Amarjit Singh
MA Art Gallery and Museum Studies BA Hons Design Product
Portfolio
About Me I am currently completing my MA in Art Gallery & Museum Studies at the Leeds University (2017-2019), as a freelance exhibitioner and photographer. Previously in 2013 I graduated with a undergraduate degree from Leeds Metropolitan University in Design Product (BA Hons). My projects from my BA required me to use my mathematical skills with calculated work. From this, I followed the design process from concept to completion to manufacture products safely and to the right structural specification.
My Personal Website : www.EnlightenedPhotography.co.uk
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This portfolio highlights the main skills and experience gained through my MA projects, my personal research and development, volunteering and professional employment. The projects vary in terms of format from academic research, demonstrations, documentaries, and abroad visits to exhibitions. Some of the organisions involved include; The Bradford Police Museum, Royal Armouries, BBC, B.O.S.S, Leeds City Council, and Birmingham Council. Amarjit Singh
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Treasures of Nanak Exhibition On November 2019 worldwide celebrations and events will be held, commemorating Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary. I am currently heading this project from scratch to its inception. I will be the lead curator for this exhibition, using my expertise in Sikh history, Indian arms and armour and my networks to create a powerful space. This exhibition will shed light on the most travelled man to ever have lived. From visiting places such as the Iraq, Baghdad, Afghanistan, Himalayas, North India, South India, Nepal and even the city of Rome. Nanak’s Mission was simple; He wants to unite all mankind by three core teachings. The three teachings of Nanak are the following; to meditate, to an honest living and to share what one has. These three teachings are relevant today as in the world we living needs more love rather than falsehood, stress and greed. We all suffer from stresses from difficulties of everyday life. We forget to take care of our mental health, using Nanak’s teachings of up meditation, we can aim to make life that bit less stressful. The second teachings consist of honest living and sharing what one earns. Both of these teachings can be developed for the ideal human being, tackling corruption and poverty. To show what one man has achieved 550 years ago, this exhibition will present rare Sikh antique artifacts, arms and armour, manuscripts, paintings and contemporary art. This exhibition will be able to show what contribution the Sikh faith has made to the world from these teachings. Alongside this we will have Sikh museums virtual reality equipment set up for engagement of the visitors. Venue: Kala Sangam Arts Centre St Peter’s House 1 Forster Ct
April 2019 – January 2020 ORGANISATIONS
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The Bradford Police Museum While studying my master’s degree, I was successful in securing a part time volunteering position as a Curatorial Assistant at The Bradford Police Museum. Here I am able to develop my understanding of the theory learned from my study and apply it to a museum setting. The Bradford Police Museum is located in Bradford City Hall, a Grade II Listed Building. It served a 19th century police station and housed a courtroom, before its conversion to a museum. The museum provides an insight into the heritage of policing, civil enforcement, crime and punishment in Bradford from the early 19th century onwards. Its large collection includes police memorabilia, arms and armour, documents, photographs, and digital material amongst others. I work within the curatorial team. My duties include photographing artefacts, using specialist software (such as Spectrum and Modes for cataloguing objects), assembling and managing the collection, minor conservation and restoration. Other duties include extensively researching the artefacts within the collection, planning and executing temporary exhibitions with the team and other organisations. I am responsible for ensuring collections are preserved to a high standard, and apply for funding and grants where required. What sets me apart in the team is my ability to photograph the artefacts for our database. Photography is my professional background and I am able to create high quality photographs with my camera and software. I use the images to market the museum on social media, and I am confident in this field. This is an ongoing duty and will strengthen the image and marketing of the museum to develop external interest. I have been praised for my efforts by senior colleagues.
February 2019- Current ORGANISATIONS /6
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Leeds MA Research study For my masters final paper I decided to dedicate my research to the relics of the Sikh Raaj (empire) in the United Kingdom and in relation to these objects, the ownership flow, and interpretation display, private and public collections. The working paper is titled: From the swords of sacred Sikh Saint scabbards, to the salesroom and showrooms today. (The rise and annexation of the Sikh Raj, discovered through its relics.) This topic has been inspired by recurrence of Sikh Arms and Armor that is being sold which phenomena is nothing new but it has been the focus of controversy within Museum and auction houses in recent years, evidence that supports the existence of the problem are current examples such as Sothbys sale and the protests regarding alleged Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s armor, provenance related to the relics have of an existing trend that has led to the problem, where pieces of Sikh history are lost within unknown bidders hands . The majority of these sales are within the United Kingdom but protests can spread on a worldwide scale. The following three relics are my area of research: Akali Nihang Bhunga Fortress Turban- Royal Armories The Shamshir sword of Mahraja Runjeet Singh -The Wallace Collection The Throne of Maharaja Runjeet Singh- V&A Museum This study will be a qualitative study, where interviews and questionnaires will be the primary research methodology for research. I will look into museum collections and library archives to understand how these relics have taken place in our society today.
September 2017 – September 2019 ORGANISATIONS
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WW1 Sikh Statue To commemorate 100 years since the end of the First World War, the Leeds Sikh Community wanted to celebrate and pray homage to the 83,000 Sikh Soldiers that died and the 250,000 Sikh Soldiers that were injured in the war. For this commemorative project we decided to self-fund a statue that would be caste in bronze composite by the artist Jane Robbins, being installed and unveiled at the Leeds City Museum. The project involved Leeds City Museum curator Adam Jaffer , Gurmukh Singh from GNNSJ Leeds, Prem Singh Duggal from The Sikh Temple and myself. I liaised with museum stuff to overlooking the interpretation panels to make sure the information was correct with the Sikh ethos. The statue was installed within the new Voices of Asia is a gallery celebrating the sights, sounds, and culture of Asia and the Asian communities in Leeds! The unveiling was a successful event with community leaders, representatives from the army and national TV channel appearing for coverage. Projects of these kinds I find are needed to breakdown stereotypes, boundaries and help with cultural integration within the different communities integrating with one another. Deeper communication and understanding comes with such educational exhibitions.
September 2018 - November 2018 ORGANISATIONS / 10
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Cannon Hall Museum For this module, I selected my placement at Cannon Hall Museum. I was attracted to the diversity and landscape of the site with its parks, lakes and gardens and wished to observe the museum’s daily operations with these features. In my previous live brief project I was involved with a collection of antique British ceramics. I understood that Cannon Hall Museum also housed British ceramics and this was another reason to pick this beautiful Yorkshire estate. My role within the organisation was to assist the freelance curator Melissa Gallimore with her daily responsibilities. This included collection and visitor research, cataloguing, and exhibition installations. Her task is to archive all objects within the museum ceramics collection to an online database. The current documentation is currently paper based but incomplete. There are over 2000 objects within this category that also require condition reports. During my placement I was able to catalogue artefacts in chronological order. One of the museum aims is to educate visitors with interactive projects. This includes working with educational departments such as schools. Cannon Hall Museum currently lacks staff with teaching experience its hired creative freelancers have this experience. One on occasion, I assisted the museum with a three-day public clay workshop for children accompanied by parents/ guardians. It was to attract new visitors and secure donations and over 100 visitors attended. Canon Hall Museum extended the clay day workshop to a private clay workshop due to its popularity and success. It was a community-designed project enabled young adults to informal learning.
January 2017 – May 2017 ORGANISATIONS
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York Pottery Exhibition The brief entailed for our team of five to work with The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery. We were given the galleries collection of ceramics which consisted of Yorkshire creamware and collection to work with for this exhibition. We were given the freedom to interpret the objects and to deliver our interpretation to the end audience through an exhibition at the gallery. Our audience for this exhibition was undergraduate students. Subsequently we located a Yorkshire Potter called Dick Unsworth from Ingleton, Yorkshire Dales. We interviewed Dick as he had a connection to past and current Yorkshire potters. The film can be seen on Youtube via this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLabY_gF8Lg&t=67s Our team decided to start a social media campaign to use social media as a place to find current local events to attend. We used Hootsuite to integrate all our social media into one platform where we could organise our posts. Having a background in wedding photography enabled me to do all the groups images to a high standard. I used these skills to take creative photos of the ceramics to use on all our publications, marketing material, social media material. The installation was efficient as we pre planed every detail on our Photoshop mock up.Majority of the positive feedback forms we created were returned with included comments such as “we loved the exhibition, I enjoyed the exhibition, I loved the video and I learnt a lot about Yorkshire Pottery�. On reflection of the feedback we would consider the comments and make necessary adjustments if we were to redo this exhibition.
September 2017- December 2017 ORGANISATIONS
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INDEPENDENT RESEARCH
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I have taken research in South Asian Arms and Armour using various methods. Some of these include establishing and maintaining contact with auction houses, visiting historical sites (Image 1), contacting people associated with relics (Image 2), visiting national museums (Image 3) and India, visiting private collections/collectors (Image 4), and researching online archives/forums. My research has taken me to the current lineages of great historic people such as 15th century Baba Bidhi Chand’s (notable Sikh figure associated with the 6th Sikh Guru) current line to 17th century Baba Deep Singh (notable Sikh martyr) Misl Shaheedan’s (one of the Sikh Clans) current lineage (Image 5). I have stayed in India for extended amounts of time to study and learn the oral traditions from the Nihang Sikh warriors (Image 6) who hail from the original Sikh warrior clans. Extensive study of antique manuscripts, letters, architecture, arms and armour, frescos, miniature paintings and the people involved in this field has equipped me with great in depth knowledge in this field.
January 2016 – Present Figure 1
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RESTORATION CONSERVATION/ PROJECTS My life revolves around arms and armour from my early days of Gakta (antique Sikh weapon based martial art) where antique arms and armour were used for demonstrations to my current antique exhibition work. I am self-taught antique arms and armours restoration and conservation which then as been refined over the years by gaining skills from various experts in the field such as curators at the Royal Armories to private collectors. I have knowedgle in using traditional Indian techniques in arms and armour restoration/conservation to new museum standards of restoration/conservation.I take on light to heavy restoration projects such as straightening warped blades (Image 1), to welding broken tangs and rehilting broken swords/daggers.
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I have experience in material restoration including various steels, brass, bone, ivory, horn (Image 2), hide (Image 3), leather, copper and more. I have also experimented on using processes such as stabilising rust on the object and acid etching to reveal lost wootz, pattern welded and watered damascus steel patterns (Image 4). I also comeplete the finish on blades from polishing to various grits and mirror like finishes to the last conservation step such as oiling or the museum preferred method of using Renaissance Museum Microcrystalline Wax. I can also restore silver/gold Koftghari work to bright visible standards, which can be hidden under microscopic dirt layers. I believe a sword without a scabbard is like a person without clothes. I also am proficient in creating custom scabbards to fit the traditional style of the sword (Image 5), and can also repair to the exisiting scabbards if they are in serviceable condition.
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June 2008– Present
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POTHI SEVA PROJECT Image 3
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Pothi Seva (manuscript selfless service) is a non-profit organisation that is committed to conservation and repair of Sikh Gutka Sahibs (prayer books), Saroops of Aad Guru Granth Sahib Jee (Sikh’s main spiritual teacher/ manuscript) as well as other Sikhi related Pothis (writings). Conservation and repair work of prayerbooks in print and antique manuscript is taken in board as a free service for the Sikh community. Pothi Seva uses traditional tools/methods are used alongside scientific approaches to make sure the most appropriate traditional repair work is carried out. Alongside this organisation also produces its own organic traditional fibre paper (Image 1). I have been involved in this project from the start of 2016. I have been learning methods on how to repair traditional paper fibre on vintage manuscripts. I have been a team player in this task where a Sikh prayer book was disassembled, and natural starch paste was used to repair the damaged paper (Image 2). I am still learning the basics and advanced methods of bookbinding, such as end band (Image 3) and progressing on this amazing course with another individual from Leeds. For further information please visit www.pothiseva.net
January 2016 – Present ORGANISATIONS
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ROYAL ARMOURIES Since doing my Gatka Martial Art demonstrations at the Royal Armouries, I have been fascinated with this museum on my doorstep. I furthered my knowledge of arms and armour conservation from attending seminars/ workshops conducted by the staff at the Armouries. From these seminars/ workshops, I have gathered in depth knowledge from the staff ’s research on long-term conservation methods including use of different oils/waxes on antique steels and witnessing the effects. I have used these findings and implemented them to my own conservation understanding. I have created good working relationships and maintain contact with the current Oriental Arms & Armour Curator and the Interpretation Officer from these workshops. I have also had guided tours of the Armouries inventory of all the arms and armour they keep to gain a deeper insight into the muesum. I have recognised the importance and value of networking in this field.
April 2013 – Present ORGANISATIONS
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FREELANCE EXHIBITIONS
Using my knowledge on Indo Persian arms and armour, manuscripts, my experience in exhibition work and networking, I have been giving back to various communities on a national scale. I have created engaging exhibitions (Image 1) where people can experience and feel the weapons and armour in person. It’s amazing to carry out such projects due to the feedback received from spectators. It’s also amazing to see the younger generation (Image 2) who wear similar traditional grams of warriors who once used these weapons for justice and righteousness.
September 2010 – August 2013 ORGANISATIONS
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SIKHI CAMP Sikhi Camp is organised under the umbrella of B.O.S.S. B.O.S.S has been working with young students across the country for more than 25 years primarily via university sikh societies. They organise events such as talks, activity days, spiritual retreats, conferences, exhibitions, inter-faith sessions and provide free literature to suit a range of audiences. Sikhi Camp runs annually and is a six day adult based retreat. It aims to attract people who may not know much about their faith but wish to learn more in a friendly and non-judgemental environment. Due to language or cultural barriers, we cannot always obtain this knowledge from local gurdwaras. I carry out antique Indo Persian arms and armour exhibitions (Image 1) annually at this venue. This opportunity to open up dialog with people from various age groups regarding the relationship Sikhs had with their weapons and heritage. I do this by using showing pieces that you would only see at a museum (example Image 2) with in depth conversations regarding its qualities. Due to the great feedback from the organizers and campers this is an annual project.
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April 2011 – 2016 ORGANISATIONS :
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NISKHAM HELP As of part of the Sikhi lifestyle we are committed to serve humanity. Thus as a part of this service I currently help I support individuals that are homeless and are signed up with Saint Georges Crypt that come from all walks of life. We help people that are in poverty to access better quality of life and contribute equally back to society. Therefor my work involves parallel work ethics and also commitment to the work diversity Joseph Rowntree Foundation works to provide. Previous Niskham Help projects have included interfaith out reach work with David Young Academy ( Image 1), Leeds City council (Image 2), The Vatican and World Peace Organization(Image 3).
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November 2012– Present ORGANISATIONS
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VAISAKHI MELA I have been delivering Indo Persian Relic Exhibitions and presentations for the past 3 years from the ground up by using methodical procedures. The exhibitions are held annually at the Handsworth Mela, (which attracts up to 90,000 spectators) and the B.O.S.S Sikh Camp that host a six day spiritual and social retreat. These are the main projects I am involved in. This opportunity allows me to work with orgnisations including the Council of Sikh Gurdwara’s, Birmingham City Council and a non-profit organisation called B.O.S.S. This project to open up dialog with people from various backgrounds on grounds of interfaith ,unity and understanding between different communities and (Image 1-2) cultures in Birmingham/Midlands area. From this, I have progressed my communication and interpersonal skills through regular community consultation. The publicity for these organisations has been heightened due to the effort and attention to detail that I put into my work and due the number of people that now attend our stall (Image3).
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April 2013 – Present ORGANISATIONS
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LEEDS MET SIKH SOCIETY Every university has societies to facilitate social cohesion between students and others. I joined the Sikh Society and organised many events, as a way of giving back the community.
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I was elected as President of the Leeds Met Sikh Society, and this has been my greatest achievement to date. My duties mainly comprised managing the day to day activities of the society. The role has enabled me to encourage and promote diversity throughout the university and raise awareness of the Sikh faith. I was actively involved in the organisation and project management of the UK’s first “Langar on Campus” event. This was a free meal for 500 people with an antique exhibition (Image 2), and was aired on national television. It successfully won the award for “Best Society Event” from the university student union. I was involved with designing the advertisement literature (Image 1) and television commercial alongside setting up the exhibition. My work has been recognised from this event and the British Organisation of Sikh Students (BOSS) have given me the opportunity to continue my exhibitions on an annual basis from youth camps and retreats to the Vaisakhi Mela (Sikh new year festival)..
September 2010 – August 2013 ORGANISATIONS
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LEEDS METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY: PRODUCT DESIGN Studying a degree in the design field has enabled me to be thoroughly analytical when presented with different situations. An example of this would be my Taadol Stool (Image 1) that I designed where the illusion had to be structurally solid but this only could be achieved with the right materials and mathematics. I learnt various conceptual creating methods that helped me to widen the range of my creativity. An example of this would be where I designed various seating arrangements for children with themed animals and cartoon creatures. All the projects within my degree had tight deadlines that would have to fit around my other commitments. I was able to manage this with the aid of a working dairy, to do list and a timetable for the tasks in every project. All these projects very heavily multi media based. I used a number of marketing materials such as posters, handouts, videos, websites, exhibitions and even booklets to promote my projects to the course tutor, peers and external clients with great feedback. The course ended with two exhibitions in house at the university and at the Business Design Centre.
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September 2010 – September 2013 ORGANISATIONS
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GATKA
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A large section of my personal time is taken up by volunteering for various organisations. One such project is with a Gatka Martial arts work. With in this project I have held talks and martial art demonstrations, arms & armour show and tell, photography and so froth. These events have happened from locally at Royal Armories (Image 1) to even a BBC Documentary. I have learnt the martial art of “Gatka� and own many medals at national competitions (Image 2). Feeling the need to move on and challenge myself I have also started taking Filipino martial arts and Muay Thai classes, which are a great new fresh air of culture and systematic defence. To balance physical and spiritual aspect of my life, I also partake in learning Yoga and Indian classical music, in particular, the stringed instrument named the Dilruba.
June 2008- June 2012 ORGANISATIONS
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Amarjit Singh Bath 07 427 470 482 Amarjitsinghleeds@gmail.com www.EnlightenedPhotography.co.uk