Panchayat

Panchayat was founded in 1988 by Bhajan Hunjan, Shaheen Merali, Symrath Patti, Allan de Souza and Shanti Thomas to promote the work of South Asian artists in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was first imagined as a project based arts organisation whose focus was to create an archive of work by contemporary artists working in a multicultural environment. As the organisation developed it has also been involved in publishing, conferences, exhibitions and workshops.

The name Panchayat refers to a council of village elders.

The archive Panchayat generated was originally based in the University of Westminster, which has since been into incorporated into Chelsea College of Arts Library’s African-Caribbean, Asian & African Art in Britain Archive.

From the guide to the Panchayat, 1988-1999, (Special Collections, Brunel University Library)