Sunday Times 2
Anoma Wijewardene in Silk Road group exhibition
View(s):There’s hope of a revival of the art and cultural exchange that once took along the ancient Silk Road. The One Belt, One Road Visual Arts Exhibition 2016″ that concluded in Hong Kong on April 16 saw fifteen globally-renowned women artists, including Sri Lanka’s own Anoma Wijewardene, showing their works in a group celebration of contemporary art from 15 different countries along the ancient network of trade routes.
Anoma with Patsy Ho, exhibition curator
Art, religion, philosophy, technology, language, science, architecture and many other elements of civilisation were exchanged along the Silk Road some 2000 years ago. The exhibition was a small step in China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative, a giant move towards fostering development, trade and cultural exchange between countries situated along that ancient route. “Belt” encompasses the area in Eurasia, and “Road” the maritime route spanning China to Africa and the Mediterranean, via key ports in Asia and the Suez Canal. Arts and cultural exchange is seen as an important part of the plan, playing a possible pivotal role in bridging racial and ethnic divides and celebrating diversity.
Organised by the Hong Kong Federation of Women (HKFW) and curated by its Vice Chairman and Visual Arts Committee co-convenor Pansy Ho, daughter of casino magnate Stanley Ho, at the prestigious Sotheby’s Hong Kong Gallery, the exhibition spotlighted the prevailing diversity of this gathering of compelling women artists, with works of calligraphy, paintings, photographs, sculpture and installation art in widely different styles. The event was opened by Hong Kong’s Chief Executive C. Y. Leung. Participating artists included Vivienne Tam of Hong Kong, Shirin Abedinirad of Iran, Sabrina Mezzaqui of Italy, Yayoi Kusama of Japan, Saule Suleimenova of Kazakhstan, Hong Wai of Macau SAR, Chong Siew Y ing of Malaysia), Lalla Essaydi of Middle East, Paulina Olowska of Poland, Joana Vasconcelos of Portugal, Yelena Popova of Russia, and Chang Song Lian of Taiwan.
A viewer interacts with an exhibit
Anoma’s digital work entitled “Earth, Rise within Us”, featuring a series of transparent landscaped panels, took up important environmental concerns. “It’s an abstract reflection upon the fragile and tenuous co-existence of man and nature,” she says. “The translucent installation echoes the several layers of earth, and the eons of time that have shaped it. The progression of the overlapping layered panels hint at man’s journey on earth, an average seven decade, fleeting, visit to this planet. The separate panels which float, shift, interact and blend together at moments to become a single work, reiterates the fact that Man and Earth are separate, yet one.
“As we are surrounded by, and immersed within the installation we see ourselves reflected, we see others through it, we become not just the viewer but an intrinsic part of the artwork. We are not outside of it, we are it, we are the art as we are Nature. The installation seeks to capture the precarious fluidity of the earths delicate ecosystem that is being rapidly destroyed by the demanding and insistent march of humanity across the globe, and is a subtle reminder to step ever more lightly and lovingly on this, our fragile and beloved, earth.”
“The abstract mix of layering and fusion of colours and images are
especially evocative and effective as rendered on plastered surfaces,
reflective of man’s interaction with nature, and strongly inviting the
viewer to respond,” commented internationally-celebrated Hong Kong jewellery designer Kai-yin Lo, of Anoma’s work.
The “One Belt One Road” initiative will continue to champion and foster cultural and artistic exchanges, alongside the promotion of trade exchanges, and women will continue to impress their artistic and creative footprints on the Silk Road, said an HKFA spokesperson.
– Daleena Samara