Portrait of Linda Yip , 2010s
Photograph

Linda Yip is a fourth-generation Chinese Canadian genealogist and historian born in Vancouver, British Columbia. In her early thirties, Linda began a new life by starting an adventurous journey to travel for eighteen months in South Asia, South Africa and Europe, and then went back to university. Growing up, Linda was rejective of her Chinese identity and tried very hard to be white. In her coming of age, Linda used fashion and clothing to re-invent her sense of self and consume a new identity that is both “Chinese” and “Canadian”. Making clothes was an essential part of her self-expression that captured her boldness, creativity, and desire for empowerment. Today, Linda is very involved in presenting Chinese Canadian history. Her great-grandfather, Yip Sang, came to Canada in the 1880s as one of the earliest Chinese immigrants and became the first successful merchant in Vancouver’s Chinatown. The history of Chinese exclusion and anti-Chinese racism deeply impacted the Yip family; thus, Linda used her work as a genealogist to help diasporic Chinese Canadians find their roots and re-connect to Chinese culture.

Exhibited by:

Violet Wolfe

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BC Lion’s Newsletter , 1978
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Linda at a Fashion Show , 2008
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Chinatown’s Girls Drill Team , 1960
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Gold Ring , Unknown
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