From Guangdong to Aotearoa : an exhibition of Chinese voices
“There is a belief that runs strong in the NZ Cantonese community. It’s the idea that through hard work, education and the willingness to take some risk, our children can have a life better than the one left behind in the Cantonese village. In the year 2013, Aotearoa/NZ is peopled with bright young Chinese women who take on jobs of tremendous importance for which they receive great recognition. Much of what they achieve is thanks to the hard work and sacrifices made by their mothers and the women before them.” Ref: Photograph by King Tong Ho. Most of NZ’s early Chinese settlers came from Canton Province, now known as Guangdong. The project From Guangdong to Aotearoa came about through Sue Gee’s interest in her ancestral origins. From Guangdong to Aotearoa aimed to record the life histories of six remarkable NZ Chinese women. They were chosen because their contribution in the community is noteworthy or because they had interest or knowledge of our Chinese settler history...