Despite collectively representing an estimated 6% of immigrants in France, Asian populations are barely mentioned in the permanent exhibition of the Musée National de l'Histoire de l'Immigration (National Museum of the History of Immigration) since it reopened in June, following major renovations. This omission is addressed by a new exhibition, entitled "East and Southeast Asian Immigration since 1860," presented on the first floor of the Palais de la Porte-Dorée in Paris, which houses the museum.

The exhibition comprises photos, archival documents, maps, written and filmed testimonies, artworks and objects – some of which were collected through a call to individuals and associations. Through these, its two curators, Simeng Wang, a sociologist, and Emilie Gandon, the head of the Histoire du Musée ("History of the Museum") collection, shine new light on the historical, social, cultural and political trajectories of people who arrived in France from Japan, China, Vietnam, Korea, Cambodia, Thailand and the Philippines.

"A scope chosen because of the influence – particularly the cultural influence – of ancient China on the whole region, the inter-regional migratory flows between these different countries and, finally, the relatively similar process of racialization experienced in France by people from this part of Asia," Wang explained.

Indeed, it was this last point, and the stereotypes generally applied to these populations, that triggered the desire to create this exhibition, according to Constance Rivière, director general of the Palais de la Porte-Dorée. "In 2020, the arrival of Covid-19, originally from China, exacerbated discriminatory attitudes towards the Asian community, a form of racism that dare not speak its name," she said. Numerous testimonies at the time reported hate speech, threats and an overall climate of hostility towards those perceived as Asian nationals, with Le Courrier Picard, a French newspaper, even going so far as to run a front-page headline reading "Yellow Alert."

The exhibition unfolds chronologically, beginning with the 1860s and the rise of French imperialism in the Far East under the Second French Empire (1852-1870, under Napoleon III). It was a period that saw the arrival in Paris of many officials and diplomats tasked with renegotiating the terms of French occupation – an effort that would prove futile. We discover their portraits in a series of black-and-white photos – curiously shot at the Natural History Museum – in which they pose in their resplendent outfits. In their wake came the first wave of migrants, mainly workers who were destined to replace slave labor on colonial plantations.

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