Sikh Art From The Kapany Collection

This volume brings together leading scholars of Sikhism and of Sikh art to assess and interpret the remarkable art resource known as the Kapany Collection, using it to introduce to a broad public the culture, history, and ethos of the Sikhs. Fifteen renowned scholars contributed essays describing the passion and vision of Narinder and Satinder Kapany in assembling this unparalleled assemblage of great Sikh art, some of which has been displayed in exhibitions around the globe. The Kapanys' legacy of philanthropic work includes establishing the Sikh Foundation (now celebrating its 50th year) and university endowments for Sikh studies. Through this profusely illustrated book's chapters, scholars examine the full range of Sikh artistic expression and of Sikh history and cultural life, using artworks from the Kapany Collection.

This volume brings together leading scholars of Sikhism and of Sikh art to assess and interpret the remarkable art resource known as the Kapany Collection, using it to introduce to a broad public the culture, history, and ethos of the Sikhs. Fifteen renowned scholars contributed essays describing the passion and vision of Narinder and Satinder Kapany in assembling this unparalleled assemblage of great Sikh art, some of which has been displayed in exhibitions around the globe. The Kapanys' legacy of philanthropic work includes establishing the Sikh Foundation (now celebrating its 50th year) and university endowments for Sikh studies. Through this profusely illustrated book's chapters, scholars examine the full range of Sikh artistic expression and of Sikh history and cultural life, using artworks from the Kapany Collection.

Sikh Art and Literature traverses the 500-year history of a religion that dawned with the modern age in a land that was a thoroughfare of invading armies, ideas and religions and arts of the East and West. Essays by art curators, historians and collectors and religion and literary scholars are illustrated with some of the earliest and finest Sikh paintings. Sikh modernism and mysticism is explored in essays on the holy Guru Granth Sahib; the translations and writings of the British Raj convert, M.A. Macauliffe; the fathers of modern Punjabi literature, Bhai Vir Singh and Puran Singh; and the 20th century fiction writers Bhai Mohan Vaid Singh and Khushwant Singh. Excerpts from journals of visitors to the court of the diminutive and new translations of early twentieth century poetry add depth and originality to this beautiful and accessible introduction to the art, literature, beliefs and history of the Sikhs. Illustrated throughout with 42 colour and 92 black and white images, Sikh Art and Literature is a colourful, heartfelt, and informative introduction to the Sikh culture.

The father of fiber optics, Narinder Singh Kapany was far more than your typical multi-hyphenate. Inventor, art collector, sculptor, farmer, entrepreneur, teacher, and a successful businessman, Dr Kapany was what Fortune magazine in its 1999 issue called, 'one of the seven unsung heroes of the 20th century'. An insightful and inspirational life story, this memoir chronicles his 90 remarkable years. Charming, idiosyncratic, and highly engaging, The Man who Bent Light serves up enough variety and verve to celebrate the lives of a half-dozen individuals. But there is only one Narinder Singh Kapany, and his life, illuminated in his singular memoir, is a life like no other.

No one is a Hindu; no one is a Muslim. With these radical words Guru Nanak (1469-1539) founded the Sikh religion, calling for the recognition of one God, by whatever name devotees chose to call him, and the rejection of superstition, avarice, meaningless ritual, and social oppression. In his embrace of all religions, Guru Nanak envisioned a loving God that was outside the bounds of any one religion. He upheld the truth of equality among all beings and practiced the quiet heroics of holding up a mirror to foolishness. Meditation and devotion were identified as the work of the private domain and charity, honest work, and service to humanity as the obligation to the social domain. The goal of this catalogue and the exhibition it documents is to bring together and illuminate works of art that identify these core Sikh beliefs in the period of their early development by the ten historical Gurus (16th-17th century). Through them, we are taken behind the external signs that identify Sikhs, who constitute the world's fifth largest organized religion, to its founding principles. The works of art, from the sixteenth century through the nineteenth century, include paintings, drawings, textiles, and metalwork. They are drawn from museum collections in India and the United States and private collections in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The essay and object texts by B.N. Goswamy and Caron Smith provide insight into early Sikh devotion and examine the works of art in the context of the North Indian cultural mix in which they were created.

"The exhibition Sikhs: Legacy of the Punjab opened at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in 2004. Over subsequent years, the specific objects on view changed or "rotated" over time, first at the Smithsonian through 2007 then at other museums, as the exhibition traveled and its size and the number of artworks displayed expanded. At each location the exhibition and its transformations became the subject of extensive community involvement and co-curatorship. This book uses the exhibition's organizational structure and content to present a brief, richly illustrated introduction to the Sikhs and their faith, history, and art"--Page 4 of cover.

Purnima Dhavan examines the creation of the Khalsa Sikh warrior tradition during the eighteenth century. By focusing on the experiences of long-overlooked peasant communities, she reveals how a dynamic process of debates, collaboration, and conflict transformed Sikh practices and shaped a new martial culture.

Includes notes on paintings by other artists.