Pathum Dharmarathna, Bhawana

ARTRA goes live from UAE early this week following ARTRA’s talks in the UK, at the Royal Academy and Grosvenor Gallery in London on the 14th and 30th of May earlier this year in celebration of Sri Lankan Modern and Contemporary Art beyond the shores. This time around, ARTRA’s International Eye Segment covers the works of Sri Lankan Contemporary artists alongside 19 artists from South Asia, South West Asia, and Africa as part of the exhibition ‘Way of the Forest’, a travelling edition of Colomboscope which opened on the 22nd of September at 421 Campus, Abu Dhabi.  

Taking over Galleries 1 and 2 inside 421 Arts Campus in Abu Dhabi, Way of the Forest converges artistic pathways to rekindle knowledge of interdependence, custodianship, and restorative practices across rainforests, wilderness, mountain cultivations, and riverine wetlands. It invites approaching the forest as a multispecies school—moving from the curriculum of plunder, reckless supremacy, and extinction, to embrace its lessons in organic networks of mutual aid and restorative balance beyond the human sensorium. The forest as a lexicon holds a plenitude of meaning across languages: Aaranya in Tamil (ஆரண்யா) and Sanskrit relating to a sanctuary, vana (වන) in Sinhala. Bonn, Jongol, and Aranno in Bangla, guṁ in Nepal Bhasa, tēṁ in Tamu—each evoking distinct states of being, emotions, disparate imagination, and a palpable climate. 

Otobong Nkanga, Earthing

‘Way of the Forest’ is an intricate study of eroding ecological histories, lost environmental wisdom, monstrous developmental agendas, and ghosts of extraction. It endeavors to plot legacies of colonization of resources and minds that operate in disguise. Within mutating landscapes, artists question who owns forest lands, who gets displaced, and who is restricted from sites marked for conservation. In many folktales, legends, and mythologies, forests are associated with apparitions, witches, and other mystical beings. These entities are often depicted as powerful and independent, existing beyond the reach of societal constraints. They are also spaces that elicit fear of things unknown and forces beyond human control. With the rise of imperialism, the exploitation of natural resources and abuse of primary inhabitants was exacerbated as a fulfillment of greed, power, and ego. The subjugation of jungles and wildernesses was then portrayed as a victory over the vastness, unruliness, and mysticism of forests. 

Many indigenous peoples find themselves navigating nation-states driven by corporate capitalism and geopolitical hegemony. Throughout this struggle, there have been profound transitions marked by loss, change, resistance, and at times, even hopelessness. Revolutionaries, outcasts, and borderline beings find solace and refuge within the forest’s sheltering embrace. Its dense foliage and shaded paths provide a sense of secrecy and protection, allowing those seeking autonomy and freedom to gather and organize away from prying eyes, to recalibrate uncertainty and fear, to dream of alternative power structures, of new world orders. 

MTF Rukshana, Untitled, 2023, showcased at Colomboscope, Photographed by Ruvin de Silva

Artists participating in the group exhibition include a range of practitioners from around the world, such as Rakibul Anwar, Moza Almatrooshi, Shiraz Bayjoo, Jayatu Chakma, Nahla al Tabbaa, Sangita Maity, Karachi LaJamia, Sanod Maharjan, Saodat Ismailova, Otobong Nkanga and Kulagu Tu Buvongan. 9 artists from Sri Lanka are featured in this exhibition, including  U. Arulraj, Pathum Dharmarathna, Pushpakanthan Pakkiyarajah, Sarmila Sooriyakumar with Pirainila Krishnarajah, MTF Rukshana, Tamarra Jayasundera, Karunasiri Wijesinghe and Thava Thajendran. This exhibition is curated by Hit Man Gurung (artist and curator), Natasha Ginwala (Artistic Director, Colomboscope), Sheelasha Rajbhandari (artist and curator), Sarker Protick (artist and curator) with Vidhi Todi (assistant curator, Colomboscope 2024). 

“It is our pleasure to present this major group exhibition, originally presented in Colombo, Sri Lanka in January 2024, has been adapted to engage audiences in the United Arab Emirates, marking the second time partnering with Colomboscope,” said Faisal Al Hassan, Director of 421 Arts Campus. “We are delighted to showcase these works to communities in Abu Dhabi and across the Emirates. This collaboration exemplifies our commitment to fostering cultural dialogue, forging new modes of institutional support, and inspiring ways of thinking about art and its role in addressing global challenges.” 

421 Arts Campus is an independent platform for emerging artists and creative practitioners in the UAE and across the region. A site for research, learning and experimentation, 421 provides a nurturing environment for emergent creative practices and those who want to harness the arts as an agent for social inquiry and transformation. It encourages practitioners to explore the potential of public spaces as a means for progress and community engagement through a wide-ranging programmatic model that facilitates artistic exchange and critical dialogue. 421 is a community-driven, independent arts platform dedicated to emerging artists and creative practitioners in the UAE and across the region. Previously known as Warehouse421, 421 was established in 2015 inside a renovated warehouse that was repurposed as an exhibition and community space featuring galleries, studios and courtyards, which is located in Abu Dhabi, Mina Zayed.

Jayatu Chakma