The Dhillon Marty Foundation is planning to launch a project that calls on artists- visual and literary to submit works that both defines the word Punjab and addresses a humanitarian issue relevant to the region. Accepted works will be displayed in public spaces in Greater Punjab, such as village squares and the like; on the net and abroad. Our hope is to impart works of art across the entire region, one village at a time and to the world for a better understanding of PUNJAB and peace in the region.
Punjab, The Five Rivers
My thoughts about this project have been in my mind for ever as all Punjabis want to feel complete, but I clearly recall writing them down on my May 2012 trip to Kiev Biennale. It started as Scared Waters as my contribution to the Defining Punjab project, I ended up calling it simply PUNJAB THE 5 RIVERS when I realized that even internationally renowned historians and scholars did not know the meaning of the word.
The piece is a rendering of the Kanji glyph for water, which comprises three vertical strokes. These three lines and the negative spaces in between them are rendered to depict the five rivers of the region: the Jhelum, the Chenab, the Ravi, the Sutlej, and the Beas. These rivers, all tributaries of the Indus, have been the lifeblood of Greater Punjab for millennia and have played a fundamental role in defining the Punjabi culture, so much so that they inspired the very name of the region—Punj meaning five and ab meaning waters.
Water itself has powerful metaphoric significance. Many religions, including Buddhism, Shinto, Islam, Hinduism, and Sikhism, view water as a symbol of purification. Christian baptism utilizes water as a symbol of rebirth and divine blessing. Water is also largely regarded as a medium for wish fulfillment: children throw coins into fountains with a wish in mind; people flock to the Ganges and Amritsar to make wishes. These notions galvanized a supplementary, public component to the project. I am inviting people from around the world to post their wishes for Punjab or humanity in general in the blog space below. Periodically, the Dhillon Marty Foundation will select a wish from the blog to project it onto the 5 Rivers public installations for the wish to be fulfilled, purified, reborn, and blessed by the waters. Thus receiving the blessing of the Scared Waters and for the internal hope of every Punjabi and humanitarian to bless this land unity and peace.
Sonia Dhillon-Marty