Sikh Heritage in Colonial Collections; Conservation, Digitisation and Community Engagement with Contested Collections

Description

This paper introduces the ongoing collaborative project between Manchester’s Sikh
community and the University of Manchester Library (UML) and reflects on what it
means to care for a cultural treasure that is also understood as a living being.
UML has in its collections one of the oldest known copies of the Sri Guru Granth
Sahib (SGGS), written sometime in the 17th century, it is the most sacred scripture in
the Sikh faith. Since 2021, UML has worked closely with the Sikh community to
conserve, digitise and respectfully care for the Sri Guru Granth Sahib alongside other
manuscripts and personal material, adding to the rich history of Sikhi in Manchester.
We will also reflect on the SGGS history, collaborative work on conservation, ongoing
community engagement projects and how we can start to look at 'decolonial acts' in
a special collections library.

Period	7 Nov 2024
Event title	Association for Historical & Fine Art Photography (AHFAP) Conference 2024
Event type	Conference
Location	Liverpool, United KingdomShow on map