Carrying on her legacy at the Aluwihare Heritage Centre
Ena de Silva and her team (taken in the 1980’s)
Celebrated for her batik art, Ena de Silva taught not just batik techniques but numerous crafts, generously imparting her experience and knowledge to the many young women she worked with, who today proudly carry on her legacy at the Aluwihare Heritage Centre in Matale.
It was in the 1980s that Ena converted her father’s home in Matale into a Heritage Centre, where she taught carpentry, needlework, brass foundry, and batik production, not only advancing these crafts, but also the lives of the women she employed. Often taking young school leavers she not only taught them skills but in so doing, empowered them to become financially independent and confident adults, able to contribute to and hold their own in society.
She influenced them to love and be inspired by nature, pointing out the beauty of a leaf or a stone and encouraging them to pay attention to the wonders of the natural world.
All Ena’s batik designs were created by hand, such as her signature ‘Tree of Life’, which is set in sizes ranging from 3 feet to 11 feet.
Chandra Aluvihare, currently Manager of the Heritage Centre, has been there for 55 years, and her memories of Ena are vivid.
“During her lifetime, we created over 4000 tracings of batik designs. Even now, when anyone expects a design from us, we have the ability to hand-prepare the design to the appropriate size,” Chandra said.
Ena’s batik journey began with her love of colour. Her one-of-a-kind designs are inspired by ancient Sinhalese flags and traditional motifs, to which she added her own creative twist.
“She designed flags for various districts of Sri Lanka. In creating these Sinhala flags, we pay special attention to the colour because the speciality of her designs is to show antiquity through the use of colour,” Nanda Aluvihare, another passionate long-term member of the Aluwihare Heritage Centre said.
Mindika Shyamini, a brass engraver, joined the workshop in 1992 and later moved to the needlework section. She and her sister, Prashanthi Kumari, who worked at the Heritage Centre for ten years, created handmade flowers. Ena’s flower arrangements played an important role in every exhibition and event she organised.
“We learned to make handmade flowers from Madam Ena De Silva. We identified the shape and colour of every new flower blooming in the garden and arranged the structures to make the artificial flowers. She never hesitated to teach and try something new,” Mindika said.
The Aluwihare Heritage Centre women not only preserve Ena’s batik legacy, but also celebrate her love of Sri Lankan culture. The cooks and workers at Ena’s childhood home explain how she collaborated with them to prepare delicious traditional food.
“She was always up for a good Sri Lankan meal. My favourite memory of her is when both of us started cooking a jakfruit curry while the fruit was still on the tree. We slow cooked the curry for seven days,” P.W. Sujatha, a cook who has been at the Aluwihare house for over 40 years said.
With Ena, there was the fun side too. Ever an excellent organiser, Ena would put together lunches and dinners, trips to the jungle, on the spur of the moment, they recall.
Architect Amila de Mel who was involved in restoring Ena’s Alfred Place residence built by Geoffrey Bawa and relocating it to Lunuganga, talks of similar encounters with Ena. She remembers her in the same way that most do: as an extremely colourful personality who lived life on her own terms. Ena’s contribution to the world of arts and craft in Sri Lanka is immeasurable and must be preserved, Amila notes.
(The Ena de Silva exhibition is now on at the Barefoot Loft Gallery until Nov. 3)
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