Creative subcultures are a lifeline for inter-generational immigrant communities across the world. This has been true throughout history, with each cultural community linking, welding and finding itself anew in homes abroad. Golam Rabbani discusses the vibrancy that migrant Bangladeshis bring to the cultural canvas of Canada.
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Toronto is often celebrated as one of the world’s most culturally diverse and ‘creative’ cities, marked by its vibrant arts scene, music festivals, multicultural enclaves, and entrepreneurial spirit. Creative subcultures are frequently the starting point for new artistic expressions and social change.
Independent creative subcultures are often understood as sites of cultural innovation, thriving on the fringes of mainstream, commercial culture. They encompass artistic expressions and creative practices that are typically small in scale, rooted in local networks and characterised by their oppositional stance to the mass-market entertainment industry.
These subcultures flourish when cities provide accessible spaces, minimal financial barriers and institutional support. Yet, marginalised creative communities often find themselves displaced or under-represented. In particular, newcomers arriving with unique cultural traditions may struggle to gain visibility and support for their creative expressions.
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Bangladeshi newcomers, including economic immigrants, refugees and international students have contributed a rich tapestry of music, theatre, dance, and other creative forms to Toronto’s cultural landscape. Over the past decade, waves of Bangladeshis have brought with them a range of cultural traditions: Baul folk music, Nazrul Geeti (songs by Kazi Nazrul Islam), Rabindra Sangeet (songs by Rabindranath Tagore), street theatre, modern dance, and spoken-word poetry. These forms, originally rooted in Bengal’s syncretic cultural heritage, adapt to the Canadian setting in fluid, hybridised ways. In interviews and focus group-based creative activities that I conducted as part of my research, community members articulate how these creative practices act both as vehicles for cultural preservation and as entry points into Toronto’s thriving arts scene. Their subcultures, shaped by histories of migration, displacement and intersectional identities, embody resilience, cultural preservation and social critique. These newcomers not only face typical immigrant challenges — such as language barriers and economic hardship — but also encounter obstacles within the broader South Asian communities.
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‘Natya Sangha Canada’, a theatre collective founded by immigrants from Bangladesh (Photo 1), exemplifies how collaborative creative projects can challenge discrimination and marginalisation. The group’s performances often address the legacies of colonialism, partition and racism in diaspora communities. Natya Sangha uses the stage as a space for both individual and communal catharsis, blending personal narratives with radical theatre traditions.
In November 2024, Natya Sangha Canada performed ‘Ram Gorurer Chana’, a satire tackling issues within Toronto’s Bangladeshi community (Photo 2). Staged in Scarborough, the production poked fun at cultural misunderstandings between first- and second-generation Bangladeshi immigrants, the pressures of assimilation and the persistent prejudices carried over from the homeland. The comedic tone drew a large, diverse audience, including local Bangladeshi families, curious neighbourhood residents and even a handful of non-Bengali theatre enthusiasts. Such productions illustrate how comedic or dramatic storytelling can both entertain and educate. They also reveal how subcultural performances act as microcosms of diaspora politics, laying bare both unity and internal tensions in the Bangladeshi community. Ultimately, the performance reinforced a collective sense of identity that transcended mere nostalgia, showcasing creativity as a force for social cohesion and mutual understanding.
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Chhayanaut Alumni Association Toronto, a group of singers and performers trained at The Chhayanaut Sangeet Bidyayatan (a renowned music school in Bangladesh) has for many years performed in Toronto to celebrate Pohela Boishakh, the Bengali New Year. In May 2024, the group performed in Etobicoke (Photo 3), presenting a repertoire of Bangladeshi music rooted in themes of love, mysticism and socio-political commentary. These genres resonate across the diaspora, offering both spiritual and emotional support while forging communal ties among Bangladeshis spread throughout Toronto. The rendition of choral pieces in these events functions as a communal healing ritual, reimagining shared histories of displacement and trauma. Older community members, some of whom have been in Toronto for decades, pass on their knowledge of classical music to younger Bangladeshi-Canadians, creating bonds that defy linguistic and generational divides.
In this context, the stage is far more than just an entertainment venue. Through song, it becomes a focal point for the collective affirmation of Bangladeshi-Canadian identity, a tangible link to ancestral heritage and a symbol of resilience in the face of socio-economic obstacles. Many newcomer artists describe their engagement with folk songs or with scenes from beloved Bangladeshi plays as therapeutic, counteracting the mental strain of displacement. Some even connect their participation in these subcultures to better mental health, seeing them as a semblance of home and continuity in an otherwise foreign environment. These insights align with broader research on community arts and mental health, indicating that creative participation can help alleviate anxiety, loneliness and cultural isolation.
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Often, these performances draw in the wider local community, thus expanding the audience beyond Bangladeshi enclaves (Photo 4). This outward-focused approach helps break down stereotypes of immigrant communities as insular, while also encouraging cross-cultural interaction. Attendees from different backgrounds sometimes discover echoes of their own familial histories of migration and displacement, which fosters empathy and mutual respect. The stage serves as both a haven and a battleground, reaffirming the right to belong in Canada’s multicultural mosaic. Furthermore, such performances challenge mainstream audiences to engage with narratives that disrupt conventional perceptions of South Asian immigrants.
Despite the breadth of these creative subcultures, many Bangladeshi artists find it difficult to secure public funding or grants from agencies that may not fully appreciate the cultural particularities or communal significance of such performances. Although Canadian arts organisations offer an impressive range of grants and funding for creative subcultures, smaller diaspora groups frequently remain overshadowed by better-established cultural events or large-scale festivals hosted by non-Bangladeshi South Asian communities. A lack of guidance and training in grant-writing further restricts access to financial assistance. The scarcity of affordable performance spaces, particularly in areas undergoing rapid gentrification, constitutes another serious problem. Artists repeatedly highlight the rising cost of renting rehearsal or performance venues. As commercial properties in central districts grow ever more costly, grassroots collectives are forced to relocate to the city’s peripheries.
The notion of the ‘creative city’ has gained worldwide prominence by championing creativity as a driver of urban development. However, in practice, these schemes often place greater emphasis on economic gains, reducing vacancy rates and boosting property values, than on safeguarding cultural variety. As rents escalate and available spaces dwindle, the very creative subcultures that pioneer grassroots innovation are forced out. In this way, the city initiatives designed to promote creativity ultimately end up constraining the core communities that underpin cultural innovation. Toronto can resolve this paradox by actively supporting the grassroots subcultures that are central to its aspirations to be recognised as a global ‘creative city’. By celebrating the creative endeavours of marginalised groups — such as Bangladeshi newcomers — Toronto can exemplify resilience, community-building and artistic innovation.
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Photographs © Author; no photograph may be used/reproduced without written permission of the author.
Banner image © Author, ‘Ram Gorurer Chhana’ by Natya Sangha Canada, 2 November 2024, Scarborough.
