NEW YORK.- Rubin Museum of Art (RMA), with the support and participation of the Sikh Art and Film Foundation and The Sikh Foundation, is pleased to present I See No Stranger: Early Sikh Art and Devotion, an exhibition that brings together works of art that identify core Sikh beliefs and explores the plurality of cultural traditions reflected in both the objects and the ideals.

Sikh courage and valor against oppression are well-known from history. Much less well-known, however, are Sikh beliefs and ideals, even basic ones. By examining Sikh humanism as expressed in works of art, this exhibition places Sikh history, its religion and people in a broader context.

Sikhism began just over 500 years ago with the first Guru, Guru Nanak, in the Punjab, the land defined by the five rivers which flow across its plains and now divide India and Pakistan. Raised in a Hindu household, Nanak questioned rites distinguished by caste, and was drawn to a spiritual quest above schooling or the learning of a trade. He began traveling at about the age of 30 to broaden his inquiry and share his revelations, which affirmed the oneness of God and the equality of all castes and creeds, and of men and women. With an appreciation of the value and beauty of other faiths, he traveled extensively over the Indian sub-continent and Middle East, often accompanied by Mardana, a Muslim musician, and Bala, a Hindu peasant. The stories of his life are told in biographies (janamsakhis) that are illustrated and are a major genre of Sikh art. Two important janamsakhi sets are included in this exhibition.

Early Sikh faith was iconoclastic, down to earth, and accepting. Gura Nanak, something of a diplomatic anarchist of his time, attempted to transform the hierarchy in Brahmanical practices, believing that all people, of any caste or creed, could experience god. He taught about one god without physical attributes or image, but present in all people and things, and in a society where men and women are equal and democracy is practiced in everyday life. The Sikh faith requires disciples to earn their living honestly and through hard work, to share what they earn with the needy, and to serve their fellow human beings. These principles are embodied in the poetry, music, storytelling and art brought together for this exhibition.

There are more than twenty million Sikhs in the world today, and most of them live in the Punjab where they form 60% of the population, compared to 2% of the population of India as a whole. Approximately 600,000 live in Britain, forming the largest community outside of India. There are another 450,000 in the USA and Canada and a number of smaller communities in many countries including East Africa, Singapore, Malaysia, Iran, Fiji, Australia, Thailand, Germany, and Hong Kong. Sikhs are active in many parts of American life, and are often recognized by their distinctive turbans. Most people, however, know little about their culture and beliefs.

Major exhibitions have been mounted over the past 15 years at museums throughout the world, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco; the National Museum, New Delhi; and the Royal Ontario Museum of Toronto, but, until now, no exhibition has been mounted in New York, the most polyglot society in the United States.

I See No Stranger: Early Sikh Art and Devotion will be comprised of approximately 100 works from the 16th through the 19th centuries, including paintings, drawings, textiles, metalwork, and photographs. Works of art in the exhibition are lent by the Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh; National Museum, New Delhi; the Sanskriti Museum, New Delhi; the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco; and the collection of Dr. Narinder Kapany, of Palo Alto, along with other individual lenders.

Because of the small size of many of the objects in the exhibition, and the abstract nature of some of the essential philosophy being conveyed, the installation will be intimate in scale using light/dark as an important metaphor.

I See No Stranger: Early Sikh Art and Devotion will be organized around five key concepts in Sikh art and devotion:

1. Section A: Being Is One (Ikk Oan Kar):

In 1469, a boy called Nanak was born into a Hindu family some forty miles from Lahore. He grew up to proclaim a message revealed to him by God, beginning with the simple statement: �€œThere is no Hindu, there is no Muslim,�€� meaning all are equal before God, regardless of caste or creed. He traveled from one village to another, his inspired words attracting followers known as Sikhs (from Shishya, or �€œdisciple�€�). He was their Guru, and he taught that there is only one God, who is the abstract principle of truth.

The life and teachings of Guru Nanak, Janamsakhis, in drawing and painting, using two major painted sets (Chandigarh and Kapany). Janamsakhi drawings from Chandigarh allow for exploration of the artistic process and workshop traditions that produced these paintings for Sikh patrons. This section will include narratives selected for visual interest and core teachings.

2. Section B: From a Single Flame, Many a Torch was Lit

Before Guru Nanak died in 1539, he appointed Angad as his successor, beginning a line of spiritual descent that ended with the tenth Guru, Gobind Singh. Guru Gobind Singh passed the succession to the Guru Granth Sahib, the Scripture of Sikhism, which thus became the eternal Guru. The growth of early Sikhism will be shown in paintings of the Gurus �€“ who, though said to be one, had eventful individual histories.

3. Section C: The Guru Eternal: The Written Word

The collected sayings of Nanak in the Guru Granth Sahib and �€“ as guru�€” in its vocalization as Paradise: �€œParadise is where your poetry is sung.�€� A canopy and the implements surrounding the display of the Guru Granth Sahib (chauri, morchaal, rumal, etc.) will be installed in the gallery, and accompanied by photographs of a historic recension displayed on a monitor in the gallery near the installation. The installation will include musical instruments.

4. Section D: The Art of Life

On March 30, 1699, Guru Gobind Singh (the 10th Guru) baptized his followers at Anandpur in a ceremony initiating the Khalsa, or �€œFellowship of the Pure.�€� From this time, the outward emblems of Sikhism were adopted and, to this day, identify millions of Sikhs all over the world. Works collected in this section will reflect the skills and renown of Sikh craftsmen and women in textiles, objects of everyday life, and metalwork. Drawings by Sikh artists from a series in Chandigarh will be hung in nearby cases with objects of Sikh manufacture.