This special online conversation gathers artists Rupy C. Tut, Keerat Kaur, and Saira Wasim, and co-curators Sonia Dhami and Syona Puliady for an in-depth look at our current exhibition I Will Meet You Yet Again: Contemporary Sikh Art. These artists—Sikh and non-Sikh—contributed to the hybrid array of material approaches reflecting personal and gendered perspectives on the history of the community and its visual expressions. The works on view inform a Sikh understanding of “home,”and find inspiration in holy scriptures, legacies of persecution and protest, and the entwined forces of home and longing at play throughout Sikh history.

Artist Bios

Rupy C. Tut (b. 1985, Chandigarh, India) studied calligraphy and Indian miniature painting at the Prince’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts, London in 2016. She previously received a BS from UCLA and MPH from Loma Linda University, CA. She has enjoyed solo exhibitions including Out of Place, ICA San Francisco; Search and Rescue, Jessica Silverman, San Francisco and A Recipe for Brown Skin, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA; and A Journey Back Home, Peel Art Gallery and Museum Archives, Ontario. Tut’s work is in the permanent collection of Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento; the de Young, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco and Asian Art Museum, San Francisco. She lives and works in Oakland, CA and is represented by Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco.

Keerat Kaur (b. 1991, London, Ontario, Canada) is an artist and architect with Sikh-Panjabi roots. Her work takes shape through the disciplines of painting, sculpture, writing, music, and architecture. Drawing inspiration from Sikh philosophies, she employs metaphor and symbolism to revolutionize our relationship to nature and spirituality. Her recent work contributes to the advancement of language learning and preservation. Keerat currently lives and works between Vancouver, British Columbia and London, Ontario.

Saira Wasim (b. 1975) is a visual artist based in Massachusetts but originally hailing from Lahore, Pakistan, where she earned her BFA from the National College of Arts. Trained in Persian and Indian miniature painting traditions, she has cultivated a unique artistic practice that deeply engages with the visual narratives of South Asia. Her artistic repertoire spans painting, mixed media collage, sculpture, and video animation.Exploring themes of power, politics, globalization, female identity, and the nuanced experiences of being a Muslim woman in the United States, Saira’s work reflects a profound interrogation of societal constructs.