ART COLLECTORS, like works of art, have diverse influences and inspirations. They also often flourish in unexpected places, and have unique or individual variations of the collecting passion. For Dr Parvinder Singh Khanuja of Phoenix, Arizona, his Sikh religion and background emphasise the importance of the virtue called "seva" in Punjabi, often translated as "service to community". Most Sikhs consider seva to be a central tenet of their faith. [...] Phoenix is the locality where Khanuja practices collecting Sikh art as his own form of service and devotion. [...] Admitting his religiosity is perhaps lacking in sufficient quiet reading of sacred texts, Parvinder S. Khanuja says he considers art collecting a form of religious practice. "At the end of the day", he says, "collecting is for the community, and also to safeguard this art". He finds inspiration in several verses of the Sikh sacred book, the Guru Granth Sahib. [...] Recently, he succeeded in fulfilling his long-held dream of building local public awareness of his Sikh culture and religion, by funding a permanent "Sikh Art Gallery" at the Phoenix Art Museum. [...] Khanuja hopes that by means of this gallery at the Phoenix Art Museum, and other opportunities for public dissemination, he can spread awareness of his Sikh religion and heritage through art. He feels that despite being the world's fifth largest religion by number of adherents, Sikhism is still little known by non-Sikhs. Consequently, he readily agreed to the illustration here of examples from his own collection, not only to introduce this particular collection and himself as a collector, but also to introduce, through these works, some important aspects of the heritage of the Sikhs. ====== Published in: Arts of Asia 49(1):107-116 (January-February 2019). See publisher's website for information on purchasing full journal: https://www.artsofasianet.com/back_issues/
