'Bush Diwan': Exhibition shedding light on the early Sikh settler who fought the White Australia policy

The little-known story of a Punjabi Sikh migrant who stood up to the racist White Australia policy in the early 1900s is the inspiration for an ambitious exhibition - 'Bush Diwan' currently showing in Bunjil Place Gallery in Melbourne's southeastern region.

Gathering of Sikhs on Siva Singh's property in 1920 for the first full Australian reading of the 'Akhand Path'. Credit: Picture by John Howship, supplied by Ms Amrit Gill.

An exhibition shines a light on little-known moments in Australian migrant history and brings together artists from the fastest-growing South Asian communities in the country.

Called Bush Diwan, the exhibition is currently on display at Bunjil Place Gallery in the City of Casey.

Bush Diwan, a contemporary art exhibition acknowledging diverse stories of Sikh migration and community formation in Australia at Bunjil Place gallery.

Amrit Gill is one of the few leaders in the art industry from a South Asian background. She is the CEO and artistic director of 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, a Sydney-based art organisation that has been representing and supporting South Asian Australian artists for 25 years.

She says Bush Diwan explores a pivotal moment in Sikh history but also taps into universal themes.

"Siva Singh was a Punjabi Sikh migrant who came to Benalla, Victoria, in the 1890s and he was someone who brought together a gathering of Sikhs on his property in 1920 for the diwan, the first full Australian reading of the 'Akhand Path’ - a prayer ceremony for Sikhs,” says Amrit Gillhe co-curator of the exhibition.

"We were intrigued by the fact that Siva Singh, a hawker, an early Sikh settler and a civil rights campaigner, was quite a well-known local man, and if you look at archives of old newspapers, he shows up in a lot of local articles.

"By 1915, he also owned 320 acres in the regional town," she says.

According to Ms Gill, it is very significant for communities to understand their roots when they have come from afar to restart their lives in a new place.

“We quite often think of the first of our (Sikh) community happening in northern NSW, but this man (Siva Singh) was there, creating ripples in northeast Victoria in the early 20th century.”

Siva Singh and the White Australia policy

Mr Singh is also remarkable for his personal stance against the White Australia policy after he was struck off the electoral roll, despite having voted three times previously.

The White Australia policy was a series of acts in place for seven decades after 1901 with the goal of achieving and maintaining a white, British national character.

Mr Singh filed a lawsuit with the Australian High Court and, although his case was initially dismissed, he regained his right to vote after a decade of legal battles in 1925.

Last year, the first stop of the exhibition was the Benalla Art Gallery in regional Victoria, the town which was once the home of Siva Singh. The exhibition is set to tour the country, Melbourne's Bunjil Place Gallery being its second stop.

Click on the audio to listen to the interviews in Punjabi.