After 9/11, the Sikh community became targets of hate. It worried Sarabjit Singh who had young children. She turned to art to tell the truth about where Sikhs come from, create awareness, and bring people closer together through love and kindness.
We Belong is a visual series highlighting different experiences of South Asian and Indian identity. This series was produced by India Currents in collaboration with CatchLight as part of the CatchLight Local CA Visual Desk. Photographs and interviews by CatchLight Fellow Sree Sripathy.
Portraits were made in Santa Clara, Calif., between January and May in 2023 and the interview took place on May 8, 2023 via Zoom. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
You have been an artist your whole life. Can you tell me about that?
Since childhood, I was attracted to art. When I was in India, I didn’t have art as a subject in school. The College of Art in Delhi wanted you to have [art] as a subject in school, otherwise they don’t take you. Professionally, I became a librarian. And that helped me to buy more books and be immersed in art, because that was my passion.
I taught myself a lot, and I kept doing it whenever I had time. I got married, and came here [to the US] in ’91. I had kids. Then 9/11 happened. Communities that were not even involved were being targeted. The Sikh community was being targeted because people don’t have an understanding of who is who.
I was fearful for my kids. They were little and I was taking them to school. As a mother, what is the best way to protect your kids in a different country in this kind of situation? Art was my go-to. I thought, you know, people are ignorant, sometimes they don’t understand. Out of fear, they act like this. So it’s good to bring them closer, through love and through kindness. And that is why I chose to do art.
The internet was still in its initial stages. I used to make [art] in the local libraries and display it there. Later on, I took classes at Mission College (Santa Clara) for digital arts so that I could put it on a website, and write my story, what is behind each artwork, the story of where we come from, and how to get the people to understand us better and bring less hatred in this world. We are all one, after all.
Did you find that you were more connected to your Sikh and Punjabi culture once you started doing this type of art?
Oh definitely. I would research all the artwork that I was doing historically and connect it to the present. I did a series from the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh to the present time, how the Sikhs spread out, how they went all over the world, and the reason behind it. I had to do a lot of research because I didn’t want to give any false information about the art I was doing.
Was there anything that you discovered about Sikhism or Punjabi culture that completely surprised you?
Yes, there are many things. History portrays us in a different way, and sometimes the reality is different. The Sikhs that fought in the world wars — we don’t know the figures exactly, but they were a greater part of the Army that went to fight in Europe. The majority of the people over there were fighting for the British. That was a big thing.
How has your family responded to the work that you’ve done?
I think they are pretty amazed. My mom, especially now that she’s come here, after so many years. So much art all around and all the accolades that I receive. She is really happy and amazed that I had so much talent inside of me all these years. And my friends, too, who are in India, because I was working as a librarian, they say, why were you sitting in the library? You had to be in the art, you know? So yeah, they are pretty amazed and very proud.
Since you moved to the US in 1991. How many times have you been back to India to Punjab?
When I came here, my parents were there. I just have one sibling. I made a promise to my parents that no matter what, I will, every other year, definitely come, even if I have kids or whatever. So I made it a point every two years to go back with my kids, if I could take them.
When did you bring your mom over from India?
Five years ago.
How has it been living with your mom again?
She didn’t want to come here. She was very comfortable. But then I didn’t want to leave her there by herself. So she didn’t have a choice. She had to come. There the life is, you know, everybody you can see sitting out of your window, you can see everybody and talk to everybody. It’s not the same over here. Here everything is very quiet and secluded unless you go and meet people.
So it was a big change for her. But still, she had me, you know, and she had nature around here, family, her grandkids visiting her, so that helped her. And then she gets to see what I do. I took her to the Triton Museum (Santa Clara) when I had a show and she got to meet all the other artists also.
How old was your mom when you brought her to the U.S.?
She was 90. She was staying there when my father passed away. For six years she was by herself. My brother was living close by but she was by herself all alone. My brother emigrated to Canada. His kids are there.
Tell me a little bit more about the painting series of your mom.
I’m doing [a series called] “In the Land of Five Rivers” about Punjab, before the partition, about how life was. I did another one of my grandfather, my mom’s father, with letters, postcards, and everything, [showing] how people communicated at that time.
Can you tell me a little bit about your mom’s background?
She grew up in Punjab. You know, I never grew up in Punjab. I was born in Kanpur. My father was in the Air Force, so we moved around. But she was born in undivided Punjab in Sialkot which is now in Pakistan. Her dad was an educator. He had done his teaching degree. He had his own school. Women at that time were not encouraged to study or sent to schools. He saw to it that the women in his family, his sisters, and his daughters, got to study. He sent her to a boarding school, which was unheard of in those days. She studied in a boarding school, she graduated, she had her master’s degree in Punjabi. He was always encouraging her. My grandfather’s dream was that women should be educated.
You mentioned the dhurrie that is your family heirloom earlier. Can you tell me more about that?
This is more than 100 years old, this dhurrie. Women used to have the charka (spinning wheel). They would spin the cotton at home. They would sit together in the courtyard and they would do this spinning, and they would send it over to the people who wove. This was by my great-grandmother, my mom’s grandmother. My mother got it and passed it on to me.
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This series was produced by India Currents in collaboration with CatchLight as part of the CatchLight Local CA Visual Desk. Contributors include Vandana Kumar, Meera Kymal, Mabel Jimenez, and Jenny Jacklin-Stratton. Learn more about CatchLight Local’s collaborative model for local visual journalism at https://www.catchlight.io/local
This series was made possible in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library in partnership with the California Department of Social Services and the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs as part of the Stop the Hate program.
Filoli is a Silver Connection Sponsor for the We Belong series.