Where are the women artists in Sri Lankan art history? ARTRA Magazine’s highly anticipated edition ‘Women & Modernism’ 69 sets out to explore this pivotal question, with a focus on the Modernist period in Sri Lanka during the 1900s.
What if the future of art isn’t bigger and larger in scale, but more intimate and meaningful?
Traditional forms, techniques, and craft are rich inheritances that push forward the stories of familial legacies across generations in South Asia, in particular. Artist Anoli Perera sat down with us for ARTRA Magazine’s South Asian Contemporary Art Edition 68, to discuss the liberating essence of her textile practice, enriched by a home and childhood dominated…
Tayeba Lipi, 2019, Mirror, Sundaram Tagore Gallery, New York City The human body is a social site, as much as it is a biological organism. It is both personal and public, which consciously, and at times unconsciously, participates in transmitting multiplex of meanings to us as spectators. The curated works of Ali Kazim (b.1979, Pakistan),…
Constructing intersections between the past and present, art poignantly reflects the cultural, technological, and political transcendence of ever-evolving landscapes. In ARTRA Magazine’s South Asian Contemporary Art Edition, we conversed with featured artist Ali Kazim (Pakistan), whose timeless works of art are amidst seminal public collections of global repute, including the Tate, Ashmolean Museum, and British…
Ismeth Raheem, 1980, Negombo Fishermen, Raheem Collection, Colombo Born on 18 October 1941 to M.M.A. Raheem and Ayesha Raheem from the Jaffna Peninsula, Ismeth Raheem was raised with his eight siblings in Hulftsdorp, amidst the rambunctious bustle of Colombo, and later in their family home in the quiet neighbourhood of Colpetty. His unique upbringing served…
Ismeth Raheem in addition to being an accomplished Architect, Artist and Art Historian, has written a canon of essays and critiques published across newspapers, catalogues, journals and significant publications within a wide range of disciplines from the history of Sri Lanka through art, architecture, archaeology and photography to research publications on natural history. In the…
Intersecting art and architecture is a seminal characteristic of Ismeth Raheem’s multidisciplinary work as an Architect, Art Historian and Artist. When approaching his portfolio of works, it became clear that his practice at Edwards, Reid and Begg as a draughtsman and architectural assistant under Geoffrey Bawa and Ulrik Plesner in the 1960s had a profound…
Much of Ismeth Raheem’s work is coloured by his enduring fascination with the natural world. From indigenous Sri Lankan plant life rendered in ink to the feathered plumage of birds painted with ornithological precision, his creative exploration of the wild has over the years encompassed a profound appreciation for Sri Lanka’s natural landscapes and their…
Image courtesy Susan Torkington The photograph of the pearl fishery marine biology laboratory captured in 1902 by James Hornell, the marine biologist who had conducted research on the pearl oysters in that very space, was situated in Galle Fort. From a macro perspective, the laboratory highlights the largely undiscerned history of marine economy in 20th…
Q | In your opinion, what are the elements and influences that constitute Galle Fort’s architecture and design? A | Galle Fort is one of the largest living forts built by Colonial powers in South Asia, and it has a very unique character. This uniqueness is a result of the many influences continuously at play…
The Galle Fort is a paragon of historical and architectural consequence, where the echoes of centuries past interlock with the vivacious rhythm of the present in all grandeur. In the curation of ARTRA Magazine’s Galle Fort in the Contemporary Edition 66 (2024), we conversed with the revered architect Channa Daswatte, who is also the former Chairperson…
Though political cartoons are a symptom of an older era of print journalism, their enduring relevance today could be attributed to the distinct niche they hold within the genre. Political cartoons have the simultaneous ability to critique and amuse, and thus balance comic tones with arresting poignancy. It is an ability reminiscent of the courtly…
Political cartoons in the contemporary have adapted from their nascent forms within the traditional columns of print journalism. Variants—from social media posts to protest signs—continue to endure in the contemporary context through the growing relevancy of social criticism as a means of accountability, especially from the public domain towards institutional and elected ones. By utilizing…
Famed for his iconic affiliation with the ‘43 Group, Aubrey Collette was a remarkable caricature artist whose works danced the delicate lines between comic and critical, which brought to light the socio-political intricacies underlying Sri Lanka’s prominent societal figures in the early to mid-1900s. His politically forward cartoons—the very same he was lauded and then…
BeginningsLaki Senanayake was born in 1937, the seventh of the eight children of Reginald and Florence Senanayake. Both his parents were active in left-wing politics and campaigned for workers’ rights. Reginald was a planter and a founder member of the Marxist Lanka Sama Samajist Party (LSSP). In 1942 he was imprisoned by the British for…
Those who promote art have an eclectic mind and a deeper appreciation of beauty, of which they incorporate in their daily lives. From recognizing raw talent to celebrating its magnetic appeal, they revel in the vitality of life through vigorous endeavours of which art patron and collector Sunethra Bandaranaike is no exception. Presently chairing the…
The ideology of identifying a nation through symbols allows such emblems to be personified by the character of a nation. Anusha Gajaweera’s works of art then attempt to exist ambiguously yet robustly, unidentifiable yet candid. He does not share the landscape of a nation’s identity yet creates an alternate political space that probes and questions…
What does the image of a flower mean to an unprejudiced gaze? Objects often take on symbolic nuances, identities bestowed upon by the people themselves. A work of art may be born of a single thought yet those who document and experience the same works may perceive them differently. As we explore the nuances of…
The term ‘memory-keeper’ may be unfamiliar as a cultural symbol, but it is one that is emblematic of the feminine role in most communities. It is an identity that characterizes a woman who passes down culture onto future generations, ‘keeping’ the nation’s legacy and maintaining its traditions. In her works, contemporary artist Anoli Perera employs…