Last Saturday May 16th, the Sikh Youth Federation held a super fun event in Toronto called Turban Up. It was an invitation to the people of Toronto, commuters and tourists to Turban Up, that is, to get a turban tied on their heads by Sikhs and take it home with them for free.
It was a way of connecting Sikhs with the greater non-Sikh community. I thought this was a crazy idea. However I was pretty familiar with it as I had previously tied turbans on non-Sikh friends before. At Turban Up, I was given the opportunity to participate in the turban tying and was given a booth to display my prints for sale.
The Various Colours of Turban Up Event
At noon, the sun was beamed from above as we entered the venue in Dundas Square. This is the very heart of downtown Toronto, surrounded by malls, restaurants, theatre, shops and university buildings. It was a familiar place and felt like home, and not just because of all the turbans and Sikhs.
Few years ago, I used to study biological sciences here at Ryerson Univeristy. I used to cross Dundas Square everyday to get to the university just behind it. After I left to pursue my passion for art, little did I know that I'd be coming back to this place several years later to tie turbans and exhibit my art.
After checking out the venue and setting up, I got straight to the fun.
I asked a Singh, with an awesome turban, to show me how he cut his turbans from the bundles and bundles of fabric lying on the tables. He said to just make a cut at one edge and then tear it through with a quick jerk. This took some practice but it made cutting turbans a lot easier and cleaner than cutting them all the way through with scissors!
A mother and her son were looking for someone to tie their turban. We picked out a matching red turban for the son, something that matched his shirt. I rolled up both ends while he helped me.
The fun part - tug o war - Pull!
This method stretches the turban and tightens the rolls and prepares it for wrapping. There are many ways of doing Pooni, rolling up a turban, however this works well for the Patiala Shahi style that I was tying at Turban Up.
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While tying this boy's turban, I simply positioned the wraps along his forehead as I walked around him in circles several times... and voila!
After her son got a turban, the mother came back and got one tied on her as well. You can see her photographing her son getting his first turban, in the previous photos.
Matching turbans is where it's at! As someone with a keen eye for colour, I think it's crucial to pick the right colour for your clothes. It makes all the difference. I saw so many folks at Turban Up tying random colours. I don't know what they were thinking!
I always cleaned out the turbans wraps/larhs with my handy turban pin, otherwise known as salai or baj. This was a lost cause for most of these turbans I was tying haha. They were just too messy to be cleaned up completely but it did help to try to clean it with the turban pin. These turbans were 3 meters long so they were pretty quick to wrap. I ended up tying quite a few of them actually. In the end, I really enjoyed tying turbans on people and taking selfies with them afterwards.
Over At the Art Booth
I found out that explaining my work to a non-sikh audience can be a challenging task. What do you tell them? What details do you hold back to avoid confusing them?
It can be challenging to come up with the correct words on the spot, especially when you have a spotlight on you. You have to think on your feet and practice clear, concise speech.
A painting is a thousand words. When these guys looked at my paintings, instantly, the story became clear to them. My words were merely supplementary to the paintings. They could see with their eyes what the atmosphere that Guru Gobind Singh ji was in, when his four children were killed, and how he meditated in the jungles of Machhiwara amidst all the suffering.
This journey was all about meeting people. Seeing new faces and connecting with them. I ended up tying a turban on a man who specifically left and came back with his daughter so she could see the process. That feeling was just amazing!
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About the Artist
Bhagat has been painting Sikh history since the young age of 11. He continues to use his gift to create works of art that inspire and uplift the soul. His paintings connect us to our ancient heritage by telling stories of our ancestors in vivid colours. Each painting is carefully hand-painted, researched and detailed by Bhagat, over years of meditation. Bhagat's fine art prints can be purchased for your home, and can be easily ordered online at SikhiArt.com |
