Skrevet af BOSE HILBERTH
The eclectic history of diverse immigrant communities shapes and leaves
an indelible imprint on a city. Kolkata has been a ‘melting pot’ of
migrant Armenians, Chinese, Jews, Anglo-Indians, and Greeks. Their
traditions, reflected through cultural and occupational practices, food
habits, dressing, and architecture, lend identity to the broader
landscape of the city. Change in the community’s economic fortunes over
time and ensuing over development of the neighboring areas has greatly
threatened to corrode historic Chinatown’s urban character. This work
understands the culture, community, settlement and contemporary
significance of an ethnic group in Calcutta – the Indian Chinese – whose
strong identity is palpable even today. Their first formal settlement
in the city center – old Chinatown – is mapped through on-site study of
the settlement, institutions, living practices and community
interactions, to methodologies that address key issues threatening the
place and community to potentially trigger holistic revitalization
processes.
