Many responses: Launch of the final season of ‘To Lunuganga’
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By Yomal Senerath-Yapa
‘To Lunuganga’ by the Geoffrey Bawa Trust captures the ‘echoes’ of the master architect’s beautiful estate, with artwork of different kinds that were a response to the estate which offers a glimpse of Eden – the Italian mixing with the Dutch and the Sinhalese in both garden and house.
Last weekend was the opening of the third and final season of ‘To Lunuganga’ which continues till August.
The late Anil Gamini Jayasuriya was the focus for the installation titled Botany and Batik: The Living Archives of Ena de Silva. Ena’s prodigy of a son got the limelight alongside her own documentation of the natural world- for the native flora and botanical illustrations inspired Ena a lot.
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- Tribute to Anil Gamini Jayasuriya: The installation titled Botany and Batik
Housed in Anil’s own small room within No 5, Lunuganga which was Ena’s house (originally located in Alfred Place, Kollupitiya) was an exhibition by metalwork artist Salome Nanayakkara. The resin, polymer clay and wire installations highlighted Anil’s zoological interests and also the illusory nature of human memory.
Artist Firi Rahman’s installation In between: the existence of Firadus was located outdoors.
The last act was a serenade against the lake in the garden at dusk, where Ravibandu Vidyapathi and his ensemble played music including the soundtrack to Salt River, the first ever film on Lunuganga which premiered in 2004.
As the day died and the sun sank into the lake, they played out haunting tunes speaking of the paddy fields, temple and wewa but also the timeless magic of Lunuganga itself.
The Colombo restaurant GINI hosted dinner with drinks conceived using the flora of Lunuganga and had built a fire pit in the garden to prepare a series of innovative dishes also inspired by the estate.
On Sunday, Chathuri Nissansala officially launched Saudade: The Haunting Presence of Prince Dorovana made from natural materials found throughout the garden including coconut beads, fungus-grown jakfruit and beads of the Anthurium flower.
See: www.lunuganga.garden
for more information
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