Sikh Foundation International

The Sikh Foundation is a non-profit & non-political organization founded in 1967. The mission of the Sikh Foundation is five fold:

• Pass on the essence of the Sikh heritage to the growing Sikh Diaspora in the West, particularly the youth.
• Foster Sikh culture across disciplines, through the tradition of critical and creative thinking that gave birth to the Sikh faith.
• Introduce the world to progressive ethics, lyrical mysticism and heroism of the Sikhs.
• Contribute Sikh perspective to issues of common human concern
• Generate the highest quality resources for the academic and artistic study of Sikhism.

The Sikh Foundation has impacted multiple areas in Sikh Academics and Arts. Some of the notable achievements are:

1. Sikh Academics: The Sikh Foundation established the first Chair of Sikh Studies in 1998 at UC Santa Barbara & subsequently it has established/supported 3 more Chairs at the University of California campuses at Riverside & Santa Cruz and the California State University –East Bay. The Foundation has also supported programs for teaching of Gurmukhi (Punjabi) language at Stanford, UC Berkeley & Columbia University.
2. Sikh Arts: The Sikh Foundation organized the first exhibit of Sikh Arts in the west in 1992. Subsequently it has supported 4 major Sikh Art exhibitions worldwide. In 2003, the first and only permanent gallery of Sikh Art was established at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.
3. Publications: The Sikh Foundation has published over a dozen books on Sikh arts, literature, religion, heritage & culture including journals and newspapers. It publishes a Sikh Fine Art Calendar annually.
4. Conservation: The Sikh Foundation in partnership with UNESCO worked on the restoration and renovation of the heritage site of “Guru ki Maseet” at Sri Hargobind in Punjab, India.
5. Miscellaneous: The Sikh Foundation organizes numerous community events from time to time. It supports Gurmat school programs in India and gifts books and resources to libraries across the US. It maintains a vibrant webpage. It’s online store offers high quality resources on Sikhs, Sikhism & Sikh Arts.