Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

IMMIGRATION AWARD

Date

2011

Materials

GLASS, LEATHERETTE, SATIN

No. Pieces

2

Height

21.5

Length

6

Width

5.8

Description

A: GLASS AWARD. BOTTOM OF BASE IS SQUARE. MAIN PORTION OF AWARD IS AN UPSIDE DOWN ISOSCELESE TRAPEZOID. UPPER MOST PORTION OF AWARD IS A GLOBE, WITH THE CONTINENTS ETCHED INTO THE GLASS. ETCHED ONTO THE FRONT OF THE AWARD: "2011 IMMIGRANT ACHIEVEMENT AWARD. ANINE VONKEMAN. ARTS & CULTURE." ON THE BASE OF THE AWARD: "LETHBRIDGE FAMILY SERVICES" IN A CIRCLE, WITH A SIMPLISTIC IMAGE OF A FAMILY OF THREE IN THE CENTRE. B: AWARD STORED IN BLACK LEATHERETTE AND CARDBOARD BOX. LINED INSIDE WITH NAVY BLUE SATIN. BOX FLAP CLOSES WITH MAGNET. DIMENSIONS OF BOX IN CM: HxLxW: 8 x 25.5 x 9.8 AWARD AND BOX BOTH IN EXCELLENT CONDITION.

Subjects

PERSONAL SYMBOL

Historical Association

ASSOCIATIONS

COMMEMORATIVE

History

THIS AWARD WAS PRESENTED TO ANINE VONKEMAN IN 2011 THROUGH THE LETHBRIDGE FAMILY SERVICES IMMIGRANT SERVICES, IN THE CATEGORY OF ARTS AND CULTURE. ANINE WAS NOMINATED BY A CO-WORKER AT THE GALT MUSEUM (PRESUMED TO BE LORI HARASEM) FOR HER WORK AT THE SOUTHERN ALBERTA ART GALLERY (SAAG) AND THE GALT MUSEUM. IN AN INTERVIEW WITH ANINE, CONDUCTED BY KEVIN MACLEAN IN JUNE 2015, SHE EXPLAINED THAT AT THE AWARDS CEREMONY, SHE AND OTHER HONOUREES GAVE SHORT SPEECHES ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCES. ANINE BELIEVES THAT HER IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE WAS PROBABLY A LOT EASIER, ESPECIALLY COMPARED TO THE BHUTANESE REFUGEE AND VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE WHO WERE ALSO HONOURED THAT EVENING. SHE ELABORATED, SAYING “I HAD SO MUCH MORE PRIVILEGE AND IT WAS EASIER FOR ME, MOST LIKELY, THAN IT WAS FOR THEM, AND ALSO BECAUSE OF HOW I LOOK AND FIT IN PHYSICALLY TO A CULTURE.” SHE CONTINUED: “IT WAS JUST REALLY INTERESTING TO SEE LITTLE INDIVIDUAL STORIES THAT ARE HUGE TO THE INDIVIDUAL AND THEN THE IMPACT THEY HAVE ON THE COMMUNITY.” ANINE EXPLAINED THAT SHE WAS VERY HONOURED TO RECEIVE THE AWARD: “BECAUSE I AM AN IMMIGRANT AND I HAVE ACHEIVED THINGS IN ARTS AND CULTURE IN LETHBRIDGE AND SO THAT RECOGNITION FOR ME WAS AN HONOUR AND, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN COME FROM ANOTHER COUNTRY, AND BE A KID, AND SPEAK A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE AND STILL HAVE TIES TO THAT CULTURE BUT ALSO MAKE A DIFFERENCE SOMEWHERE ELSE.” ANINE THINKS HER IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN A POSITIVE ONE, EXPLAINING THAT “I JUST DON’T FEEL LIKE THERE IS A NEED TO REALLY SEPARATE YOURSELF FROM YOUR PAST IN CANADA. THE PAST, EVERYBODY’S PAST, CULTURAL PAST, IS A PART OF THEIR LIVES; WHO THEY ARE.” ANINE WAS BORN IN HOLLAND IN 1967 AND IMMIGRATED TO CANADA WITH HER PARENTS (WIM AND TRUDY) AND TWO BROTHERS (ALWIN AND HERWIN) IN NOVEMBER 1981, FOLLOWING A FAMILY VACATION TO CANADA IN 1979. SHE EXPLAINS THAT “IN 1979 WE CAME HERE AND WE HAD A FANTASTIC TIME AND WE TRAVELLED AROUND IN CAMPERS AND WENT INTO B.C. AND SAW THE MOUNTAINS. IT WAS AWESOME … WE KNEW THAT WE LIKED CANADA AND WE LIKED OUR COUSINS AND IT WAS A NEW ADVENTURE, BUT IT’S PRETTY PERMANENT YOU KNOW.” HER FAMILY SETTLED IN THE PICTURE BUTTE AREA TO FARM. COMING TO CANADA WAS, ACCORDING TO ANINE, A “HUGE CULTURE SHOCK” AS SHE WAS USED TO BEING ABLE TO BIKE EVERYWHERE IN HOLLAND. SHE EXPLAINS THAT LIVING ON AN ISOLATED FARM WAS CHALLENGING AND “WITH GRAVEL ROADS … [I] COULD NOT REALLY CYCLE ANYWHERE. I TRIED … I HAD GROWN UP ON MY BIKE REALLY, AND LIVED IN A SMALL COMMUNITY … AND THEN HAVING TO TAKE THE SCHOOL BUS AND LEARN THE LANGUAGE.” ANINE EXPLAINED THAT HER FATHER, WIM, ESTABLISHED THE DUTCH-CANADIAN CLUB AFTER HE AND HIS WIFE TRUDY DECIDED TO STOP ATTENDING THE LOCAL CHRISTIAN REFORM CHURCH. THEY WERE DISAPPOINTED BECAUSE, ACCORIDNG TO ANINE, THERE WAS A VOTE WITHIN THE CHURCH “WHERE IT WAS GOING TO BE DECIDED IF WOMEN COULD BE PREACHERS OR NOT IN THE CHRISTIAN REFORM CHURCH, AND IT WAS VOTED DOWN. AND SO TO MY PARENTS, WHO HAD COME FROM HOLLAND WHERE THAT ISSUE HAD ALREADY BEEN RESOLVED A LONG TIE AGO, THIS WAS SUCH AN ENORMOUS STEP BACKWARD THAT THEY LEFT THAT COMMUNITY … MY DAD, HE LIKED SINGING, HE WAS IN THE CHIOR IN THE CHURCH, SO PERHAPS HE WAS FILLING A BUNCH OF HIS OWN NEEDS BY SETTING [UP THE CLUB].” ANINE MAINTAINS A STRONG CONNECTION TO HER DUTCH HERITAGE AND EXPLAINS THAT WHEN SHE WAS YOUNGER SHE “REMEMBER[S] … CONSCIOUSLY NOT GETTING MY CANADIAN CITIZENSHIP BECAUSE I WANTED TO GO BACK TO HOLLAND AND LIVE THERE FOR A WHILE AND WORK THERE AND THAT STAYED WITH ME THROUGH THE U OF L.” SHE CONTINUES SAYING: “I HAVE NOT GOTTEN MY CANADIAN CITIZENSHIP YET BECAUSE IT’S VERY EXPENSIVE AT THIS POINT … AND THAT WAS THE OTHER THING THAT THE RULES CHANGED, I CAN’T REMEMBER WHEN, BUT NOW THAT I MARRIED A CANADIAN, I CAN HAVE DUAL CITIZENSHIP … THE RULES WERE CHANGED SO THAT IF YOU WERE 18 WITHIN FIVE YEARS OF IMMIGRATING YOU ARE ALLOWED TO MAINTAIN YOUR DUTCH CITIZENSHIP IF YOU APPLY FOR CANADIAN CITIZENSHIP.” THE CONNECTION TO HOLLAND CONTINUES TO THIS DAY, AS ANINE RECOUNTED AN EVENT THAT RECENTLY TRANSPIRED: “INTERESTINGLY, CURRENTLY THE WORLD CUP IS ON, THE FIFA WORLD CUP … WE WERE GOING TO ATTEND THE CANADA/HOLLAND GAME A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO AND UNBEKNOWNST TO ME, I WAS GOING TO CHEER FOR HOLLAND THINKING MY MOM ALSO WOULD, BUT SHE WAS GOING TO CHEER FOR CANADA, WHICH TO ME IS VERY INTERESTING BECAUSE I HAVE LIVED IN CANADA LONGER THAN I LIVED IN HOLLAND, AND SHE HAS LIVED IN HOLLAND LONGER THAN SHE’S LIVED IN CANADA. BUT FOR HER, SHE SAYS, ‘WELL, THIS IS WHERE I AM, SO … THIS IS THE COUNTRY I CHEER FOR.’ AND FOR SOME REASON, FOR ME, IT’S THE OTHER WAY AROUND; I WANT TO CHEER FOR THE COUNTRY WHERE I GREW UP, WHERE I HAVE ROOTS … WHERE I WAS BORN.” SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS AND SEE P20150005000 FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE VONKEMAN FAMILY.

Catalogue Number

P20150022003

Acquisition Date

2015-06

Collection

Museum

Less detail