Broad canvas of creativity from students across the country
Upon walking into the Harold Peiris Gallery on the first floor of the Lionel Wendt, one might be forgiven for thinking they are visiting a photographic exhibition. The gallery walls are lined with predominantly black and white images of people, places and things that range from the familiar to the fantastic.
The smiling eyes of the wizened old man in ‘The Light of Smile’ by S.M. Hewa Gamage and the wild, haunting stare of Kanishka Sadaruwan’s ‘Angam Fighter’ are juxtaposed with the faraway soulful gazes of beautiful girls in portraits like ‘Queen of Life’ by Malshi A.K. Arachchi. These portraits share wall space with mystical and macabre subjects like the beautiful skeleton-girl in ‘The Life’ by Dimathi T. Yyangoda and L.G.M. Dilshan’s fantastical oil work, ‘Unexpected Result’. The subject matter and creative narratives of the works are as broad and emotionally surprising as the young student artists that have created them.
Rich showcase of talent: Two of the exhibits. Pix by Eshan Fernando
But the biggest surprise of all is that none of these pictures were produced with a camera or digital device. All are created by human hands expertly wielding charcoal on paper or oil paints on panels.
The exhibition demonstrates an exceedingly high level of young Sri Lankan and Thai artistic talent. It is proof of what can happen when that talent is nurtured and channelled through an effective study curriculum, such as the one developed by Anthony Waichulis for the ÀNI Art Academies located in
Sri Lanka, Thailand, Anguilla, the Dominican Republic and the US.
It is this curriculum that attracted Jonathan Reutenauer, to become Dean of the global group of ÀNI Academies,
“Even though I am not an artist, I am an educator and I was impressed that one person Anthony (Waichulis) could design a curriculum that works very effectively in five very different countries. I am sure that if we were to open up academies in other countries it would work there too. You can see from the work here and from talking to the students how this curriculum has transformed them.”
The students study realist art at the academy for a minimum of three years, though some of the exhibitors had only been studying with ÀNI for a few months. As well as learning art techniques they are also encouraged to develop artistic narratives and to research topics and ideas that interest them.
For A.S. Hasena the Sri Lankan yakka masks and what they portray held an appeal. Her portrait ‘People of the World” shows two masked people from kolam theatre – characters that are traditionally Sri Lankan in appearance but represent personalities that are universally found in every culture worldwide.
For Rachel Premachandra, it was her love of movies that inspired her charcoal ‘Lust on A Cruise’. “I wanted to do something that everyone would recognize so I based my picture on Pirates of the Caribbean.”
As an undergraduate in psychology, Rachel has also noticed how psychology-based topics seemed to inveigle their way into many aspects of her art.
“When we did a study of spheres and spherical shapes, I drew the stress balls that are used in psychology.”
Appreciation for their skill: The gathering at the exhibition opening
Whilst most of the students come to the academy because of their love of art and drawing, the ÀNI Academies curriculum takes them on an educational journey that includes how to monetize their art. This is very important because one of the biggest barriers in getting students to join the academy can be parents, who see art as a hobby rather than a way to earn a living.
“Many parents discourage their children from joining, preferring them to study law or engineering – basically a profession that is known to give them a steady income,” said Rodney O’Dell Davis, Director of Drawing & Painting at ÀNI Academies, Sri Lanka. “At ÀNI we teach the students how to price their work and the correct way to approach the right galleries for their particular style. They learn that different art genres have very specific audiences, so you need to appeal to the right buyers in order to make money from your art.”
Many of ÀNI’s students come from remote villages where career prospects are few and low-income livelihood jobs are the only option.
With exhibition pieces ranging from US$500 to over US$2000, there were many delighted smiles as students saw red dots appear against their work, indicating it had been bought. The only bigger smiles were the proud ones worn by parents and family members, who had travelled from all over the island to see their child’s work on display at this prestigious Colombo gallery last weekend. One father spoke of how surprised he was that his son’s talent could command such a price.
The course developed by ÀNI Academies plays a pivotal role in developing raw artistic talent in
Sri Lanka and most importantly linking it to lucrative global arts markets as a way of building Sri Lanka’s creative industry potential and providing significant, sustainable incomes and opportunities for young Sri Lankan artists.
To learn more about ÀNI Academies work visit: https://aniartacademies.org
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