Today see's the launch of a brand new initiative by UKPHA to present its series of Sikh Arts and Heritage Lectures on an innovative new web platform. This exciting new website has been designed to show the presenter and their visuals as they were delivered during the groundbreaking 2003/4 series of lectures that toured the UK.

The first in the series of six lectures is titled "Pioneers" and tells the remarkable story of Maharaja Duleep Singh. Christy Campbell, the author of 'The Maharaja's Box' talks about his discovery of Duleep Singh.
The lecture series studied many diverse aspects of Sikh arts and heritage, covering topics such as photography, architecture, early Sikh history and paintings, Sikh scriptural and military traditions, and the contribution of contemporary Sikh female artists. The aim of the series was to provide audiences with a glimpse of the past as well as more contemporary themes in a forum that encourages the individual to study and learn more about these aspects of Sikh heritage. Led by expert speakers, the lectures draw on a wide variety of images and written records from many UK, Indian and private collections.

The series presents a truly unique opportunity to discover the rich, and often hidden, heritage of the Sikhs in an engaging yet comprehensive way.

In the first lecture the author of 'The Maharaja's Box' talks about his discovery of Maharajah Duleep Singh. Intrigued, Christy Campbell uncovered the remarkable story of how Duleep Singh, the last Emperor of the Sikhs, was made by the British, as a nine-year-old in 1849, to sign away his kingdom of the Punjab and give Queen Victoria the most celebrated diamond in the world, the Koh-i-Noor. Duleep Singh, a virtual prisoner of Queen Victoria in England, began to dream of regaining his kingdom, and so embarked on a series of adventures involving Russia and the 'Great Game' of Central Asia. What he didn't know was that different factions in Russia were making use of him - and the British secret service was doing likewise.

To access this remarkable new web resource please visit www.punjabheritagelectures.org New lectures will be released each month.

Future lectures include

Interpreters & Innovators - Sikh Women and Art
Nima Poovaya-Smith, Head of Special Projects, National Museum of Photography, Film & Television

Drawing primarily from the unique collection of Punjabi textiles at Bradford Art Galleries and Museum, Dr Poovaya-Smith presents an overview of a fascinating and little understood subject. From the social commentaries embodied in the intricate embroideries of the phulkaris and baghs, to the pioneering paintings of Amrita Sher-Gil (widely acknowledged as one of the first modern artists in India) and the challenging work of contemporary British- based artists such as Perminder Kaur, Sikh women have played a seminal role within the arts and the crafts, wherever they may be. This illustrated lecture examines the nature of this role and its wider impact.

A Picture of the Sikhs
Parmjit Singh, author and historian

A presentation on the photographic record of the last 150 years of Anglo-Sikh History. The last one hundred and fifty years also coincide with the age of the development of photography. In 1849, on the eve of the Second Anglo Sikh War that ended the kingdom created by the legendary Maharajah Ranjit Singh, John McCosh, a surgeon in the British Indian army, took the first grainy shots of Sikhs and monuments of Lahore. Since then the history of the Sikhs has been played out in front of the camera's lens. McCosh heralded the first of the military photographers who went on to capture the Sikhs in the British Army. Early Victorian photographs of Sikhs highlight attitudes connected with the British presence in India, indicating both the power of photography as a colonial tool of classification and appropriation. A unique opportunity to view images from public collections including the National Army Museum, Imperial War Museum and the British Library.

On the Sacred in Sikh Art
Gurdeep Sian, art historian

Well known now is the art of the Sikh court and it's preoccupation with portraiture and durbar scenes, but not much is known on the development of, and the thoughts that underpin, the sacred scenes depicting the Sikh Gurus and their lives. Gurdeep Sian discusses the evidence of Sikh art’s pursuit of the divine and asks if, and how, Sikh art is a sacred art.

Inside the Lion's Mouth: Design and Decoration of Sikh Artillery
Neil Carleton. Curator (British Galleries), V&A

A rare look into the field of Sikh Artillery. Nine massive Sikh guns with intricately carved Persian inscriptions were captured and brought back to Britain after the two Anglo-Sikh wars (1845-6, 1848-9). Military historian, Neil Carleton, presents a tour of the last remaining remnants of these guns and their artistic and military significance. In tracing their history, we discover the various UK national collections that house and display these beautifully manufactured guns.

Two and a Half Strikes – The Sikh Art of War
Sukhbinder Singh, historian

Sukhbinder Singh examines the strategy and tactics employed by the Sikh Khalsa Army during the first half of the eighteenth century. Known as the guerrilla stage of the Sikh struggle, he analyses the socio-political conditions of the period to chart the development of the strategy and tactics adopted by the Sikhs to defend the faith and ensure their survival. The Sikh Art of War is revealed as more than just the engagement of the enemy on the battlefield. Through the Khalsa movement, religious sentiments, political ambitions and economic aspirations were combined and leadership emerged. A political organisation was brought into being and a military force created; hopes were raised, ideals redefined and success was assured beforehand. Inspired in this manner peasants, men of the artisan classes and manual workers discovered a new potential in themselves, and were able to defeat their adversaries both on the political and military battle-fronts. An engaging and lively talk drawing upon inspiration from spiritual texts, the Akali Nihung oral tradition and eyewitness accounts of the Sikhs during this tumultuous period from Sikh history.