Thenuwara’s memorial to 83 and two other connected exhibitions
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An exhibit from Thenuwara’s ‘Meta Real’
Along with presenting his own annual July 83 memorial exhibition at the Saskia Fernando Gallery, this year titled ‘Meta Real’, veteran artist Chandraguptha Thenuwara, also curated the ‘Visual Persuasions’ exhibition at the Lionel Wendt Art Centre last weekend. The exhibition focusing on a range of current issues in the cultural zeitgeist from the perspective of a younger generation featured the works of eight artists; Shanika Wijesinghe, Fatima Awrad, Kusal Gunasekara, Kopalapillai Mathiskumar, Susiman Nirmalavasan, Kirushanathan Inkaran, Rawindu Sandaruwan and Aruna Shantha Kulathunga.
Also along the same lines ‘Home/Land’, a collaborative exhibition that forms part of an international partnership between researchers at the University of Exeter (HaSS Cornwall), the University of Leicester, the Museum of London Archaeology and the Arts Faculty at the University of Jaffna offered a nuanced conversation in parallel to ‘Meta-Real’ on the effects of violence across the island.
The exhibition, curated by Professor T. Shanaathanan is currently on at the J.D.A. Perera Gallery in Colombo, and explores themes of memory, home and loss, displacement and dispossession on the people and landscapes of the Jaffna peninsula. Homeland closes on July 31.
In ‘Meta Real’ which continues until August 13, Thenuwara through an array of classical genres and mediums including drawings, still-life paintings, figurative paintings and a sculptural object, offers perspective as well as commentary, encouraging the audience to re-evaluate the narratives that govern our socio-political climate and be reminded of the weight of history.
‘Visual Persuasions’ exhibition (left) and ‘Home/Land’ (right). Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara and Akila Jayawardena
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