'Standing Up and Standing Out' with the Sikhs

A group of artists with disabilities have created a unique artwork by designing and decorating fabrics of Sikh turbans defying cultural differences.

Sikh turbans decorated by disabled artists on display in Adelaide Source: Emmaline Zanelli

‘Standing Up and Standing Out’ is an unmissable and unique collection of colourful artwork created by a talented group of artists with disabilities belonging to a Brighton-based arts hub called ‘Tutti’ in collaboration with the members of the Sikh community of South Australia.

                   

Tutti artist Charlie Taplin drawing on a fabric used for tying a Sikh turban Source: Ellen Schlobohm

Gracing the Nexus Arts Gallery in Adelaide is a compendium of bold and colourful fabrics of Sikh turbans in unwrapped state and a series of photographs by artist Emmaline Zanelli that capture the developing friendship between the Tutti artists and the Sikhs.

On a closer look, one understands that the long swathes of fabric on display are a testament of Sikh valour and their unique identity while the designs and decorations on the layers of the fabrics represent the struggles and challenges faced by the disabled Tutti artists.

 

Turban designed by Tutti artist Megan Long Source: Ellen Schlobohm

This intriguing artwork is an outcome of a series of meetings between the Tutti community and the Sikhs held in the Tutti arts studios and once in a gurudwara where both sides spent hours over tea and pakoras (fritters) deliberating on culture and shared experiences of being “different” from the other communities.

Speaking to SBS Punjabi, Jane Gronow who works as an Art Manager with Tutti Arts said the exhibition seeks to create a space in which these two communities can stand together and be a platform for exploring what it truly means to be “Standing Up, Standing Out”.

“There was a mutual exchange of sacred objects. While the Sikhs gave their sacred object of turban to the Tutti artists, the artists in return presented their sacred object which is their art to the Sikhs and that connection was beautiful”, adds Ms Gronow.

The turbans for the exhibition was donated to the artists by 'Turbans and Trust'- an Australia-based organisation that spreads awareness about the significance of wearing a turban in Sikh's life.

For Sikhs, turban is their most discernible symbol of their unique identity.

For Sikhs, turban is a symbol of identity Source: Bhupinder

Manu Singh, a disabled artist from India’s northern state of Punjab whose work was recently showcased at a private art exhibition in Sydney feels it’s a moment of pride for the community.

Speaking over the phone with SBS Punjabi from Ludhiana city, Mr Singh said, “Although I have just seen the pictures of the art work online, it fills me with immense pride and joy that while some Sikhs around the world are facing discrimination for wearing turbans, these artists are breaking stereotypes”.

The exhibition will remain on display until July 13^th.

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