3 hrs ago
Kolkata’s Chinese Heritage Gallery Preserves a Vanishing Community’s Memories
Kolkata has a Chinese community that has lived there for more than 200 years.
Many Chinese families have now left the city, so the community has become very small.
A new place called the Cheenapara Heritage Gallery is helping preserve its memories.
The gallery is inside an old community building called a huiguan.
It displays tools, photographs, religious objects, menus and other items from everyday life.
These objects show how Chinese migrants worked, worshipped and built homes in Kolkata.
The gallery is open to everyone and is maintained by members of the community.
Its organizers hope more visitors and events will help keep this history alive.
The Cheenapara Heritage Gallery has opened at a 127-year-old huiguan on Blackburn Lane.
Its collection includes tools, religious objects, photographs, menus, registers and other community artefacts.
The gallery documents the history of Kolkata’s Chinese community, which has roots spanning more than two centuries.
Only about 30 members remain in the Blackburn Huiguan, with many community members now living abroad.
Organizers hope exhibitions, festivals and other events will attract visitors and support the gallery’s future.
- Who
- Kolkata’s Chinese community, including Blackburn Huiguan president Chen Yao Hua, helped create the gallery.
- What
- The Cheenapara Heritage Gallery was established to preserve and display the history and culture of Kolkata’s Chinese community.
- Where
- It is located at 17 Blackburn Lane in Tiretta Bazar, Kolkata.
- When
- The gallery was recently inaugurated and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Why
- The project aims to preserve the community’s heritage as its population has dwindled and to attract support for the gallery’s future.
Key facts
- Gallery
- Cheenapara Heritage Gallery
- Location
- 17 Blackburn Lane, Tiretta Bazar, Kolkata
- Building age
- 127 years old
- Community history
- More than two centuries in Kolkata
- Remaining club members
- About 30
- Opening hours
- Daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Key collaborators
- Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage and The CHA Project
Quotes
Chen Yao Hua
President of the Blackburn Huiguan and an interior decorator and restaurant owner
“I was born and brought up in Kolkata and have been the president of the Blackburn Huiguan since 1987. I have tried to resign three times already, without any success. There are hardly 30 members left in the club, most of whom have, in any case, moved abroad.”
firstpost.com
“Right now, some of my old friends are maintaining the heritage gallery, which is open to all every day from 10 am to 6 pm — at least until a more concrete plan of action emerges and more helping hands come on board.”
firstpost.com
Sources
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