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Videos
Interviews, discussions & presentations
Recordings from past webinars, live events and presentations by SikhRI presenters, as well as creative explorations of Sikh concepts.
Recordings from past webinars, live events and presentations by SikhRI presenters, as well as creative explorations of Sikh concepts.
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Meet Principal Sukhwant Singh, Director of Baba Sucha Singh Gurmat Sangit Academy, Amritsar, Panjab.
Meet Prof. Kartar Singh, Director of Gurmat Sangit Academy, Anandpur Sahib, Panjab.
In the melodic strains of Rag Gond, Guru Ramdas Sahib's Sabad resonates with a triumphant yet humble spirit, reflecting a balanced perspective on spiritual attainment.
The Sikh community has faced considerable brutality and trauma as a marginalized group at the hands of oppressive regimes and misguided hatred both in India and in the diaspora. By expressing the narratives and history of the Sikh experience through the arts, broader themes of social justice emerge that speak to similar struggles in other marginalized communities. An understanding of social justice in this context helps to situate the Sikh experience, allowing culturally specific narratives to illuminate global issues of social justice as part of the human experience. How does one use the arts, specifically music, to speak to a culturally specific experience and to present themes of social justice that can then be interpreted and applied in a larger context? By looking at the use of art as activism, specifically in the case of jazz and the civil rights movement, the role of musical improvisation emerges as a means to express the struggle for justice and as an audible way to communicate that struggle to the listener. By utilizing the musical language of jazz and coupling it with Indian classical music, a sonic representation emerges that can be used to represent the Sikh struggle. This innovative musical system has been developed in my practice-based research as a performer-composer and is examined in the context of three original works Wisconsin (2012), The Last Killing installation (2014), and the Komagata Maru suite (2015). These works examine events from the Sikh experience in North America and India from the viewpoints of historical trauma, “postmemory”, and diasporic identity formation. These perspectives are used in order to mourn those experiences and use them as a means to create awareness of who the Sikh community is and what their struggles are. This work explores my own identity as a Sikh artist and serves to raise awareness of the Sikh community— it’s history and struggles— using the power of artistic expression to promote the values of justice and equality for all. About the Presenter: International multi-instrumentalist performer-composer Neelamjit Dhillon is a professional musician equally versed in both Eastern and Western traditions. His extensive training in both jazz and classical Indian music gives him a firm rooting in two distinct styles and provides a unique perspective into the universality of music. He has obtained a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Studies (majoring in saxophone performance) from Capilano University and has also completed a Bachelor of Education degree in Secondary Music Education from the University of British Columbia. He has obtained a Masters in tabla performance and a doctorate from the California Institute of the Arts [CalArts]. His latest album Komagata Maru, brings together his diverse musical background to mark the centenary of the Komagata Maru Incident of 1914 in which Indian nationals were barred from Canada and how that event still resonates today. Neelamjit has performed at prestigious festivals and events in locals such as Somaila, South America, Europe, Canada, India, and the United States.
My mind burns deeply for All-Pervasive’s experience, as the thirsty without water. 1. My mind is pierced by the arrow of All-Pervasive’s love. My All-Pervasive Divine knows my pain, my mind’s internal pain. Reflect. Whoever tells my All-Pervasive Beloved’s narrative is my Bhai1, my brother. 2. Girl-friends, unite, unite, imbibe the resolute wisdom of the Eternal Guru, Recount the virtues of my Divine. 3. O! All-Pervasive, fulfill servant Nanak’s wish, Seeing All-Pervasive, body quietens. 4. Honorific title in Sikh tradition for the eminent narrators of the Guru. Guru Ramdas Sahib in Rag Gond | Guru Granth Sahib 861 ਗੋਂਡ ਮਹਲਾ ੪ ॥ ਹਰਿ ਦਰਸਨ ਕਉ ਮੇਰਾ ਮਨੁ ਬਹੁ ਤਪਤੈ ਜਿਉ ਤ੍ਰਿਖਾਵੰਤੁ ਬਿਨੁ ਨੀਰ ॥੧॥ ਮੇਰੈ ਮਨਿ ਪ੍ਰੇਮੁ ਲਗੋ ਹਰਿ ਤੀਰ ॥ ਹਮਰੀ ਬੇਦਨ ਹਰਿ ਪ੍ਰਭੁ ਜਾਨੈ ਮੇਰੇ ਮਨ ਅੰਤਰ ਕੀ ਪੀਰ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥ ਮੇਰੇ ਹਰਿ ਪ੍ਰੀਤਮ ਕੀ ਕੋਈ ਬਾਤ ਸੁਨਾਵੈ ਸੋ ਭਾਈ ਸੋ ਮੇਰਾ ਬੀਰ ॥੨॥ ਮਿਲੁ ਮਿਲੁ ਸਖੀ ਗੁਣ ਕਹੁ ਮੇਰੇ ਪ੍ਰਭ ਕੇ ਲੇ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਕੀ ਮਤਿ ਧੀਰ ॥੩॥ ਜਨ ਨਾਨਕ ਕੀ ਹਰਿ ਆਸ ਪੁਜਾਵਹੁ ਹਰਿ ਦਰਸਨਿ ਸਾਂਤਿ ਸਰੀਰ ॥੪॥੬॥
Remember All-Pervasive, All-Pervasive Nam with the Sage-Guru, Naturally the bliss remains day and night, my seed sprouts. Reflect. Fortunately met the Perfect-Guru whose limits cannot be measured, grabbed servant’s hand and pulled it out of the poisono
Why was Guru Arjan Sahib Martyred? A talk by Harinder Singh (Senior Fellow, Research & Policy) in Abbotsford on June 18.
SikhRi presents the conclusion of a six-part series long videos where we provide answers to fundamental questions.
