The bilingual site devoted to the cultural life in Sri Lanka and in France                                                         Le site bilingue consacré à la vie culturelle au Sri Lanka et en France EXPRESSIONS D’ INDÉPENDANCE Expressions of Independence University of Visual and Performing Arts, Sri Lanka Mona Bismarck Foundation 34 avenue de New York, 75116 Paris, France du 4 avril au 12 juillet 2008 / From April 4 to July 12, 2008 Email: info@monabismarck.org www.monabismarck.org In Paris, a visual arts exhibition displays sixty contemporary Sri Lankan artists to celebrate the sixty years of independence in Sri Lanka. Janaka Samarakoon reports from Paris The Mona Bismarck Foundation sheltered in an elegant Parisian townhouse on the banks of the river Seine hosts an exhibition of visual arts through July 12, 2008. The exhibition brings together sixty contemporary painters from Sri Lanka – “a first time and exceptional event as no other group exhibition presenting the work of living Sri Lankan artists has taken place outside of Sri Lanka”. The residence once belonged to the legendary American citizen Countess Mona Bismarck (1899-1983), who bequeathed her property to her posthumous foundation, established a few years after her death, 1983. The mission of this foundation is to facilitate the events that have an artistic, literary, educational and scientific interest in general and those encouraging friendship between France and the United States of America in particular. The present exhibition which is a brain child of Mr. C. Rajakaruna, the treasurer of the foundation, is co-organised with the courtesy of the University of Visual and Performing Arts, Colombo. The participants have been selected by a Committee, counting, among others, Professor Sarath Amunugama, Vice-chancellor, University of Visual and Performing Arts and Art Historian Mr. Susiripala Malimboda. The artists were invited to the exhibition by an advertisement published on the national news papers. Mona Bismarck by Cecil Beaton Countess Mona Bismarck was fond of art works, mainly those originated from the East. She once visited Ceylon while cruising around the globe on board the luxurious “Warrior”, the yacht that belonged to her husband Harrison Williams, a prosperous financier of Wall Street. She describes her sojourn in Ceylon as follows:   T.F. Simon, Ceylon Girl, 1927 [...] "On this run we had exceptionally fine weather from beginning to end, with smooth seas... the temperature was moderate and were never without gentle breezes. We arrived at Colombo on Friday, January 21st, 1927 and anchored in the beautiful harbor. Colombo is a beautiful city and Ceylon is a paradise on earth. Colombo is one of the busiest ports of the Orient, as all the ships sailing to and from Far East and most of the ships in the South African and Australian trade stop here. It is a beautiful modern city with clean, well-paved streets and many handsome buildings. It is literally embowered in tropical vegetation. Except for this, Colombo seems more like a European city than any other oriental cities we had seen. The streets swarmed with motor cars, the natives seem to be prosperous and the standard of living are (sic) certainly greatly above those of the Indian cities we had visited. The European suburbs of Colombo, especially the portion known as “Cinnamon Gardens” are beautiful. [...] Colombo certainly offers the happiest refuge in the world for those whose chief aim in life is to live in a salubrious climate. In the winter they can live in the soft climate of Colombo. As the warm weather approaches, a two hours’ motor trip will land them at beautiful Kandy, at an elevation of seventeen hundred feet. After a few weeks in Kandy’s perfect spring climate the altitudinarian can motor two hours more to Nuwara Eliya, at an elevation of over six thousand feet, where he can enjoy summer in the climate of Scotland.” The fashion icon, appointed the “most elegant woman in the world”, marked her era with her exquisite personality. During her voyages to Ceylon and India, she collected gems and stones that fitted to her refined tastes. She was envied as the owner of the legendary 98.6 carat “Bismarck sapphire” discovered in Ceylon and tailored into a diamond and platinum necklace by Cartier. Thus, this exhibition which celebrates the 60 years of independence of Sri Lanka pays homage also to six decades of the illustrious life of Mona Bismarck during which she earned recognition as an art collector and a voyager. Expressions of Independence brings out a historical panorama of post-colonial Sri Lankan art. Hence, the choice of title of the exhibition is interesting. The occupation that lasted for over four centuries was a period during which the monarchic history and the local culture of Ceylon were uprooted by the colons who imposed their own civilization to the natives. Hence, soon after Independence follows a period which is discernible for its quest for a local identity; the Ceylonese wanted to bring forward a supposedly pure Sri Lankan culture, as a means to break away from the recent past. One can analyse the theoretical oeuvre of a writer like Martin Wickramasinghe (Aspects of Sinhalese Culture, 1952) or the ultra nationalist stance of a politician like S. W. R. D. Bandaranayake within this context. It was an attempt to rebuild the nation with native cultural references in opposition to those of Western culture. Martin Wickramasinghe The mainstream discourse that established this quest for identity, one that is, to some extent, still in place, was the idealisation of village life – imagined rather than actually experienced. The Village was hence fantasised over as an Arcadia where a pure Sri Lankan culture, regulated by the teaching of Buddha, was supposed to be still intact. In opposition to this concept stood the City: the very antithesis of the Village. The writings of highly respected Martin Wickramasinghe, for instance, established deliberately in the subconscious of the Sri Lankans this supposed dichotomy which draws a clear line between Village and City. Furthermore, he opposes them on an Apollonian-Dionysian bipolarity as two extremes. Ever since, this concept has developed roots that reach down the Sri Lankan subliminal unconscious (see the movie Bambaru Avith by Dharmasena Pathiraja, 1978). Dharmasena Pathiraja Jayasiri Semage, Relaxation The nostalgic aspiration for this Arcadia, easily recognisable in all forms of arts even today, is represented in the current exhibition by a group of artists among whom are Mudiyanselage Prassanna Upali Chaminda (Fish Market), N. A. C. K. Aberatne (Former King), Mahinda Abeysekara («Pile padura»), Jayasiri Semage (Relaxation), A. M. Ratnapala de Silva (Workers), Somabandu Vidyapathi (Village Scene), D. P. J. Jayadeva (Sinhala New Year Festival) and Stanley Kirinde ("Rhada Jatakaya"). N.A.C.K. Aberatne, Former King Among those works, N. A. C. K. Aberatne’s painting which has a very eloquent title is particularly interesting. It represents a Former King King compelled to beg by the road side and crystallises the above mentioned conservative ideology and, presumably, symbolises the faded glory of a local culture that is lost forever. Most of these artists sublimate as their ultimate model the forms of art that existed during the monarchic history of the Island, mainly the tradition of frescoes emulated from the period of Sigiriya, the 5th Century A.D. which has survived up to the Kandyan period. This local tradition gained popularity in the modern times through a revival that took place during the first half of the 20th Century by the hands of the pioneers of this movement i.e., Solius Mendis, author of the frescoes of Kelaniya Raja Maha Viahara. One can also observe that, although more than half a century has passed since the introduction of Georges Keyt’s highly personal pictorial style which derives mainly from the local fresco tradition and Parisian Cubism, the haunting spectre of this immense artist remains, for many, an insurmountable “heritage” (Relaxation by Jayasiri Semage for instance). Iddamalgoda Nuwan Damitha, City at night With the dichotomy of the Apollonian vision of village life, the demonised city is brought about in City at Night by Iddamalgoda Nuwan Damitha which portrays the urban environment as the very source of alienation. The city is inhabited by isolated souls, left alone with their own phantoms. The highly expressive menacing sky, looming above them, reminds the viewer of those by Van Gogh. A lighthouse, the symbol of man-made culture which goes against the rules of nature–where village-life symbolizes the perfect harmony between man and nature (Workers, A. M. Ratnapala de Silva) – stands upright through the sky. Its shadow seems to be preying on humans. The Buddhism, an omnipresent element within Sri Lankan culture is ubiquitous among the paintings exhibited. Either the artists who look to the traditional forms of art in order to legitimise theirs or the artists who are more experimental in their practise and permeable to various influences, both refer to Buddhism and its symbols while dealing with their themes. Some use those references to bring about a spiritual or moral symbolism whereas others subvert them to tackle contemporary and social themes. In the process, this tendency illustrates how much the Sri Lankan subconscious is conditioned by the religion practised by the majority of the population. The production of the artists such as Thilake Abeysinghe ("Thanha, Rathee, Raga"), Baratha Kumara Liyanage (Liberation), Stanley Kirinde ("Rhada Jatakaya"), D. P. J. Jayadeva (Sinhala New Year Festival) could be described as an art of devotion. Their work brings forward the example of Buddha’s doctrine as the path to an ultimate harmony of worldly life (Sinhala New Year Festival) or spiritual Liberation (Baratha Kumara Liyanage), while Buddha is often present in the composition itself. In a more subtle way, some other painters handle the symbols evoking the Doctrine to outline the drifts of contemporary society. For instance, B. Sarath Gunasiri Perera, brandishes his painting, composed of a series of lotus petals, submerged in a vibrant chaotic turbulence, against a social system whose “people are running after consumerism and unnecessary worldly luxuries”. D.P.J. Jayadeva, Sinhala New Year Festival Chandraguptha Thenuwara’s triptych Dhammapada makes also direct allusion to the heritage of Buddhism: the book that contains the ultimate teaching of Buddha. Here, Dhammapada is not only the symbol of a specific religion, but that of a whole cultural life and its most refined production. Ostensibly, the series of three canvasses represents nothing more than the motifs of a commando uniform- a theme very familiar in the works of Thenuwara since the introduction of his famous Barrelism in 1992. But a more careful look at the painting reveals three verses exerted from the sacred book, hardly visible because engulfed by the abstract patterns. This work unveils how the military culture, omnipresent in many aspects of the Sri Lankan society, camouflage (the title of the exhibition of paintings and etchings that Thenuwara held in 1999) and extinguish its cultural and spiritual life. Sudath Abeysekara Tarantula puts forward a similar discourse; a lady carrying a handful of flowers, meant for Buddha, is engulfed behind a splash of a thick coat of black paint like a bucket of tar thrown on her face with extreme violence. Kingsley Gunatillake, Displaced The political aspect of these works leads us to the most burning issue of contemporary Sri Lankan society, the civil war, a recurrent theme for many artists. Kingsley Gunatillake who is obsessed with the question of displacement ever since his eponymous exhibition held in 1996, repeats himself in spite of his own will (“I’m exhausted from painting displacement which nevertheless has become an insoluble and haunting fact”). Through a compartimentalised composition which imprisons several people, Displaced shows the isolation and alienation caused by displacement; by uprooting someone from his/her homeland, you uproot him/her from his/her own identity. Kasun Vihanga Gunasekara’s canvas, Camouflage, one of the most poignant works displayed in the exhibition, is carrying a similar social criticism: against a background which represents a military uniform lies a nude figure with open arms, as if immersed or, worse, crucified within this abstract pattern. A modern martyr, “dispossessed of his self”, disappears into this “warlike environment” which engulfs everything, including Art: the camouflage is cast well over the canvas and attacks its frame, the very symbol of painting (Jacques Derrida, La vérité en peinture, 1978). The current exhibition stretches a comprehensive historical prospect of contemporary Sri Lankan art covering the last six decades. This large scope of heterogeneous paintings could nevertheless be categorized into two families: on the one hand, a reactionary art which draws its inspiration mainly from religion and traditional forms of art, putting forward a pursuit of an undefined, complacent past – which may perhaps have never existed – and containing a moral scrutiny; on the other hand, a more experimental and hybrid art, which is less taken up by its form than its contents, still drawing inspiration from very Sri Lankan specificities, but only to better reveal through them the malaise of contemporary society. Kasun Vihanga Gunasekara, Camouflage Furthermore, it’s important to note that the use of the term ‘contemporary art’ to refer to this exhibition is applied for its chronological aspect, but not for its aesthetic value in accordance with Art History. Here, “contemporary” encloses both “modern” and “traditional” Art, produced in the contemporary period, which cannot be labeled as Contemporary Art from a strictly historical point of view. The pertinent analysis of Anoli Perera, Sri Lankan artist and theorist, quoted in the exhibition’s catalogue sheds light on this matter. “By traditional art, I mean artistic production, based […] on conventions of pre-colonial traditions, styles and methodologies, which have also much to do with religion and ritual”. Hence, as Sabine Grosser unveils in her contribution to the catalogue, even though a given form of art is produced in the contemporary time, it can well be labeled as “traditional” as long as “it disputes pre-modern traditions, styles and methods (in the Sri Lankan context, “pre-modern” stands for “pre-colonial” or “feudal” traditions, Cf. Senaka Bandaranayake / Manel Fonseka, Ivan Pieris : Paintings, Colombo, 1996, editor’s note) ”. Finally, the ambiguous title of the exhibition emphasizes a crucial issue; if we are dealing here with “expressions of independence”, the question that arises is what Sri Lankan contemporary art should really be independent from? Is it not this backward-looking attitude, established as a system, which condemns the artists to reproduce the same artistic forms over and over again that the artists should shake off shackle from? It goes without saying that the legitimacy of this traditional patrimonial art which came into existence under precise historical circumstances is unquestionable; it indeed is a reference. Yet, if one is satisfied merely by duplicating them while the historical and social condition under which the originals came into existence are now long gone, this leads to a questionable anachronism – an empty shell in which one finds a refuge, in the absence of courage to reinvent oneself. Expressions of Independence is a tribute to those who have the audacity to challenge the traditional way of considering art. To compose this text, the catalogue of the exhibition, especially Sabine Grosser’s contribution, was of great help. JANAKA SAMARAKOON Your reactions and comments