India’s cultural centre in Toronto to rival London’s

[canarob]

India’s cultural centre in Toronto to rival London’s
Gurmukh Singh
Toronto— From Monday's Globe and Mail
Published Monday, Jun. 13, 2011 3:00AM EDT
Last updated Monday, Jun. 13, 2011 3:09AM EDT


India is planning a big cultural centre in Toronto along the lines of the famous Nehru Centre in London – the first of its kind in North America.

The London centre – named after India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru – is the country’s biggest cultural outlet in the world, partly because of its historic relationship with Britain and the presence of a huge Indian diaspora there.

“[Toronto’s centre] will rival, if not outshine, the Nehru Centre in London,’’ said a top official of the Indian ministry of external affairs, who was in Toronto to participate in last week’s Pravasi Bharatiya Divas – a gathering of people of Indian origin in North America and the Caribbean.

“The new cultural centre will be ready by next year to cater to the North America Indian diaspora,’’ said Sangeeta Bahadur, deputy director at the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, an autonomous wing of the ministry. It also runs cultural centres in Almaty (Kazakhtsan), Berlin, Cairo, Colombo, Durban, Georgetown, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Moscow, Paramaribo (Suriname), Port Louis (Mauritius), Port of Spain and Tashkent (Uzbekistan), besides London .

“We are looking for a suitable location in Toronto and once we find it, the centre will come up quickly,’’ Ms. Bahadur said. “The proposed centre will showcase India’s rich old heritage and traditions to the Indian diaspora and mainstream Canadians. It will regularly host Indian dance and music performances.’’

She said the centre is part of India’s thrust to use culture as a tool of its foreign policy. “We want to use our rich cultural heritage to build bridges with the diaspora and Canada and the whole North American region. The Indian diaspora is our biggest asset and we want to use this asset to project India.’’

Ms. Bahadur said Washington was also considered for the proposed cultural, but Toronto won out for various reasons. “Toronto offers us many advantages, including its huge Indian population.’’

The Indian diaspora in Canada is about one million strong, including second- and third-generation Indo-Canadians, as well as those of Indian origin from East Africa and the Caribbean. Its per-capita concentration is several times greater than in the United States.

Ms. Bahadur said cultural diplomacy has and will continue to strengthen ties with Canada.

“India’s soft power, including Bollywood, has created a big impact in Canada and the cultural centre in Toronto will fit in with these trends.’’

She said the centre will focus on the second and third generation Indo-Canadians eager to connect with their ancestral roots.

The cultural centre will have “a substantial annual budget,’’ she added, without elaborating.

Special to the Globe and Mail

 

[ladyscraper]

Awesome! This sounds like a really nice tourism addition and also a place for locals to visit since they say they will be running regular performances as well.

 

[Filip]

I truly hope the location won't be Brampton, otherwise aside from Indians, not many people will go visit.

 

[BMO]

I truly hope the location won't be Brampton, otherwise aside from Indians, not many people will go visit.

+1...Put it somewhere near little India bazaar on gerrard East.

 

[TOareaFan]

I truly hope the location won't be Brampton, otherwise aside from Indians, not many people will go visit.

As someone who lives in Brampton and works in Toronto....I would fully expect my mayor and council to woo the high commission in the hopes it ends up there....but I fully expect they would lose. If, as the article says, it is going to rival the Nehru it will have to be very centrally located near the core of Toronto......one of the great aspects of the Nehru is its quite central location (north of Green Park and just east of Hyde Park).

 

[Automation Gallery]

Lets hope they can build this without government assistance..

 

[TOareaFan]

Lets hope they can build this without government assistance..

Canadian/Ontarian/Torontonion.....yes.....I think it gets Indian government assistance!

 

[Torontovibe]

Toronto is getting a nice collection of ethic museums, temples and cultural attractions. They will all help to make Toronto more marketable as a tourism destination. I think our mix of ethnicities and the way we interact, is one of our great strengths. No place in the world, mixes it up better than Toronto.

 

[BMO]

Toronto is getting a nice collection of ethic museums, temples and cultural attractions. They will all help to make Toronto more marketable as a tourism destination. I think our mix of ethnicities and the way we interact, is one of our great strengths. No place in the world, mixes it up better than Toronto.

Does that really work though? I go to spain to take in the culture, I go to france to take in their culture. In canada the mixture doesn't really create a culture, it's just a mixture. Why would someone from france visit canada to visit and see an Indian or islamic cultural centre, likewise why would an Indian visiting canada come to visit this cultural centre, when they come from the very country it is supposed to represent! I think these different cultural centres are going to attract foreign investment through businesses seeing toronto as a friendly place for foreigners, but I don't see these cultural centres really enticing more people to visit. The cultural centres, I believe from my own experience with spanish cultural centres, are to keep the connection between immigrant cultures from back home, but at the same time embracing canadian life as well. Kind of like a good reminder for all of where they came from.

 

[KA1]

The cultural centres, I believe from my own experience with spanish cultural centres, are to keep the connection between immigrant cultures from back home, but at the same time embracing canadian life as well. Kind of like a good reminder for all of where they came from.

You got it right.

I quote a sentence, towards the end of news item: ..'she said the centre will focus on the second and third generation Indo-Canadians eager to connect with their ancestral roots...'

In the early 1900's, during the British 'Raj', East Indians were taken as 'indentured labourers' to the various parts of the British empire to work as labourers in plantations (Fiji,Trinidad, Guyana) and build railways in East Africa. Their children/grand children have migrated to North America. They are keen on discovering and connecting to their cultural 'roots'.

The centre is aimed at this segment of the population. Any 'spill over' is incidental.

 

[SimonP]

Perhaps they could take over the India Centre building on Gerrard. It's in pretty poor shape right now, but is a nice old theatre building.

 

[ladyscraper]

likewise why would an Indian visiting canada come to visit this cultural centre, when they come from the very country it is supposed to represent!

maybe because they live in North America and a visit to Toronto is much closer than going to India?

 

[TOareaFan]

Spot on....the clue is right in the article:

“The new cultural centre will be ready by next year to cater to the North America Indian diaspora,’’ said Sangeeta Bahadur

The tourism benefit to Toronto is driven by the millions of people of Indian heritage spread across North America......as they decide on cities to visit lots will have tall buildings, good shopping, great eating and a Ripley's Aquariam....but only one will have this!

 

[BMO]

aah alright, didn't think of that.

 

[jaycola]

Spot on....the clue is right in the article:

The tourism benefit to Toronto is driven by the millions of people of Indian heritage spread across North America.

I think this could/should be a focus of Toronto's tourism strategy. While drawing on the ethnic communities in diasporsa throughout North America, we build our own ethnic cultural institutions into a cultural destination.

We should embrace these groups and encourage development of their cultural industries. Along the lines of Caribana or Pride, we could have Indian, Chinese, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Philipine, Polish, Russian, German...Oh don't forget British Expats, the Irish, French...
We have many of these already but building them to the point that they are of their own tourist draws, would benifit the city as a whole. Traffic would suck, more than it sucks now, neighbourhoods will have to deal with large influx of people but in the end, I think it would do more to build Toronto Tourism than any brick and mortar building you can create.