Two Iconic Artworks On Partition To Be Unveiled At The Partition Museum

As part of the commemoration of 75 years of India’s Independence and Partition, the

            Partition Museum is pleased to announce the unveiling of a display of two special artworks of the well-known artist from Punjab,  Amar Nath Sehgal whose centenary is being celebrated this year.

            The display will be unveiled at 4 pm on 2nd November, in collaboration with the Amar Nath Sehgal Private Collection at Partition Museum, Town Hall, Amritsar. This is an important milestone for The Arts And Cultural Heritage Trust which is building up a collection of artworks from senior artists of the period — and the display at the Museum includes artworks by Satish Gujral, Krishan Khanna and SL Parasher, as also later artists like Arpana Cour.

ABOUT AMAR NATH SEHGAL (1922-2007)

 A physicist by education, South Asian modern artist Amar Nath Sehgal was born in pre-Partition India, formerly Campbellpur, Attock district, North of present-day Punjab province in Pakistan. The Padma Bhushan Awardee completed his education at Government College, Lahore after which he enrolled in evening classes at the Mayo School of Art also in Lahore.

            The remembrance of the tragic events he had witnessed during the Partition is stamped on his works. His works can be found in public and private collections all over the world like the Musée d’art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the 20th Century Museum of Vienna and Berlin, the Israel Museum, the National Gallery of Modern Art and the White House and now the Partition Museum, Amritsar.

Anguished Cries, is Sehgal’s most iconic work with a universal connection. A strong representation of suffering, the bronze sculpture lends itself to the pain of victims of war and communal disharmony. The faces of terror and fear are etched to represent the massacre witnessed by the artist during the Partition. (This is a smaller representation of the original sculpture which was inaugurated in Berlin in 1971).

Untitled expresses the echo of screams and cries for help. It was a sound the artist lived with for a  very long time. The faces of the starving helpless women and children tortured him into sleepless nights. The muted colours are deliberately used to create the dismal mood of the dusk that set permanently on the lives of thousands who had fought for the new dawn of Independence.

 About The Arts and Cultural Heritage Trust

The Arts and Cultural Heritage Trust the Arts and Cultural Heritage Trust (TAACHT), is an NGO that was set up with the primary goal to open and operate a world-class, physical museum and memorial on the Partition. TAACHT also has a strong focus on alternative education and research to protect and learn from our cultural heritage and history. It is self-mandated to work with young people and provide skills, training and employment, which it has continued to do even through the difficult days of COVID-19. With the support of hundreds of people, who donated their time, family objects, funds, and skills, the Trust worked on the Partition Museum which opened in the beautiful Town Hall, very close to the Golden Temple in Amritsar on 17th August 2017.

Now for the 75th anniversary of the Partition, the Trust and its partners are working towards setting up the second Museum dedicated to the Partition of India at the Delhi Shukoh Library Building in Delhi. There will also be a cultural hub within the space and another Museum dedicated to Dara Shikoh. The Trust also does independent exhibitions such as the highly acclaimed exhibition on the Jallianwala Bagh massacre which has travelled widely in India and abroad.