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 inhabitants, often bleeding into his design philosophies regarding architecture. 

Dinarzarde Raheem, a Biologist and Senior Lecturer at the Rajarata University of Sri Lanka in Mihintale in the North-Central Province, and daughter of Architect & Artist Ismeth Raheem, sat down with ARTRA Magazine for the latest edition Art & Design of Ismeth Raheem Edition 67 to give us insight into her father’s fascination with the natural world, as she shares her perspectives towards the crucial role art can play in negotiating public knowledge of pertinent environmental discourses, and the scientific passion that often undercurrents her father’s imaginative illustrations of wildlife. 

Q | In your opinion, how important is the role of artists in bringing to light indigenous Sri Lankan fauna and flora in keeping important environmental conversations alive and accessible?

A | I think art has played an important role in Sri Lanka in highlighting the threats faced by indigenous flora and fauna. It not only helps inform people about what kinds of indigenous biodiversity there are - but also share what is special, unique to Sri Lanka, and important in an international point-of-view, while raising awareness that they are under threat. Art has a really important role to play in educating people and in highlighting important issues. When my father was producing an artwork for March for Conservation, one of the country’s pioneering conservation NGOs alongside Laki Senanayake, it was an important period of the 1970s and 1980s where the wider public was just beginning to appreciate the importance of rainforests to the conservation of Sri Lanka’s unique biota. 

Certainly, in the 1970s and 1980s art had a big role to play in making these environmental conversations more accessible, but I don’t think it is the case anymore. Back then, to see photographs you would actually have to find them in books or graphic exhibitions. That has changed now because people have access to photographic imagery on mobile phones. In the past, in terms of informing people about the threats to biodiversity, art was an additional avenue to grab people’s attention. Not that it wouldn’t be the case now, but photographs of these amazing plants and animals are very readily accessible on mobile phones, even great photography of them out in the wild is accessible online now. 

Q | From a purely scientific perspective, to what extent do the drawings of Ismeth’s fauna and flora educate and inform? Or do you feel, they are more imaginative, yet they do hold value in translating facts and features of the environment creatively? 

A | I think his drawings incorporate realistic elements of the animals and plants, their behaviour and the kind of habitats they occur in, while blending an imaginative and fantastical element to them as well. That is true of both my father’s works and Laki’s as well. I think something can be imaginative and not entirely realistic, and still educate and inform.

Q | Please share your experiences as a child or even as an adult, going on field trips with your father during his research or projects. What did they impart upon you?

 A | Both my brother and I used to really enjoy the time we spent with him in the field. We got to see very interesting and unusual places, some very close to Colombo. We used to go bird watching at the wetlands that are around Thalangama and the Bolgoda Lake system, and around Piliyandala and Kesbewa. It was really interesting that there were all these places close to Colombo that have fascinating flora and fauna. We also got the opportunity to go on these family trips with both my parents where we got to do a lot of bird watching at places like the Bundala salterns and Yala. We realized we were very privileged to be able to visit those places and have these amazing experiences. Through my father, we also had the opportunity to meet other people who were interested in natural history, bird watching and wildlife. We learned a huge amount. It encourages you to be really curious and interested in the natural world. We have many happy memories of that.

Q | What is learning as a family like when members are experts in varied fields? How has that informed and influenced the culture of knowledge sharing in your home?

A | It’s a very exciting thing because you get to learn about a different aspect of a certain field. We were very fortunate because my father is very knowledgeable about birds, but my mother is very interested in other things like butterflies, for example, and through them we had the chance to interact with people who were very knowledgeable about their own fields, such as nature, wildlife, Sri Lankan birdlife and so on. We were very privileged from very early on in our lives to interact with people who were leading authorities in various fields. 

Q | Did your father’s curiosity towards the natural world propel your appreciation for biodiversity and your academic pursuits?

A | The fact that both my father and my mother were interested in the natural world and loved exploring it did have an impact on me very early on. I became interested in birds when I was still quite young. As a child I had this real fascination with ballet, and I wanted to become a ballet choreographer. But when I was 14, I switched to becoming much more interested in the natural world, and took on birding very seriously. By the time I was 16 to 17, I had decided that I wanted to switch to becoming a field biologist. The background we had, and the environment we were in really encouraged you to explore and participate in all these outdoor activities that involved observing wildlife and nature, and that had a great influence on me.

Q | What are some of your favourites of Ismeth's art? 

A | I find his drawings of natural history most compelling as they combine elements of realism in his rendering of flora and fauna, which were for the most part accurate to life. There is also a distinct quality of imagination to these vivid drawings which I believe characterises the works of Laki Senanayake as well. It is impossible to pigeonhole the works of my father as they explore a wide array of mediums addressing varied themes but I must say, I particularly admire his works produced in the 1970s to the 1980s for their important subject matter and technique. These are works that are displayed in our home, which also include historical figures. I do admire his batik works, which to a very large extent were also produced in this period. I find their composition unique alongside his use of vibrant colours and unusual design elements.

Q | What are your favourites of his architectural projects? 

A | My favourite of his architectural projects would have to be the Habarana Lodge. This project brought together all of his varied interests, his love of natural history, wildlife and even the restoration of natural habitats to some extent. The area where my father had built the Lodge was an area of degraded land, which through the undertaking of this project he had re-established with indigenous plants and trees, where he subsequently built the various chalets of the hotel. I also particularly like that the Lodge was inspired by archeological sites, such as Ritigala, so he drew from his knowledge of history and approached the project from that angle. 

Dinarzarde Raheem is a Biologist who completed her first degree at Imperial College London, UK and received her PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK, in 2006. Between 1999 and 2010 she co-managed a series of Darwin Initiative (UK government funded) capacity building projects run by the Natural History Museum London, UK, in several South and Southeast Asian countries and from 2011 to 2016 she was based at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels, Belgium. She is currently a Senior Lecturer at Rajarata University of Sri Lanka and a Scientific Associate of the Natural History Museum, London, UK.