Sikhs: Legacy of the Punjab
- Washington, D.C: Asian Cultural History Program, 2014
- 108 p. : photo., ill., carte.
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. The authors describe this exhibition as one part of the Smithsonian’s larger Sikh Heritage Project, through which local, national, and international Sikh communities became involved as “co-curators” in the study, preservation, and museum representation of their own heritage. Dr. Paul Michael Taylor and Dr. Robert Pontsioen are researchers within the Smithsonian Institution’s Asian Cultural History Program, for which Paul Taylor also serves as curator and director.