The Smithsonian's Sikh Heritage Exhibit
Lectures and Gala
June 15
Washington D.C.
The Smithsonian Institution's Sikh Heritage Fund held its second annual 2002 Sikh Heritage event at the National Museum of Natural History Rotunda, Washington D.C. The Smithsonian Institution Sikh Heritage Fund was established in 2000 to "support acquisitions, conservation. restoration, and exhibition of Sikh collections to support research on the heritage of the Sikhs, and to support other Sikh cultural activities at the Smithsonian Institution."
This year a free lecture program was added in the morning. The morning session
was attended by forty to fifty people and was filled with presentations by
various professionals involved in Sikh heritage preservation.
Gurmeet Kaur (Rai) presented the audience with pictures of Sikh architecture
in Punjab, Gurduaaras and other structures, built by the Gurus.
Amandeep Singh (Madra) presented rare and not previously seen historical
photographs of Sikhs, including one of the young Maharaja Duleep Singh.
Jeevan Singh (Deol) presented photographs of rare manuscripts written by the
Gurus, including those of Guru Gobind Singh who always started his writings
with the words "Ik Onkar" and drew a little khanda and circle beside
it.
The morning ended with the last speaker, Bhagwant Singh (Kaillon), who presented
the Smithsonian with some items of Dyal Singh (Majithia), a man who adopted
the Brahma Samaj and cut his hair.
The main theme throughout these presentations was about how the items of Sikh
heritage are in a terrible state of decay and may not last another ten years.
Many items are being destroyed, lost, or stolen. Some are even being sold
to unknown buyers as evidenced by the recent auction of a printed Sikh book
from the late 1800s or early 1900s on eBay.
Little information was offered on the Smithsonian project itself, however.
Not much was said about the history of the project, how it was doing, or when
it was expected to open. Many people who came in clueless about the project
left clueless also.
The only information that the audience may have known was that Narinder Singh
(Kapany) loaned a great deal of his private collection to this exhibit. After
the event, however, a spokesman revealed that the Sikh Heritage exhibit is
expected to open in about four years. At first, only a small vestibule was
planned for the Sikh Heritage display but now the project is expanding and
a larger hall is under construction for the exhibit.
About 160 people, including the people working on the Sikh Heritage project,
the lecturers, and guests, attended the evening dinner. The setting was magnificent.
Dinner tables were set up in the main hall of the museum, in front of the
statue of a prehistoric elephant. But while the morning session was about
the work of Sikh Heritage preservation, the evening dinner was about politics.
Because the success of the Sikh Heritage exhibit depends somewhat on the
cooperation of various governments, the dinner was used as an opportunity
to thank those institutions. The ambassadors from Pakistan and India were
invited to speak at the event.
Tarlochan Singh, Vice Chairman of the National Commission of Minorities,
India, spoke about the greatness of the Sikh religion. He then resurrected
the story of Indra Gandhi's speech about Guru Nanak's words in Slok (Pavan
Guru Pani Pita ……) at an international convention on the environment
back in 1983. She said that Guru Nanak wrote about the importance of the environment
over five hundred years ago. Tarlochan Singh also said that the Sikhs are
for peace, especially in the Kashmir conflict. He said that Sikhs have interests
in both India and Pakistan and, if war should breakout, Sikhs would suffer
a great deal. Sikhs do not want war. Finally, Tarlochan Singh said that with
all their wealth in this country, Sikhs still have not been involved in politics.
He urged Sikhs to get involved in the American democratic process.
Narinder Singh of the Sikh Foundation owns the largest private collection
of Sikh artifacts. He is loaning a great deal of his collection for the exhibit.
Narinder Singh is also known as the father of fiber optics. Fiber optics is
used widely in the medical and telecommunications industries. Fortune magazine
listed him as one of the nation's ten unsung heroes.
In his speech, Narinder Singh mentioned that in January 2003 the "Arts
of the Sikh Kingdoms" exhibit, which traveled to U.S.A., Canada and England,
will become a permanent exhibit at the Asian Arts Museum in San Francisco.
He also talked about the Sikh Foundation's work in publishing high quality
Sikh books. Over a hundred books have been donated to libraries around the
country and to dignitaries. Narinder Singh is also working on establishing
more Sikh chairs - three at various University of California campuses, two
or three in other parts of the USA and one in Canada. He hopes these efforts
will help the Sikh youth become interested in their heritage and encourages
them to keep their identity.
Mandeep Singh (Dhillon) talked about hate crimes against Sikhs post 9/11. He mentioned all the various Sikh organizations that have been helping the Sikhs deal with the problems in the aftermath. He also talked about the youth camp Lohgarh.