This project focuses on traditional Bengali games, such as Carrom, Ludo, Latim, Golli and Satchada to capture stories of family life for early Bangladeshi communities in Birmingham. Through looking at these games, we are can promote different Bangladeshi culture and heritage; alongside restoring the memories of the games to other generations.

 

We are currently hosting a series of community events across inner-city areas where Bangladeshi and other ethnic minority groups occupy a large proportion of the population. In these events, we engage the youth and the older generation through their relationship to these traditional games. This promotes a dialogue between different cultures and generations.

 

Finally, we will create a documentary of the memories of the Bangladeshi community through their relationship to these games. We will collect first, second and third generation memories to reveal their changing relationship to traditional Bangladeshi heritage. 

 

The purpose of this project is not simply to restore Bangladeshi traditional games that have virtually disappeared through generations but to act as a platform of promoting multiculturalism and social cohesion.

 

We aim to instil a sense of belonging and pride among young people by learning from different generations through fun activities about their heritage and sharing the experience with their friends who are of different ethnic backgrounds.

 

New Hope Birmingham organised the Heritage Games Festival on 9th of March where the Chair of the West Midlands Committee of Heritage Lottery Fund and many of the dignitaries attended. Details of the festival are in the link

 

Bangladeshi Heritage Games Festival

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We have a project documentary which is available on YouTube and the link is given below:

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https://youtu.be/s1FHBemmktM