| The Museum fur Volkerkunde, Vienna is the prestigious venue for a major exhibition of contemporary Sri Lankan art organised by the Museum and the Serendib Gallery, Sri Lanka.
This exhibition of 90 artworks-paintings, graphic art, installations, sculpture and photography by 33 Sri Lankan artists had its preview at the Museum fur Volkerkunde (Museum for Ethnology), Vienna on November 17 amidst a large and representative gathering of art lovers on a bitterly cold winter evening. After four months in Vienna the exhibition will be moved to other centres in Europe.
On display are works by well-known artists Sanjeewa Kumara, Jagath Weerasinghe, Anoli Perera, Kingsley Gunatilleke, Sarath Kumarasiri, Pradeep Chandrasiri (who won the Commonwealth Award for Art in 2005), Chandragupta Thenuwara, Wijelatha Edirisinghe and others who had not exhibited abroad earlier.
The venue |
The Museum fur Volkerkunde (Museum of Ethnology) Vienna, formerly the Imperial Palace is one of Europe’s foremost museums representing the cultures and traditional arts of Africa, Asia and the Americas, based on collections assembled in Austria since the 1500’s. The museum’s artifact collections also include about 750 ethnographic objects from Sri Lanka, half of which were acquired before 1900. |
Among the others are Prageeth Manohamsa whose innovative artwork is made of discarded metal junk, Upali Ananda whose artwork is based on graffiti and Pradeep Chandrasiri’s installations reflecting political turmoil.
Co-organisers Professor Dr. Christian F. Feest and Mohan Daniel of the Serendib Gallery addressed the gathering at the opening. The Sri Lankan Ambassador in Austria M. M. Jaffeer and curators Dr. Sylvia S. Kasprycki and Dr. Doris Strambau, who had spent much time in Sri Lanka gathering background information for this project also spoke.
Accompanying this exhibition a full-colour catalogue, designed as a comprehensive reference work on contemporary Sri Lankan art will be published within the next few weeks.
This catalogue too is being co-sponsored by Mohan Daniel of the Serendib Gallery which has for the past few years been instrumental in organizing exhibitions of Sri Lankan contemporary art abroad.
The Gallery operates on a non-commercial basis in this venture, bearing a portion of the cost and not charging a fee or commission on artworks sold.
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