my culture down to my child.”
Laura Luo talks about her relationship with Sichuanese and Mandarin.
“I felt like I had a superpower with my Hakka. It meant that I had a special language that others couldn’t understand.”
Wanwan Liao talks about her relationship with Hakka, Mandarin, and Taiwanese Hokkien.
“[Buying a balloon] was such a simple and playful act, but it reminds me of the wholesome joys that connecting with your culture can bring.”
Koreen Liew-Young talks about her long-gestating relationship with Cantonese and Mandarin.
“I think telling diasporic stories, like mine, bring alternative and often undocumented/heavily underrepresented experiences to light.”
Samantha Fei talks about her relationship with Cantonese, which begins in apartheid South Africa.
Relationships and language heal together.
Explore Xixi Xian’s journey with Cantonese.
In response to our public callout for Chinese New Zealanders to share stories of their connection with their heritage languages, Aucklander George Thien brought together people from across the motu to recite the lyrics to a famed Teresa Teng song in their chosen language.
The filmmaker of the Chinese Languages in Aotearoa – Mandarin video shares her own stories, and what she learned from being part of this project, with Grace Gassin, Curator Asian New Zealand Histories.
The filmmaker of the Chinese Languages in Aotearoa – Cantonese and Hakka videos shares his own stories, and his reflections on being part of this project, with Grace Gassin, Curator Asian New Zealand Histories.
Are you keen to improve or teach yourself a Chinese language but unsure where to start? This list is for you.
This zine, which brings together the stories recorded for Chinese Languages in Aotearoa, is a tribute to all who have shared their experiences with us.
