The Art of a Cup of Tea
Arulraj Ulaganathan unveiled his first solo exhibition , presenting his journey as a member of the Malaiyaga Tamil tea plantation worker community. Through his art, Arulraj captures the past, present and future…
Arts and Theatre
Meta-Real: Provoking Thought on Reconciliation, Healing and Change
Prof. Chandraguptha Thenuwara’s annual memorial exhibition to commemorate Black July is showing at the Saskia Fernando gallery. serves as a link between past and present, providing a reflective examination of Sri Lanka’s…
Hashan Cooray’s Dystopia: Hope, Justice, Peace and Good Lives
In his exhibition at the Saskia Fernando Gallery, Hashan Cooray explores societal and political challenges through a metaphorical lens. It features paintings and two installations that confront the complex relationship between an…
Firi Rahman Explores Migration, Belonging and the Meaning of Home
Firi Rahman grew up with parrots so he is familiar with their looks and understands their habits. On a visit to Paris, it seemed as if the parrots from Colombo had followed…
Vaishnavee: Sumitra Peries’ Feminist Swansong
The French Embassy screened Vaishnavee at the National Film Corporation, the last in a series of cultural items commemorating the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties between France and Sri Lanka. The finale…
German Artist Otto Dix Depicts the Horrors and Futility of War
Artists and writers throughout the ages have depicted the horrors of war in graphic detail in their work. From Wilfred Owen’s poems about World War I to Picasso’s painting Guernica on the…
Art as Catalyst: Commemorating Tragedy and Advocating Change
Art is a powerful medium of expression that is incorporated by activists and advocates across multiple cultures and spaces to commemorate and establish a sense of permanent memorialization of history. In Sri…
Chandraguptha Thenuwara’s Three Exhibitions to Mark 40 Years of Black July
Since 1997, barring 2005, artist, sculptor, teacher and activist Professor Chandraguptha Thenuwara has been commemorating the horrific events of July 1983 in a series of exhibitions designed to make sure that people…
Remains of the Day: 9.5.22
On this day, one year ago, I was alone in my studio working intensely on some paintings totally unaware of the chaos emerging and gathering momentum in my city, where government supporters…
Kamala Vasuki: Bringing Truth Through Art
Kamala Vasuki is an artist and feminist activist who has continuously reacted and responded to oppressive, marginalizing and silencing mechanisms through her social action and her expressions through art. The work she…
Celebrating Female Artists
Twelve women artists are celebrating International Women’s Day this year with a group exhibition entitled With My Back to the World at the Saskia Fernando Gallery curated by Mariyam Begum and Ashini…
Commemorating Sri Lanka’s 2022 Protest Movement
“Come, join us in jail!” read the invitation to artist Sujith Rathnayake’s exhibition-cum-provocation, Crisis & Struggle. Indeed, a visitor to the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery in Colombo was quickly confronted by a…
Rusted Metal, Bloodied Minds – Crisis and Struggle
When the GotaGoGama Protest site was attacked by supporters of Mahinda Rajapaksa on May 9, a row of tents were destroyed and burned to the ground by the rowdy gang that descended…
Gaadi: An Exercise in Near Perfection
Prasanna Vithanage’s Gaadi takes place in the last year of the Kandyan Kingdom. It begins with an encounter between Ehelepola Adigar and John D’Oyly and moves on to scenes of the two…
Sumitra: Last Emissary of a Bygone Era
My Lunches with Orson is the title of a collection of interviews that Henry Jaglom, a US avant-garde filmmaker, did with Orson Welles over a period of two years (1983-1985). It is…