Queens Library Showcases ‘Immigrant Gifts’

The exhibition “What We Bring: New Immigrant Gifts” will commence at the Queens Library Jamaica Branch on Thursday. Photo courtesy of the Queens Library.

By David Brand

The Queens Library and the organization City Lore will showcase the rich contributions of Queens’ recent immigrants in an exhibition at the Jamaica Branch beginning Thursday at 6 p.m.

Opening night at the exhibition, entitled “What We Bring: New Immigrant Gifts,” will feature an Indian dance performance and Indo-Guyanese singers. The Queens Library Jamaica Branch is located on Merrick Boulevard.

“‘What We Bring’ celebrates the rich layers of creativity, tradition and increased cultural diversity set in motion five decades ago by the Immigration Reform Act, which inaugurated a new era of immigration from Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean,” Queens Library said in a statement.

At the exhibit, visitors will walk through an airport security gate symbolic of the immigrant’s arrival in Queens, regarded as the United States’ most diverse county. The borough is home to more than 1 million immigrants, according to a 2018 report by the Mayor’s Office on Immigrant Affairs.

The exhibit will end on Saturday, March 2. That night, the library will feature Afghan immigrant Sahar Muradi sharing the story of her journey from Soviet-ruled Afghanistan to Queens.