- Discussion on the artist’s work held at Alliance Française de Colombo
Art is an essential tool for ecological activism that alerts the population to urgent matters, facilitates understandable messages about sustainability, and helps mobilise people to fight for causes. That said, artists have a strong influence on issues related to environmental preservation, and one such artist who has been admirably vocal about the perils of the planet in both her art and activism is Anoma Wijewardene.
The Embassy of France and the Alliance Française de Colombo, with the support of Institute Français, recently engaged with the subject of ecological art through a retrospective of artist Anoma Wijewardene’s exhibitions on sustainability and harmony.
Her work invites one to accept the stewardship we share of our fragile and fractured Earth. In lieu of this, the embassy recently initiated an opportunity to view artworks exhibited around the world and not seen in Sri Lanka before, which will be exhibited until 17 June. This exhibition kicked off with a live conversation on Wijewardene’s works with Institute of Social Design (Ideaha) Founder Shehara de Silva, Wilderness and Wildlife Conservation Trust (WWCT) Co-founder and Managing Trustee Anjali Watson, and Ananta Sustainables Founder and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Consultant Savera Weerasinghe, which was moderated by museologist, arts manager, and development consultant Hasini Haputhanthri.
For those of you who don’t know, Wijewardene began her career as a designer for many international names and has been a visiting lecturer for several years at British art colleges, including at her alma mater, Central Saint Martins University of the Arts, London. Opening the floor with a brief but detailed account of Wijewardene and her life’s work, Haputhanthri went on to reminisce on how Wijewardene built her name to what it is today. It was made known that while Wijewardene studied and worked in the UK for three decades, she now divides her time between London and Sri Lanka.
Haputhanthri, gesturing around the room, at work from Wijewardene’s exhibition Deliverance that came out in 2012, noted that her art encapsulates her passion for sustainability and reflects upon the universality of man in the face of environmental degradation, greed, and over-consumption, and the conflicts and divisions that are denuding our humanity and our planet.
Going on to speak about a few other notable exhibitions Wijewardene had been a part of, Haputhanthri noted that the activist and artist’s seven solo exhibitions – ranging from Space, in Sydney in 2005 to the Greta Thunberg images in London in 2019 – focus on the burning issue of the climate crisis. In 2019, Wijewardene was impressively the first Sri Lankan to present a solo exhibition during the 58th Venice Biennale, and was the sole representative from South Asia at the 2016 One Belt, One Road exhibition at Sotheby’s Hong Kong.
“Often suggestive and poetic in appeal, they invite multiple interpretations. The artworks range from pure paint, mixed media, iPad and digital images, video, and sculpture installations to performance art. Several have been created with the collaboration of poets, activists, musicians, and dancers,” she explained on the topic of the allure behind Wijewardene’s work.
In addition to showing work in Sri Lanka, the renowned artist has participated in many international shows including those in New Delhi, Sydney, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Dubai, and London. The installations shown at Alliance Francaise as well as all over the world, both urge tolerance and a sustainable co-existence with our fellow man and the active protection of the only planet we inhabit.
This celebration of her work was followed by an educational presentation on Wijewardene’s work where Shehara de Silva highlighted her work on ecology, sustainability, and the environment. From the presentation, we also learned that Wijewardene was very involved in other aspects of activism that deals with conflict, inclusion, and religious tolerance. As Haputhanthri observed, Wijewardene has always been an incredibly sensitive artist, always responsive to issues that have plagued minorities and the grassroots community – not just in Sri Lanka, but in most of the countries she has been to as well.
A key series of work in Wijewardene’s past exhibition Deliverance, which de Silva focused on during her presentation, was her collaboration with poet Ramya Chamali Jirasinghe. As de Silva observed, it was not simply Wijewardene’s art but the juxtaposition with Jirasinghe’s poetry that shone through with that exhibition. “It’s very commendable that Anoma (Wijewardene) was able to transcend her own medium that she was comfortable with and collaborate with another artist, simply because it’s a cause she holds close to her heart,” Haputhanthri observed.
De Silva also pointed out that the trilingual exhibition uses art, science, and poetry to engage the viewer in an interactive discussion on water – the Earth’s most precious resource. The works are a plea to man to combat the impact of climate change, and protect and nurture our planet before it is too late.
The event concluded with an open discussion on environmental sustainability and ecological diversity, where the spotlight was on award-winning leopard conservationist Anjali Watson and young and dynamic activist Severa Weerasinghe. They touched on topics like the role of art in terms of preserving the environment, and their initial thoughts on seeing Wijewardene’s ecological art. Watson quipped about feeling relieved, as it was “high time” she had seen the exhibition. Both she and Weerasinghe commented on how art can play a role in creating public awareness on issues like sustainability, conservation, and other pressing concerns regarding the environment. They also highlighted that art – if used effectively – could be a medium used to create conversation and engage communities. It was noted that these conversations should especially be had with schoolchildren, and emphasised how important it is to move these discussions away from Colombo and towards communities that are actually living in these protected areas or areas that are now beginning to require protection.
While the discussion flowed from Wijewardene’s work towards ecology and the environment, the two undoubtedly go hand in hand, and inspired by Wijewardene’s paintings, the audience too joined in this important discussion on conservation, where ideas on how we can protect our land were tossed back and forth, with the panellist handling the questions well and providing constructive criticism and compliments.
As an artist whose art has posed hard questions for her viewers about some of the most compelling and urgent issues of our time – sustainability and inclusivity – Wijewardene’s passionate concern for the future of our planet; her love for the environment of her homeland; and her heartfelt belief that only with tolerance, diversity, unity and generosity of spirit will peace be sustained in this world have fuelled the message of her work and inspired her audience to encapsulate these emotions and ideas as well.
