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World’s first Kashmir-centric museum to come up in Niagara Falls, USA

6 January 2023

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South Asians have a notable presence in Niagara Falls, most prominently with the number of Indian restaurants on Third Street and downtown. But there is a lack of spaces for people to learn more about the culture and its people.

Soon, the city will be home to the Center for Kashmir, the first museum dedicated to Kashmiri culture in the world.

“There are exhibits in other parts of the world that may have a corner somewhere, but not a dedicated space for Kashmir,” said the center’s Chief Operating Officer Ali Muzammil.

Dr. Khurshid Guru, the chair of Roswell Park’s Department of Urology, serves as the center’s chairman. After studying at the University of Mysore in India and completing a residency at the Vattikuti Urology Institute, part of Detroit’s Henry Ford Health System, he and his wife Lubna, a pediatrician in Lockport, settled in Western New York and made it their home for the past 17 years.

Like other members of the Kashmiri Diaspora, Guru has a collection of artifacts reflecting Kashmir’s art, culture and history, and he wanted to find a home to display them.

“We were looking for a place to donate or a place for the collection, and a lot of other diaspora of Kashmiri origin wanted to participate with that,” Guru said. “So we thought the most appropriate place would be Niagara Falls.”

Guru said the history of the region dates back 5,000 years with a rich culture of artisans and artifacts, with the items planned to be displayed including paintings, drawings, out of print books, and Kashmiri artisan work. The region is the basis for the Kashmir, or cashmere, shawl, Kashmiri rugs, and its own form of wood carving.

The center acquired the former First Church of Christ, Scientist on Park Place in 2020 and renovation work started on the inside. The roof has been replaced, windows had to be resealed, false ceilings were removed and due to ADA regulations, the side entrance to the church will become the center’s new front entrance as that is where an elevator is being built.

The former worship space will be the main artifact display space while the area inside the former main entrance will be the center’s library and archive collection. A new mezzanine level will be added to serve as additional display space for artifacts while the choral balcony will be turned into a conference room. Additional support pillars will be added in the basement to support the mezzanine while serving as additional space for displays and events.

Muzammil emphasized that local architects and contractors have been involved with the design and construction process, with a completion date of the middle of 2023, with curators coming in after that to get the space ready for a 2024 opening.

All the people working on this project are Kashmiri-Americans, with most of the fundraising coming from the nationwide community. Support has been given by the Niagara County Industrial Development Authority, the City of Niagara Falls, the Niagara Tourism Fund, and Empire State Development, who recently gave the center a $1 million grant to help with construction.

“Throughout the last few years, we are consistently in fundraising mode just because of escalating costs,” Muzammil said, with all their planning and budgeting work done during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Everything has had delays and price escalations. Our budgets have had to be compounded.”

Guru and Muzammil have not yet decided on accepting further artifact donations once the center does open, but they are hoping that the center can run on its own as a business operation, with ticket sales and annual memberships covering the operation costs.

With the center’s location in the Park Place Historic District, and proximity to other sites like the Aquarium of Niagara, the new Niagara Gorge Discovery Center in the works, the prosed Niagara Falls Heritage Gateway Project, the Underground Railroad Heritage Center, and the Canadian border, Guru and Muzammil see the place as doing their part to help grow Niagara Falls. Guru also hopes that tourism levels in the Falls will return to pre-pandemic levels and they will give people another place to visit, eventually becoming a hub for culture, arts, education, and history.

“We just don’t want to be one of those people who are coming in with the interest of commercial value,” Guru said. “We want to be part of this community and we want to help.”