Visitors to the #Art4Justice exhibition included Laura Pye, Head of Culture for Bristol City�Council and George Ferguson, Mayor of Bristol, who commented that it was a, �Brilliant,�eye-opening exhibition.�
:dateline:Singh Sabha Gurdwara (Sikh place of worship), St George Bristol hosted an art exhibition on�Sunday 20th March inspired by Bapu Surat Singh, an 83-year-old Indian from the United�States who has been on hunger strike in India for over 400 days calling for the release of�Sikh political prisoners. He has been periodically detained by the Indian Police and force-fed�during his hunger strike.
Curator of the exhibition Dr Manjit Kaur Dhinsa said, �This has been a grass roots campaign,�and the contributions we have had from artists and poets have been humbling. We have�had work from around the world, including the USA, Canada, India and Russia. The�exhibition has been supported by all the Bristol Gurdwaras and we are thankful to Parmjit�Kaur President of the Gurdwara for allowing us to host it here.�
Artist Jyoti Dhanjal from Hertfordshire said he found out about the human rights campaign�after seeing images of Bapu on social media, �I wanted to help his campaign using the�following I have on social media. I did a painting based on one of the photos which I�thought was very powerful. The strain of his hunger strike shows on his face.� This was the�first time Jyoti has exhibited in Bristol and he added, �Bristol is amazing. There has been a�steady flow of people who came to see the exhibition. I will definitely be coming back to�the city as there is a real interest in arts and culture and I would like to do some street art�or mural work here. It�s been a great experience.�
Emerging artist Melody Sale from Plymouth said, �I was asked to do a piece for the�exhibition by event organiser and Plymouth councillor Chaz Singh. I didn�t know very�much about the campaign so it was as much a learning process for me as well as a creative�one. I have learnt so much, not just about the protest, but also about the Sikh community,�that has been amazing. I really want to help and I hope that through this exhibition we�can raise awareness and help the prisoners.�
Pictures courtesy: HawkEye photography
