The Sahmat Collective: Art and Activism in India since 1989

February 14 – June 9, 2013

Photo documenting Sahmat's 1992 auto-rickshaw project, Slogans for Communal Harmony. The text reads: "Call Him Ishwar, Allah, Wahe-Guru, or Shri Ram, if you will / These are but different names for the one creator."

Since 1989, the influential Delhi-based Sahmat has offered a platform for artists, writers, poets, musicians, actors, and activists to create and present works of art that promote artistic freedom and celebrate secular, egalitarian values.

The collective formed in the weeks after playwright, actor, and activist Safdar Hashmi was fatally attacked by political thugs while performing a street play. In the more than twenty years since, Sahmat has drawn on India’s secular heritage and an expansive group of collaborators to produce a series of projects that engage in important political and social debates through a mix of high art and street culture.

This exhibition will introduce Sahmat's work to the United States through a survey of art and ephemera while assessing the impact this unique—and sometimes controversial—collective has had on contemporary Indian society and artistic practice.

About Safdar Hashmi

Safdar Hashmi (1954–1989) was a political activist, actor, playwright, poet, and founding member of the street theater group Jana Natya Manch, or Janam ("birth") for short. He was deeply committed to secularism and egalitarianism, and built Janam into a forum for democratic and accessible theater aimed at political change.

On January 1, 1989, Hashmi and Janam were violently attacked while performing the play Halla Bol! (Raise Your Voice!) during municipal elections outside of Delhi. Hashmi died of his injuries the next day. His death aroused a nationwide wave of revulsion against political violence and led to the founding of Sahmat. The name is both an acronym for the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust and the Hindi word for "in agreement."

India's Culture Wars

Ever since, Sahmat has been at the heart of what co-curator Ram Rahman likens to "India's culture wars."

Animated by the urgent belief that art can propel change and that culture can reach across boundaries, Sahmat has offered a platform for an expansive group of artists and collaborators to present powerful works of art that defend freedom of expression and battle intolerance within India's often divisive political landscape.

Sahmat's projects (timeline PDF) are defined in part by their consistent stance against the threat of religious fundamentalism and sectarianism—known in South Asia as "communalism"—in public life. Collaborations have cut across class, caste, and religious lines and have involved artists, performers, scholars, and a wide array of other participants, such as the Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim auto-rickshaw drivers in the contest Slogans for Communal Harmony. Projects also have sought to counter political distortions to India's history, most notably in Sahmat's multifaceted response to the demolition of Babri Masjid (Babur's Mosque) in Ayodhya. In other cases, Sahmat has sought to celebrate India's cultural diversity and democratic ideals, engaging artists to create work that responds to ideas of national history and individual identity.

Participating artists

The Sahmat Collective includes works in a variety of media from over sixty artists including Manjeet Bawa, Atul Dodiya, Subodh Gupta, Zarina Hashmi, Rummana Husain, Bharti Kher, Pushpamala N., Nalini Malani, Gigi Scaria, Nilima Sheikh, and Vivan Sundaram.

See a complete list of all those who have participated in Sahmat projects (PDF).

Tour

Ackland Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
September 13, 2013–January 5, 2014

Art Gallery of Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario
July 24–October 19, 2014

Fowler Museum, University of California, Los Angeles
April 19–August 2, 2015

Publication

The exhibition will be accompanied by a substantial, full-color publication that offers new interdisciplinary perspectives on Sahmat as well as investigations into India’s history, politics, and culture from University of Chicago scholars, members of Sahmat, and other specialists.

Free public programs

Opening Reception
February 13, 2013, 7–8:30 pm

Voices of Change
February 16, 2013, 2 pm

Film Screening:
Disrupted Divas, Conflicting Pathways
February 16, 2013, 4:30 pm

Educator Evening
February 18, 2013, 5–8 pm

Family Day:
Books for a Better World
March 2, 2013, 1–4 pm

Curator Tour
March 23, 2013, 2 pm

Object/Subjective
with William Mazzarella and Angie Tillges
April 5, 2013, 12 pm

Family Day:
Postcards for Peace
April 6, 2013, 1–4 pm

Art on the Move: Party at the Smart
April 11, 2013, 8–10 pm

Celebrating 100 Years of Indian Cinema
Adoor Gopalakrishnan retrospective and symposium
April 11–13, 2013

Third Thursday
April 18, 2013, 5:30–7:30 pm

Political Cinema in the Era of Sahmat:
Jashn-e-Azadi
May 7, 2013, 5:30 pm

Political Cinema in the Era of Sahmat:
Jai Bhim Comrade
May 14, 2013, 5:30 pm

Object/Subjective
with Rebecca Zorach and Leela Gandhi
May 17, 2013, 2 pm

Concert: Shubha Mudgal
June 9, 2013, 2 pm

Smart Partners Programs

Exclusive Preview
February 13, 5:30–7 pm

By invitation only. Become a SmartPartner today to receive an invitation to this special event.

Videos

In a series of videos, artists and other collaborators discuss Sahmat's history and its impact on contemporary art-making in India.

Browse all the videos below (or on Vimeo). They're also available on iPads in the exhibition itself.

Sahmat's Beginnings

In 1989, playwright, actor, and activist Safdar Hashmi was fatally attacked by political thugs while performing a street play outside of Delhi. His death led to the founding of Sahmat.

National Street Theatre Day

Each year, Sahmat marks Safdar Hashmi's birthday on April 12 by organizing the National Street Theater Day in India, producing posters and engaging with theater groups all across India in a day of joint action and performance.

Slogans for Communal Harmony

In Delhi, Sahmat organizes a public art project involving auto-rickshaw drivers to decorate their vehicles with poetry and slogans about brotherhood and harmony.

Sufi-Bhakti Traditions

After the destruction of Babri Masjid in India, Sahmat draws on the medieval Sufi-Bhakti poetry and musical tradition to reflect the complex fabric of India's culture.

Anhad Garje

In 1993, Sahmat presented Anhad Garje (a phrase from the poet Kabir that roughly translates to "the silence reverberates"), a program of Sufi-Bhakti performances that promoted communal harmony in the wake of the destruction of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya

Hum Sab Ayodhya

In the aftermath of the destruction of the Babri Masjid, Sahmat produces the exhibition kit Hum Sab Ayodhya (We are All Ayodhya) and explores the multifaceted history, geography, culture, and life of the people of Ayodhya, India.

Muktnaad

In the wake of the destruction of the Babri Masjid, Sahmat organized Muktnaad, a nightlong program of music and dance on the banks of the Sarayu River in Ayodhya, in an effort to break the siege of the Hinduvata forces through creative, rather than political action.

Tribute to Gandhi

In 1994-1995, Sahmat commemorated the 125th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's birth with a yearlong series of events that invoked Gandhi's quest for a secular India, a sovereign nation, and universal compassion.

Postcards for Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi famously used inexpensive postcards to communicate with vast numbers of people. In this spirit and in commemoration of the 125th anniversary of his birth, Sahmat invited hundreds of artists to create postcard-sized works about Gandhi's relevance to contemporary India.

Art on the Move

Sahmat works with emerging artists in India to make mobile works from humble, ready-made pushcarts and rickshaws.

Ways of Resisting

Sahmat's exhibition Ways of Resisting spotlighted art made during a volatile decade of sectarian and communal violence in India, between the 1992 destruction of the Babri Masjid and the 2002 riots in Gujarat.

The Making of India

In the 2004 exhibition The Making of India, Sahmat engaged with artists to rethink the country's cultural and political histories.

M.F. Husain

M.F. Husain, the "Picasso of India," is forced into exile after hardline Hindus orchestrated a wide-ranging campaign against him in response to his painting Hindu goddesses in the nude.

Sahmat's Tributes to M.F. Husain

The fight for freedom of expression and Sahmat's tributes to M. F. Husain, "the Picasso of India."

On Performance

Through the performing arts, Sahmat has brought people together while celebrating the diversity of India's cultural history.

Sahmat's Legacy

What is Sahmat's legacy? What impact has it had on contemporary Indian society and artistic practice?

Support

The Sahmat Collective: Art and Activism in India since 1989 is made possible by The Smart Family Foundation; Helen Zell; the Efroymson Family Fund, a CICF Fund; The Joyce Foundation; and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support is provided by Larry & Marilyn Fields; Barbara Fosco, The Fosco Family Foundation; Lisa and Michael Kornick; and the University of Chicago’s Committee on Southern Asian Studies.

Presented in the Richard and Mary L. Gray Gallery and the Robert and Joan Feitler Gallery

Smart Museum of Art

The University of Chicago

Sat. January 11 • 1 PM - 4 PM

Family Day: Exquisite Things

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