I am extremely excited to announce the launch of our 2025 -2026 art of Punjab North America Tour with the first stop in New York City at the Queens Museum from Oct 18th to Nov 9th, 2025. I will be working with partners within the Sikh community as I present my life’s work of forty paintings created through my life-long love of Sikh History.
On the first stop in New York, I am presenting my work in partnership with ‘Journey of the Mind’ exploring the power of Simran and its central importance within the teachings of the Sikh Gurus, how the practice shaped Sikh history and its power to transform our lives even in today’s chaotic world.
The paintings featured at the Queen’s Museum will be presented on large format canvases allowing for an immersive experience of vivid color and detail to be experienced by visitors. These artworks represent my creative journey of twenty years spent exploring the stories which shaped, inspired and instructed our Sikh community for over half a millennia.
They explore stories centered on the teachings of the ten Gurus of Sikhism, who offered all people a universal path towards living a life of dignity which can be realized through the profound understanding of the oneness of humanity and through fostering a deep connection with the supreme creator (Waheguru), who resides within us all.
While each painting will be displayed as part of a linear historical continuum beginning with the life of Guru Nanak, they were not originally painted in a chronological order. Every painting is deeply personal and came to me without deliberate effort at a time when I needed the wisdom contained within. Rather than setting out to paint a chosen subject, each story found me at a point in my life when I was in need of the teachings behind it and the labor of painting became a means by which I reflected upon, and sought to internalize that lesson.
For myself as an artist, nearly every image is laden with symbolism to express ideas and emotions I find hard to put into words, so I have used color and form to express this internal dialogue. Whether I needed strength, inspiration or perspective, I found an example in the lives of the ten Gurus and those who resolutely followed the path they themselves charted for all humanity. These stories were written across the land of Punjab, shaping its people and their destiny to the present day, so the expression of them on canvas is, for me, the Art of Punjab.
This exhibition presents the story of our past so that viewers may develop a deeper understanding of the application of Sikh spiritual values in navigating the challenges of the world today. I look forward to attending the event for a chance to talk to visitors and will post those times and dates on Instagram @artofpunjab shortly.
We rarely get to see Sikh art, history and faith presented in such scope and in a universally accessible way in public galleries and museums so I urge you to please visit and share details of this event with your family and friends. After New York I will be presenting my work in Edmonton, Canada in collaboration with the charity ‘Guru Nanak Free Kitchen’ with plans for events in California, Vancouver and Toronto through 2025. We welcome organizations in the U.S.A and Canada who wish to collaborate on hosting an Art of Punjab exhibition near you to reach out to us at [email protected]
Kanwar Singh (artist)
