The first trick to navigating the multiple day extravaganza that is the second Colombo Art Biennale (CAB) is simply picking up a programme at the Park Street Mews box office, says Annoushka Hempel, Festival Founder and Director. With CAB just around the corner, we spoke to Annoushka and her co-curator Neil Butler about their plans for the event and what the public could look forward to.
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| Artist Banda Manamperi gets set for the event with some advice from Roman Berka |
Beginning on Wednesday, the 15th of this month and ending on the 19th, CAB will see venues across the city host exhibitions, workshops and installations by artists both local and foreign.
These will be rolled out across three main venues – Park Street Mews, the National Gallery and the JDA Perera Gallery – while fringe festival events will claim space at the Lionel Wendt galleries, the Maradana Warehouse Project and the Hempel Galleries. “The best way to really experience the Biennale is to immerse yourself in the three main galleries and also to take in the fringe events,” says Neil.
The Children’s Educational Workshop run by visiting artist Maria McCavana on the 19th also deserves a special mention. Maria will be guiding children and young adults through the exhibits, introducing them to participating artists and explaining the technique and themes of the work on display.
Every day, you can have your pick of talks that will put a mike in the hands of festival participants, go on curated walks designed to offer insight into the exhibits, watch films at the Goethe Institut or attend dinners and parties intended to allow curators, collectors, artists and art aficionados to mingle.
“We’re planning a great launch party which is already on its way to becoming one of the most exciting events in Sri Lanka this year,” Neil tells us. It’s going to be a heady mix of entertainment and art. Guests can expect far more than cocktails – the events take on a truly international flavour with appearances by performance artists from Norway, a violinist from Canada and DJs from Nepal alongside local stars.
Both Neil and Annoushka appear to be pleased with their programme.
The six curators that served on the first Biennale are still on the advisory board, but two new curators Roman Berka from Austria and Suresh Jeyaram from India will be bringing their own choices to the table and have ensured the participation of several foreign artists. Many of the latter are already here, says Annoushka, explaining that they’ve chosen to create their artwork on the ground as it were. All the artists were chosen based on proposals they submitted explaining how they would explore the Festival’s chosen theme – ‘Becoming.’
“It was very much about whether the artists were able to reflect the theme,” says Annoushka, explaining that their roster will feature over 25 Sri Lankan artists and about 15 international artists from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Netherlands, Norway, Australia and the US.
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| Annoushka Hempel |
Neil Butler |
The majority of the artists featured are locals and the organisers see this as a wonderful chance for them to showcase their work alongside their contemporaries from other countries, establishing that the island has turned out artists on par with any you could find abroad.
“We want people to discover how exciting and interesting some of the artists who live and work in Sri Lanka really are,” says Neil, adding that he himself chose to get involved because he was and has always been impressed by the quality of art being made in Sri Lanka and the work of the galleries that support them year round.
Audiences can enjoy the exhibition themselves free of cost along with selected talks and events. Most talks though require a ticket, priced at Rs.500 each. That the festival be accessible to the general public was a real priority, Neil tells us. The logistics of arranging such an event provided no small challenge, but as CAB gears up for their second year, they’re determined to give participants and audiences a truly inspirational experience. More details are available on http://colomboartbiennale.com/
Our picks from the Biennale programme
Talks:
Thursday, February 16
11 a.m. – 12.30 p.m: ‘Why a Biennale?’
Neil Butler, UK Co-Director CAB 2012 (Keynote), Roman Berka, Suresh Jeyaram – Curators, CAB 2012, Annoushka Hempel, Festival Founder & Director and Jagath Weerasinghe, Co-Director give the public a taste of the work being exhibited and the talks to come.
Venue: Park Street Hotel, Park Street, Colombo 2 (Free Event)
2 – 3 p.m: “Critique versus Critcism”
Leo Pasqualge shares an artist’s perspective: “Beware of the critic whose reputation depends on the power to impress the public with a semblance of knowledge, and the artist who attempts to do the same with skill and technical swagger”
Venue: J.D.A. Perera Gallery (Free Event)
4 – 6 p.m: Harry Peiris, The '43 Group and the Sapumal Foundation
Rohan de Soysa, Chairman of Sapumal Foundation and artists Noeline Fernando and Prof. Sarath Chandrajeewa talk about the iconic portrait painter Harry Peiris, the '43 Group and the extraordinary Sapumal Foundation Collection.
Venue: Sapumal Foundation, 32/4 Barnes Place, Colombo 7
Friday, February 17
11 a.m. – 12.30 p.m: “Building Bridges – The South Asian Context”
Speaker: Suresh Jeyaram, Curator BECOMING 2012
“Sethu Samudram” is a three-year collaborative art project and a dialogue-making platform between Theertha International Artists Collective, Colombo, Sri Lanka and 1Shanthi Road in Bangalore, India, bridging art, history and human relations.
Venue: Nuga Gama, Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Colombo 3
Saturday, February 18
11 a.m. – 12.30 p.m: “The Debate – Does great art require great skill?”
A panel featuring Cecil Balmond UK/Sri Lanka, Martha Rosler, USA, Shahidul Alam, Bangladesh and Biennale artists debates what makes a great artist.
Venue: Barefoot Gallery, Galle Road, Colombo 3
2:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.: “Art as a Witness”
Shahidul Alam from Bangladesh on art that breathes the gunpowder laden air of street battles with police, the dank vapours of the factory floor and pervades the silence of patriarchal inner chambers - faced with imposed situations of repression, cultural activists have had to find new ways of resistance.
4:30 – 6 p.m: “Art and Architecture”
Cecil Balmond & John Balmond on exploring a new sense of space through algorithms and an animation of geometry, Their award-winning projects include the ArcelorMittal Orbit sculpture for the London Olympics (in collaboration with Anish Kapoor) and the Serpentine Pavilions in London. They will also share plans for their studio workshop in Sri Lanka. Venue: Barefoot Gallery, Galle Road, Colombo 3
Sunday, February 19
11 a.m – 12:30 p.m:“What now – after the ‘90s Trend?”
The art of the 1990s marked a turning point in Sri Lankan modernist art. In this presentation Jagath Weerasinghe will talk on this change and attempt to address the possibilities and limitations that the 90’s trend brought in.
Venue: CASA Colombo, Galle Road, Colombo 4
4 – 5.30 p.m: “Art and an expanded Museum Concept”
Curator Roman Berka goes outside the walls of the traditional White Cube where Museum in Progress is active in a wide-ranging social environment and is devoted to an avant-garde concept of art. Creating a virtual ‘museum of the twenty-first century’ it grows in the public sphere like a social sculpture.
Venue: SKKY Bar, 4th Floor, 42 Sir Mohamad Macan Markar Mw., Colombo 3
6 – 7.30 p.m: “Art as a Social Sculpture”
Neil Butler, Roman Berka, Chandraguptha Thenuwara, Suresh Jeyaram and Jagath Weerasinghe contemplate the position of art and artists within politics and protest movements and the globalisation of those movements through social networking.
Venue: SKKY Bar, 4th Floor, 42 Sir Mohamad Macan Markar Mw., Colombo 3
Tickets to each talk: Rs 500 can be purchased at Satin Wilder, Galle Face Court, Barefoot Gallery, the CAB Box Office, Park Street Mews and at the venue.
Fringe Events
On throughout the Biennale
CoCA Project at Maradana Warehouse project: 9 a.m. – 11 p.m
Knotted Threads by Nesa Gschwend at the Lionel Wendt: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Becoming Escapee by Anup Vega at the Hempel Galleries: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Curated Walks (Free)
15th: National Art Gallery – 2 p.m, JDA Perera Gallery – 2 p.m
16th: National Art Gallery – 2 p.m, Park Street Mews – 2 p.m
17th: JDA Perera Gallery – 2 p.m, Park Street Mews – 2p.m
18th: National Art Gallery – 2 p.m, JDA Perera Gallery – 2 p.m, Park Street Mews – 2p.m
19th: National Art Gallery – 2 p.m, JDA Perera Gallery – 2 p.m, Park Street Mews – 2p.m |
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