See Some Sporty Art

A 12-minute walk from the roar of the BC Place crowds, the Chinese Canadian Museum is tapping into the World Cup’s energy with a new exhibit. In Chinatown’s historic Wing Sang Building, home to the young museum, Momentum: Power and Identity in Sports is built around an immersive sports bar–style installation with big-screen TVs. The goal is to bottle the thrill of sports spectatorship.

Momentum is at once a celebration of athleticism and an exploration of national identity. It spotlights Chinese-Canadian sport stories from the early 1900s onward—a task, CEO Melissa Karmen Lee says, that was initially met with skepticism. When she’d talk about the project, people told her that there weren’t many Chinese-Canadian athletes, or that they weren’t very good. “As we did the research, we found there were hundreds,” Lee says. “When Chinese-Canadians are overlooked, that becomes a larger narrative about identity and belonging. This exhibition puts us back into the story of sport.”

Displayed above and around the sports bar is a range of equipment. Patrick Chan, Canada’s most-decorated male figure skater, loaned the exhibit his figure skates, as well as the costume he wore at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Museumgoers might spot a basketball jersey from the Memphis Grizzlies’ Zach Edey, or the table-tennis paddles that Wilson Zhang wielded at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. 

A remarkable number of pioneers are in the mix. In 1948, Larry Kwong became the first non-white player on NHL ice; his original orange-and-red Trail Smoke Eaters jersey will hang in the gallery. So too will a leotard and ribbon from Lori Fung, the Olympics’ inaugural rhythmic gymnastics champion. And then there are the climbing shoes that carried Alannah Yip—a descendant of Wing Sang’s original owner—up the wall in under eight seconds when rock climbing made its 2020 Olympic debut.

The exhibit offers soccer fans an opportunity to recharge from the whirl of an international sporting event, but also to expand their knowledge of local sports culture. Visitors can sit at the bar to enjoy a montage of competition highlights and interviews with some of Canada’s greats, or even play ping-pong, thanks to a participatory art installation. Momentum runs from June 10, 2026, to September 5, 2027.