Drawing on Walls: The Red Rave Art Walk delves deeper into Colombo’s urban imagination

Concrete bathed in red light, the car park of the Cinnamon Red hotel in Colombo 3 feels like entering a hip, underground bar. The music and dim lighting set the mood for the hotel’s first ‘Red Rave Art Walk’  - a unique exposition of  young Sri Lankan artists’ creativity. 

With its opening last year, Cinnamon Red introduced the public to Sri Lanka’s urban art potential when Ruwangi Amarasinghe, Hash Bandara and Umanga Samarasinghe, the P413 Mob and Hamza Ahamed took their work to the walls of its five-storey car park. The ‘Red Rave’ art and design competition organised by the hotel this August saw ten winners were selected to showcase their wall art alongside last year’s winners. 

Red Rave 2015 features a refreshing mix of artists, from art students to casual doodlers to fulltime employees who squeeze art in between long working hours. Software engineering student Lishni Thilakaratne, has translated her of superheroes into wall art. “In countries like Germany street artists are respected and there is demand for graffiti and murals, but it’s still very new in Sri Lanka,” she says. 

Udani Samaraweera created a portrait of a man and woman, whose muted faces contrast with a vibrant colour scheme that is “symbolic of all the emotions that make a person unique.”  HSBC employees Kavindu Abeysundara and Aravinda Perera “just wanted to do something weird” with their psychedelic street art piece. 

“What better to draw in a car park that a car?” ask The Doodle Dumps’ who created a fabulous piece with a Mini Cooper  blending with thousands of tiny doodles. It took them nearly a month to complete. 

Jaffna based artist Samithira Sriranganathan Sami’s wall depicts a sweet love story that contrasts nicely with the bolder colours of the others. However, Stefan Pakinathan uses the same black, white and red combination to create a very different vibe, while school teacher Yogya Thalagala’s 3D hands will quite literally stand out to the viewer. 

Established collective, P413 Mob, also adds a new piece, “Where the Wild Things Are”, to their two pieces from last year.  “CAROUSELAMBRA” by young artist collective, The Hermits puts a modern spin on the Sri Lankan perahara. The piece features an interesting collection of characters atop a large red elephant that the group says is representative of the hotel and its clientele.  

Graphic design student Supun ‘Zetter’ Ravisanka takes a more in-your-face approach with three faces that also revolve around the hotel and its urban personalities. 

The Red Rave Art Walk provides a platform for local artists to express their creativity and be commissioned for more work.