Between Dreams, Resistance and Representation in Asian Aotearoa

Between Dreams is a compilation of essays by Asian activists, writers and thinkers who throw a new light, from their lived experience, on what it means to be an Asian in Aotearoa. Its editor Grace Gassin is the Te Papa Asian New Zealand Histories curator.

The striking colourful cover of Between Dreams was inspired by the Hong Kong Lennon wall, 2014, on which anonymous messages of support were posted on sticky notes during a wave of pro-democracy protests. This ties in with the book’s concept of dreams and resistance.

Included in her book are photographs of taonga that have been donated in recent years to Te Papa by Hong Kong New Zealanders who were involved in some of these protests both locally and in Hong Kong itself. Many more photographs of objects of resistance and representation from different Asian communities in the Te Papa Asian collection are also shown. Amongst them a range of T-shirts created in response to the wave of racism and xenophobia targeting people of Chinese and other East Asian backgrounds during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Her book was inspired by the 2001 draft of the Aotearoa New Zealand history curriculum. This was widely criticised by Asian New Zealanders for heavily focusing on the relationship between Māori and Pākeha but largely failing to include the histories of Asians in Aotearoa.

Grace Gassin agreed, but she felt it was important to take a critical lookand to explore in more depth the legacies of New Zealand’s diverse Asian diaspora histories, which aspects should be emphasised, and whose stories should be included.

Between Dreams focuses on Asian activists who do not fit the prevalent stereotype of Asians in Aotearoa as grateful migrants or successful entrepreneurs, but have forged a different path.   

In Wāhine toa Āhia (Asian women) labour unionists, Sun-Min Elle Park tells the stories of six strong Asian women who have contributed to the workers’ movement by tenaciously fighting for better conditions and wages for working women.

In Intersections of being Asian and disabled in Aotearoa, Umi Asaka tells of the struggles and challenges three disabled immigrants, including herself, have faced as first-generation disabled Asian people in Aotearoa.

In Decolonising Diwali(the popular public Indian Festival of Lights), Dr Sapna Samant, who made a documentary film to explore the purpose of this event and who decides which Indian cultures should be represented, examines her own complex feelings about the Diwali Festival.

In Collective organising and resistance to Hindutva in Aotearoa, Mohan Dutta, an activist against Hindutva, a movement that originated in India in the 1920s and which he describes as "a far-right, almost fascist political ideology", explores its proliferation and influence globally, including in Aotearoa New Zealand today. This is an important and disturbing read as many New Zealanders will be oblivious to its existence.

In Where Ainu and Māori spirits meet, Grace Gassin tells a touching story about how a deep friendship developed between Akemi Shimada, an Ainu woman raised in Hokkaido in Japan and Ngaromi Riley, a Māori artist (Te Rarawa, Te Āupoūri, Pākehā. They first met in 2013 at a wananga at the New Zealand Embassy in Tokyo. She writes how, during the formal colonisation of Hokkaido during the 19th Century, Ainu were forced off much of their land while officials enacted policies criminalising some of their cultural practices and punished them for speaking their own language. The similarities between the impact of colonisation on Ainu in Japan and Māori in Aotearoa are striking.  

In Not your model minority, Grace Cassin surprises the reader by including some extraordinary Asians who found their place amongst society’s outsiders like Harry Tam, the child of two Chinese immigrants, who became the Mongrel Mob’s most high-profile spokesperson. He has been in the news recently, criticising the Luxon government in the wake of their crackdown on gangs, asserting that history has shown that hardline policing is not the way to deal with gangs.

I found Between Dreams a compelling and important read. The stories by Asians from different backgrounds and cultures deepened my understanding of what it means to be an Asian living in Aotearoa.

I admire them for their activism and how they are working towards making us a truly multicultural society in which we embrace our diversity, let every voice be heard, and ensure equality for all.

Reviewer: Lyn Potter

Te Papa Press