Rapped Up In Symbolism

MY IMPRESSIONS OF VISIT TO "Sikhs: Legacy of the Punjab”

An article under the heading “Rapped Up In Symbolism” By Glenn Dixon, appeared on Thursday, August 19, 2004; Page C05 of Washington Post. It was pretty interesting. I visited the museum on August 30, 2004 and following are some of my observations.

Items 1 thru 5 from Washington Post News Story

1. Wedged into a corridor; It is true that it has been squeezed in the corridor with low ceiling and narrow walking space between two large open spaces depicting natural history.

2. scattershot look; not a complete history of Sikhs.

3. art history; It is just art depiction and not a complete story of Sikhs.

4. slaying of hundreds; WRONG. By any stretch of news reports, thousands and not hundreds were killed.

5. Sikh nationalists; CORRECT. Those Sikhs were nationalists.

6. At the entry of "Sikhs: Legacy of the Punjab”, a very long list of people who may have contributed. It reminded me of a typical letter head of any Gurdwara, where half of the page is covered up with the names of Board Members, as if those names are the most important item on that letter head.

7. There were number of large cutouts of Sikh men, women and children. There is no art value in those cutouts, and therefore do not make any sense. Similarly the picture of Manmohan Singh the present Prime Minister of India does not have any art value, except may be to flatter the Congress party, which is, today, in power in India. The picture of Arminder Singh, Chief Minister of Punjab may be justified as a member of legend of Patiala’s Maharaja family. Similarly the picture of three hymn singers can be justified as an art form of Sikh way of hymn singing.

8. There were no art paintings of Sikh Ghallugharas number one, two and three, nor were any art paintings of Sikh sufferings and martyrdoms by those who are remembered every day by Sikhs in their daily prayer. So much so that there were no paintings of martyrdoms of Guru Arjan Dev Sahib Ji, Guru Teg Bahadar Sahib Ji, Sabigzade Ajit Singh Ji, Jujar Singh Ji, Zorawar Singh Ji and Fateh Singh Ji. I am sure that there are so many paintings available on them.

9. There were pictures of Sikh suffering during 1947 partition of India into present India and Pakistan, but no pictures of Sikhs struggle of Akali movement of liberating Gurdwaras from Mahants during early part of 20th century and Sikh genocide during the later part of 20th century. I cannot imagine that there are no such paintings available for these incidents.

M. S. Chawla
Producer of 2004 Telly Award Winner TV Program.
"PASSION FOR TRUTH" TV Program
"PUNJABI COMMUNITY HOUR" TV Program
Web Pages: To view archived TV Programs
www.passionfortruthtv.com
www.geocities.com/~mschawla
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Rapped Up In Symbolism
By Glenn Dixon
Thursday, August 19, 2004; Page C05 of Washington Post

• Wedged into a corridor between the National Museum of Natural History's Hall of Mammals and a shop filled with baseball trinkets is a scattershot look at Sikh culture. Part art history, part anthropology, it provides an opportunity to view 19th-century miniatures alongside contemporary pictures. Much of the 20th-century work, particularly Arpana Caur's self-taught oils, is heartfelt schlock overly indebted to Western kitsch. But the English tag team of Amrita and Rabindra Kaur Singh achieves a pungent synthesis of East and West, old and new. The twins' gold-dusted 1998 gouache "Nineteen Eighty-Four (The Storming of the Golden Temple)," which commemorates the slaying of hundreds of Sikh nationalists by Indian troops that year, melds Punjabi traditions of detail and decoration with the significant gesture of Giotto and the satirical intent of British wartime realism.

"Sikhs: Legacy of the Punjab" at the National Museum of Natural History, 10th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. 10 a.m.-7:30 p.m. daily through Sept. 6, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily thereafter, 202-633-1000, ongoing.

Detail from "Nineteen Eighty-Four (The Storming of the Golden Temple)," by Amrita and Rabindra Kaur Singh. (Smithsonian Institution)
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/680297531.html?did=680297531&FMT=ABS&FMTS=FT&date=Aug+19%2C+2004&author=&desc=Wrapped+Up+In+Symbolism
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