By Pavani Jayasinghe Munagamage
“I dream my painting and paint my dream” – Vincent Van Gogh
If you are reside in Sri Lanka, while browsing social media (through a VPN), you are most likely seeing pictures of violence taking place around the country, breaking news almost every hour, and fake news in large numbers.
But in addition to all that, we also see positivity in the form of art; art in the form of poems and song but mostly art in the form of design that’s going viral. This Sunday, The Sunday Morning Brunch decided to capture some of those very pieces in commemoration of everything positive helping overcome the countless times our country faced and survived tragedy.
idotdoodle
“As a Sri Lankan, I was deeply saddened, heartbroken, and shocked to see what happened to my county on Easter Sunday. As a person who lives abroad and witnessing everything from a distance, creating artwork was one of the ways I was able to connect and send love to my country and to those affected.”
“As a person who studied in a multicultural school, I have friends that belong to different religions and cultures. But it’s never been a concern for us. In fact, it’s never crossed our minds. Being multicultural has always been our country’s identity. So I felt that it was important for me to send this message of unity and togetherness at a time like this.”
“I saw so many posts online about the current situation. But I didn’t see many posts about what we should do next, following a tragedy like this. So I decided to create a post on what we can actually do to show our support and solidarity in the aftermath of such an event.”
Apsi doodles
Her illustrations are childlike, cute, and quirky. They’re generally very happy looking and bright and she loves using puns. She draws to escape life.
the.lettered.inkling
Neamah Aslam is a physiotherapy graduate and a lettering artist.
“This artwork of blossoming flora represents the original beauty of our tropical island set against a black background to express sadness and grief. The space created by the surrounding yet engulfing flowers is in the shape of Sri Lanka along with the hand-lettered message. This is to portray that our nation will emerge and rise again amidst all the chaos and despair the recent Easter Sunday attacks created.”
Café Kumbuk
Café Kumbuk Co-founder Shana Dandeniya said: “We always try to foster a sense of community by spreading positive messages through our artwork. This artwork, in particular, was created to remind people to support small local businesses which in turn help feed families and the economy. The illustration shows characters of different races and religions working together to rebuild a better Sri Lanka.”
Muvindu Binoy (artist/filmmaker) represented by Saskia Fernando Gallery