Arts
Giving voice on canvas and in life
A two-year body of work stared back at us from the emotive canvases that adorned the halls of the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery from October 5 -7. ‘Soulscapes’ – Dillai Joseph Rodrigo’s second exhibition was an artistic exploration depicting a woman’s identity stripped bare.
A woman’s view: Paintings at the exhibition. Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
Throughout a range of classical/ contemporary styles the artist explored the ‘I’ in every woman reaching into her buried desires, a spectrum of emotions, dormant desires and her unvoiced hungers to allow people to see her in her rawest depiction.
As a woman “we sort of blend into the background” Dillai openly shares her own struggles of making the exhibition a reality. In each canvas the delicate female silhouettes emit serenity and peace and are coupled with elements of nature such as trees – most of which Dillai herself researched and was inspired from at the Borella cemetery.
What makes her exhibition further heartwarming is the cause it supports. While invitees like Dillai’s guru Nadine David and artist Marie Alles Fernando gazed at the paintings it was hard to miss the unassuming volunteers of the nonprofit organization Leads.lk, all clad in black.
With all proceeds of the exhibition being donated to the Leads Foundation, Dillai shares her story of how she came to partner with them. Having watched the play ‘ESCAPE’ (Eradication of Sexual Child Abuse, Prostitution & Exploitation) hosted by the organization at Sooriya Village last year Dillai was shaken by the drama’s contents the narrated true stories unpleasantly hit home.
“I would like to dedicate this exhibition to my kids,” Dillai said, adding “I had the chance to walk away hearing the stories from the play but I know this isn’t a reality for the children whose stories were narrated… they couldn’t walk away.” Thus her support for the “action based organization” is established solely on her desire to create a difference with any small contribution.
“Your presence here has shown us that it’s more than a few people who care about our cause,” stated CEO of Leads Roshan Mendis as he addressed the exhibition’s gathering. “Today there is 1 case every 30 minutes of sexual assault and abuse of children,” he shared adding “we are sometimes so concerned about our children’s tomorrows we forget about their today.”
When encountering a victim, a survivor of sexual assault, Rohan said the message “It’s not your fault” should always be emphasized as the organization strives to reach out to those who feel alone in their fight. A nation’s true colours are revealed in how it treats its children he commented quoting Nelson Mandela’s powerful message.
Dillai Joseph Rodrigo
Rohan’s parting words left the exhibition goers with something to chew on as he implored “If one of these stories were of your children… what would you do?”
Kumudini David, a child’s rights advocate, volunteer at Leads and a survivor of child sexual abuse herself is firm in her belief “More people should be talking about these largely swept under the carpet topics.” Vividly recollecting her own experiences which fuelled negative emotions of self doubt, self hate, depression and even prevalent symptoms like PTSD Kumudini strongly speaks for those otherwise voiceless. “The cycle of abuse has got to stop,” she stated adding that most abusers (pedophiles) have possibly been abused themselves in the past.
“I published my story three years ago,” Kumudini recalls her open statement of her personal experiences. “I had so many people reaching out to me after to talk but I’m not a trained counsellor so the only thing I could do was listen.”
What made her publicly share her personal experiences? “It was liberating,” she said. “Keeping this secret was like dragging dead weight behind you.” “All these years I was disgusted with myself, openly talking about it allowed me to forgive myself and forgive my abuser.” “When someone opens conversations about these topics it gives us hope but the biggest thing is knowing we are not alone.”
For more information on how to help or donate to this worthy cause visit www.leads.lk. To read Kumudini David’s article of her own experiences read ““I’m a survivor of child sexual abuse”: Kumudini’s story” at lk.theasianparent.com
