The ringing sounds of swords clashing with shields could be heard from the Royal B.C. Museum’s Clifford Carl Hall on Saturday afternoon as Sikh martial arts practitioners showed off their skills.
Members of the Shaheed Baba Deep Singh Ji Gatka Akhara ranging from eight to 46 years old put on a spirited Gatka demonstration to mark the start of a two-day exhibition of Sikhi art and Sikh artifacts.
Gatka instructor Paneet Singh said while the population here is smaller compared with the Lower Mainland, Victoria has an “active and motivated” Sikh community.
Some in the crowd followed along with the traditional war cries chanted by an emcee while Gatka practitioners wielded an array of weapons in duels, solo demonstrations, and group combat backed by the steady beat of a nagara and a medley of remixed traditional and religious songs.
Paneet Singh is returning to the museum on April 17 to share the story of Mewa Singh, who was executed in 1915 for his assassination of an immigration minister that occurred shortly after the Komagata Maru incident.
“The archives here was one of the places where I started my research as a community historian,” said Paneet Singh, a Victoria-based playwright, filmmaker and co-host of a South Asian Canadian history podcast.
Kim Gough, the museum’s acting director of audience experiences, said this is the third year that the museum has worked with Victoria’s Sikh community to put on a temporary exhibit during Sikh Heritage Month, which itself is a part of a longer relationship that the museum has built with Canada’s South Asian community.
“This is all driven by the community and we’re happy to host and facilitate it,” she said.
Gough said there are early discussions about developing a further exhibition about Mewa Singh in time for next year’s Sikh Heritage Month.
The museum’s travelling exhibit on the arrival of Sikh settlers in B.C., Haq and History, is on the B.C. mainland and was last exhibited in the town of Golden.
Sikhi Through Art, a collection of prints, arts, and rare Sikh artifacts from the collection of Jindi Singh, will be on display at the museum’s Clifford Carl Hall.
April will see a few more events that celebrate Sikh history and culture.
Vaisakhi celebrations can be found at the Pacific FC home opener at Langford’s Starlight Stadium on April 13 and at Victoria’s Gurdwara Sahib Khalsa Diwan Society on Topaz Avenue on April 14.
April 28’s Khalsa Day celebrations at Gurdwara Singh Sabha on Cecelia Road in Victoria is expected to draw thousands of participants.
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