Hardeep: a research byline and an exhibition credit

The author form in a university record

The University of Huddersfield repository identifies Sahota, Hardeep as the author of an October 2011 master’s thesis, The Search for the ‘Essence’ of Bhangra through Panjabi Heritage. Its abstract describes research from a practitioner’s perspective, supported by ethnographic enquiry. It connects dance, music and historical interpretation with an accompanying performance. The reversed author order is a bibliographic presentation of this person’s name, not a second name or an explanation of its meaning.[1]

The repository also notes later publication as Bhangra: Mystics, Music and Migration. The thesis record therefore connects the written author name with the development of a particular research project, while leaving the full text and its detailed arguments to a separate reading.[1]

The name on an exhibition

Yorkshire Sculpture Park titled its 2021–2022 exhibition Hardeep Sahota: Bhangra Lexicon. Its account credits Sahota’s research and collaboration with photographer Tim Smith. Dancers held coloured lights while moving, and long exposures traced those movements; targeted flash also made the performers visible. The project brought Bhangra into conversation with other dance forms. Retaining both collaborators’ names matters because an exhibition’s named researcher is not automatically the maker of every photograph. The exhibition record locates the photographs at evening settings across Yorkshire, including the Formal Garden at Yorkshire Sculpture Park.[2]

Hardeep answers in his own voice

A March 2021 Design Pataki interview introduces the full Hardeep Sahota, then addresses him as Hardeep in its questions. He discusses a self-taught practice, his master’s research and the ambition to document a repertoire of movements. He describes years of developing the collaboration, while Smith explains the photographic approach. Their comments also distinguish an online presentation during the pandemic from the experience of seeing large prints in a gallery. The shorter address identifies the same participant within a carefully credited conversation.[3]