Apollo Magazine

Hardeep Sahota: Bhangra Lexicon

An online version of Yorkshire Sculpture Park’s planned display exploring the traditional Indian dance form

Rashmi Sudhir, Mohiniattam, from Bhangra Lexicon (2021), Hardeep Sahota.

Rashmi Sudhir, Mohiniattam, from Bhangra Lexicon (2021), Hardeep Sahota. Photo: © Tim Smith

While some museums are closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Apollo’s usual weekly pick of exhibitions will include shows at institutions that are currently open as well as digital projects providing virtual access to art and culture.

Bhangra – a lively form of dance and music set to the beat of a large barrel drum – originated among rural communities in the Punjab region as part of the spring harvest festival of Vaisakhi, but it is now practised across the world. Hardeep Sahota, a Huddersfield-based dancer and the founder of World Bhangra Day, has collaborated with the photographer Tim Smith to create Bhangra Lexicon: a visual dictionary that records, in long-exposure photographs, some 300 ephemeral body movements and gestures associated with Bhangra. While the Yorkshire Sculpture Park is closed, its planned display of the work has moved online, launching 9 January. View the exhibition on the YSP’s website.

Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary here

Pumbiri, from Bhangra Lexicon (2021), Hardeep Sahota. Photo: © Tim Smith

Gol-Kichaan, from Bhangra Lexicon (2021), Hardeep Sahota. Photo: © Tim Smith

Lehriya-Behke, from Bhangra Lexicon (2021), Hardeep Sahota. Photo: © Tim Smith

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