Expect to be moved by The Punjab exhibition
September 16, 2008 by Sikhs Online · Leave a Comment
The cradle of a great civilisation. A vital staging post on the Silk Road. A divided land bedevilled by conflict for centuries.
Preconceptions of the Punjab are as varied as the extraordinary mix of peoples
who have made their homes there.
Now, the Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers (IBG) is shining a light on the land with The Punjab: Moving Journeys, an exhibition that reveals its little-seen history through the unique perspective of the Society’s Collections.
The ties that link London and Bradford to the borders of India and Pakistan become clearer.
It is the last exhibition in the Society’s Crossing Continents series, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, and developed with the UK Punjab Heritage Association, the Muslim Women’s Welfare Association (Ilford), Cartwright Hall Young Ambassadors (Bradford) and the Anglo Sikh Heritage Trail.
Through the society’s 19th century photographs, maps and texts the Punjab’s history has been
rediscovered and retold by members of Britain’s Punjabi community, focusing on migrations within and across borders, from early history, through Partition and into the 21st Century.
There are also accounts from British visitors and colonial administrators in the Punjab during the 19th century. The exhibition places the region’s complex history alongside the challenges facing Punjabis in 21st century Britain, including how they relate to their British adoptive home and an Indian/Pakistani homeland.
The show runs at the society’s headquarters in South Kensington until November 27, Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm. Admission is free.
Touring exhibitions will result from Crossing Continents: Connecting Communities. It is a three-year project using RGS-IBG archives to explore the roots of contemporary British society, including the contributions of African, Chinese, Sikh and Muslim communities.
More information at www.unlockingthearchives.rgs.org
The Royal Geographical Society with The Institute of British Geographers was founded in 1830.
