Fiber artist Fatema Haque hosts embroidery workshop as part of new Bengali exhibit

Hamtramck Historical Museum soft launched an exhibit on the Bengali diaspora last month with a nakshi kantha hand embroidery workshop. It’s a type of quilt that’s embroidered by Bengali or Bangladeshi people in the Indian subcontinent.

Fiber artist Fatema Haque says that although the Bangladeshi community has been in metro Detroit for decades, this is the first time a full-fledged exhibit of this type will be featured at the museum.

“It doesn’t have a large presence of Bangladeshis, even though Bangladeshis have been in the metro Detroit area since, well, going back as far as 1971 when Bangladesh became a country. But even before that, when Bangladesh was part of Pakistan, and then before that, India,” she said.

Haque says the workshop was one way to show different types of art that’s representative of the Bangladeshi diaspora.

“And given that this craft is a huge part of family life as well as community life in Bangladesh, it’s something that’s prevalent in pretty much every household in a variety of ways, so we thought it would be a good way for people to learn about Bangladeshis and something that is such a integral part of their life,” she said.

Haque says the exhibit will feature stories of the Bangladeshi diaspora in metro Detroit, focusing on Hamtramck where the museum is located.

“We are hoping to represent both Bangladeshi culture in terms of religion, art, activism as well as entrepreneurship, and show the ways in which people are connected to this particular land,” she said.

She says that will include businesses and the mural on Carpenter between Hamtramck and Detroit.

Haque says anthropologist Rumana Rahman reached out to the museum to curate this exhibit, which is run by volunteers.

“I came up on her radar because I had a portrait exhibit of Bangladeshi Americans in the last year, and I did some oral history interviews. And so once I heard that she was working on this, I was so excited to get involved, and I joined the committee, and we’ve been working on it since January, actually.”

Haque says this is just the beginning.

“Our goal with this exhibit is that it’s not going to be an end all exhibit… it should be a living exhibit that people can continuously contribute to and keep growing, because our history is a living history,” she said.

Haque says she hopes people come to the exhibit to learn about neighboring communities.

“Get to know your neighbors and get to know other folks who live around you, so if you’re not Bangladeshi, it might be worth it because your neighbors are Bangladeshi, and you can learn something really cool about their land,” she said.

She says it’s also an opportunity to allow Bangladeshi Americans to see themselves represented in a meaningful way.

“There’s so many Bangladeshis who are in this community. And I’m wondering, like, how often do we see ourselves represented in places like museums, right? How often is our history documented? And so our hope is that people feel a stronger sense of belonging by seeing themselves in this space,” she said.

Haque says she hopes second and third generation Bangladeshi Americans also have a chance to explore Bangladeshi history, art or activism.

“I really hope that they also feel inspired and proud and gain a sense of self through this exhibit, like I can be proud to be Bangladeshi in this space,” she said.

The exhibit’s full launch is slated for October 29. Find more information at hamtramckhistory.com.