Decorated Indian tabla player Pandit Shankar Ghosh and noted Indian classical vocalist Shrimati Sanjukta Ghosh with Vikram (Boomba) Ghosh at Samuel P. Taylor State Park, Lagunita, Calif., ca. 1970. Photo courtesy of the Ali Akbar Khan Foundation.
November 2, 2019 – January 26, 2020
Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation
From the builders of some of America’s earliest railroads and farms, to civil rights pioneers, to digital technology entrepreneurs, Indian Americans have long been an inextricable part of American life.
Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation explores that rich heritage and the diverse contributions of Indian immigrants and their descendants in the United States and the Pacific Northwest.
Making its Northwest premier at MOHAI, Beyond Bollywood uses photography, artifacts, and audio stories to tell a uniquely American story. The exhibition was created by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) and is presented in Seattle by MOHAI.
Dr. Amy Bhatt, co-author of Roots and Reflections: South Asians in the Pacific Northwest, curated MOHAI’s locally focused addition with insight provided by the museum’s Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation Community Advisory Committee. The exhibit’s presentation at MOHAI also includes a look into the Northwest’s Indian American community, highlighting key moments in our region’s history and compelling stories of Northwest Indian American pioneers.
Generous support for Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation at MOHAI is provided by Chuck Nordhoff and Maribeth O’Connor, 4Culture, Laird Norton Wealth Management, the Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation, and the MOHAI Exhibits Fund.
Indian Americans Shape The Nation
Indian Americans have been part of this region for over a century, though their history is often underrepresented. Bellingham’s farming communities in the north, the growing cities of the Eastside, Kent in the south-all have stories of struggles and success, exclusion and acceptance.
Today, one out of every 100 Americans traces his or her roots to India. From Seattle and Silicon Valley to Smalltown, U.S.A., the lives and stories of America’s 3.3 million Indian Americans are woven into the larger story of this nation—and have shaped what it is today.
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Exhibit Community Advisory Committee
Many thanks to all the individuals who advised and participated in the development of the Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation exhibit.
