Have you ever stopped to gaze at a multi-hued, multi-textured work of textile art and marvel at the intricacies in technique, the elaborate construction process or the colour composition?
Cloth has been an integral part of man’s life and over the years has extended boundaries of necessity and spilled into expressions of identity, culture and of course, a form of art. One of the unique aspects of textile art is that, while appealing to one’s sense of sight, it also possesses tactile qualities.
‘Unravelling The Past’, is an exhibition of Sri Lankan Textile Artists (Post-independence to the present) held under the auspices of the American Centre in conjunction with the Annual Decorative Arts Workshop, that showcases contemporary Sri Lankan textile artists, who remain pioneers of their craft and have made their presence felt in Sri Lankan textile design.
“People often just take textiles for granted because we wear them,” explains Jennifer Moragoda, curator and conceiver of the exhibition. “We have such great artists like Barbara Sansoni and Ena de Silva who produce such beautiful works of art. But because we can buy them relatively cheap and wear them we don’t really realize how wonderful they are.”
The artists featured in the exhibition include Minnette de Silva, Ena de Silva, Barbara Sansoni, Swanee Jayawardene, Chandramani Thenuwara, Tilak Samarawickrema, Rehana Jayewardene de Soysa and Marie Gnanaraj.
Chandramani Thenuwara, explains that if not for the skill of the weaver, her designs would be on paper. “My gratitude goes out to them. Its pure skill, sensitivity and an enormous wealth of talent on their part,” she says.
“My contribution to weaving,” says Barbara Sansoni, emphatically, “is colour.”
Vibrant colours are known to have stimulating and therapeutic effects on people, she adds.
 |
| Putting it all together: Jennifer Moragoda (centre) with Marie Gnanaraj at left and Rehana Jayawardene de Soysa, right |
Sansoni’s influence on modern Sri Lankan fashion and hallmark designs are certainly unmistakable. “I think we should all get back to the sarong,” twinkles the Grande Dame of colourists mischievously.
Rehana Jayewardene de Soysa explains that inspiration for her piece-dyed silk sari with block printed ground and borders and silk-screen printed head piece was derived from traditional ‘sesath’ while her other exhibit on display was inspired by motifs taken from temple painting decorations.
For Swanee Jayawardene, colour was clearly a driving force behind her creations. Her daughters Manel Jagoda and Menik Neydorff explain that their mother’s attraction towards tie and dye was largely due to its abstract nature. ‘There is a lot of scope for batik and tie and dye,” says Menik, explaining that her mother referred to their designs as ‘art on clothes’ and always strived to be out of the box.
The exhibition continues until December 31 at the American Center (44, Galle Road, Colombo 3) from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. from Monday to Thursdays and 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. on Fridays. |
E-mail