From Sylhet to St Pancras: Bengali History in Camden, 1970-2000

This exhibition tells local histories of Bengali communities in Camden. The show celebrates some of the key organisations, cultural happenings, and education initiatives that contributed to postwar Bengali settlement in the borough, as they appear in Camden's archival collections. We have also partially re-staged the Bengali Workers' Association's Here & There project, which gives firsthand accounts from some of the first generations of Bengalis who settled in Camden. Other highlights include a small exhibition of never-before-seen photographs from the late 1970s, which document the activities of local community and activist organisations, as well as street and home life from Drummond Street and Fitzrovia. Finally, we have a special section dedicated to the Occupation of Town Hall in 1984-when unhoused Bengali families staged a one-month occupation of Camden's Town Hall to protest the council's policies and to demand safe housing-featuring ephemera, photographs, and reproductions of original occupation learning panels. These have all been generously loaned by two organisers who were central to the occupation.