Stories and music shared in new Ismaili exhibition on Montreal's South Shore

Marking 50 years as part of the social fabric of Quebec and Canada, the Ismaili Muslim community unveiled a new exhibition in Brossard on Montreal's South Shore.

The stories of Ismaili arrivals to Canada are on display, and so is their music and culture. The photos portray a vivid and resilient community.

Community members have roots in Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Ivory Coast, and Uganda and the exhibition commemorates the first big wave of Ismaili immigrants to Canada in 1972.

The President of the Ismaili Council for Québec & Maritimes, Noor Wais explained that they "had a dictator called Idi Amin and he basically told all the people who had migrated to Uganda from India to basically leave the country within 3 days."

"A lot of those people who had lived in Uganda for generations, they basically had to leave their country and all their assets and everything they had was seized and that was when Canada opened its doors to about 7,000 of them," he continued.

Visitors to the exhibit celebrating the Ismaili community's half-century in Quebec peruse photographs and share the history of the culture. SOURCE: Fahima Sultana

ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS

Anniversary celebrations were held at The Ismaili Muslim Community Centre and Jamatkhana on the South Shore on June 19.

A Jamatkhana is a prayer hall or gathering place.

Politicians and dignitaries attended the opening at the Jamatkhana earlier this month and learned about the Ismaili Muslim multicultural mosaic.

Kanwal Hayat, a member of the Ismaili Muslim community, said they're showcasing their migration stories "and the history of the community in Canada."

"It was a proud moment with this commemoration event, what the community has been through, how resilient we have been as a community and what we've achieved," she said, "and also kind of a look to the future with hope and aspirations for what we want to continue to achieve in this land that we've now made our home.”

Some of the ways in which the community seeks to build connections with their neighbours include Ramadan food drives that donate to Moisson Montreal and blood drives held in collaboration with Hema-Quebec.

In addition, Nayyara Mandjee of The Ismaili Council for Québec & Maritimes said they work together with the common goal of helping improve the quality of life of the community.

"So an example is every year in September we help with environmental stewardship, cleaning up the park and removing graffiti and things like that. These are events where anyone can come and join and we can together have an impact, Mandjee said.