SAN FRANCISCO,CA- An exhibition titled ‘Beyond Bollywood - Indian Americans Shape the Nation’ is travelling across the US, celebrating the achievements and legacy of Indian Americans. The exhibition will be at Fremont, in San Francisco’s Bay area, when Prime Minister Modi addresses the Indian diaspora later this month. “First, I want visitors to walk away with an understanding of the vast and deep contributions of Indian immigrants...
and Indian Americans in shaping USA’s history. Second, I want visitors to walk away questioning who is American and who is a foreigner? What is American history? Whose stories should be told as part of the history of the United States?” says Dr Masum Momaya, curator of The Smithsonian Institution, which hosts the show. Twenty-four wall-hung panels and photographs document the 3.3 million-strong community’s contributions to the US.The aim of the exhibition is to break stereotypes by highlighting the contributions of Indian-Americans to various spheres like cuisine, films, music, culture. The pictures speak volumes.There is one from 1906, that depicts Indian immigrants on railway construction work. Another showcases Hargobind Khorana, the first Indian American Nobel laureate. An image of a cab tells the story of the Sikh cab drivers in the US, many of whom had fled India following the anti-Sikh riots of 1984. Preston Merchant, a photographer Bay Area, whose ‘Indiaworld’ project chronicles the global Indian diaspora has contributed to the exhibition. He says, “As the show attests, the Indian-American community has made important contributions to the United States, in the arts, business, government, medicine, sports, media and other fields. It’s great that the story of these contributions is reaching a wider audience.”
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