Covering nearly
300 years of
Sri Lankan
history, A Return to
Sri Lanka is a rare
opportunity to see a unique selection of over 150 images drawn from the collections of the British Library, the Victoria and Albert Museums, the Natural History Museum, London and the National Museum, Colombo.
Through
manuscripts, maps, prints, drawings, photographs and other artefacts, the exhibition illustrates how the island has inspired both visiting and local
artists to document its peoples, landscapes and cultures.
The Organisers:
The exhibition is
co-curated by two
photographers –
John Falconer is the Lead Curator of Visual Arts and Curator of Photographs at the British Library, London. He lived in
Sri Lanka as a young boy, and has been back many times.
Co-curator Menika van der Poorten is a
Sri Lankan with 25 years of experience in the fields of arts and cultural
management in Sri Lanka and the UK.
This exhibition is funded by the World Collections Programme and
produced by the British Library and the British Council.
The World Collections Programme is a UK Government funded
initiative to foster
bilateral links between UK cultural institutions and
partner organisations in Asia and Africa, to facilitate greater access to collections and to make British collections
available to a wide
international audience. Both the British Library and the British Council are working closely with the Ministry of Heritage in Sri Lanka to make the exhibition possible.
Did you know?
At the end of its tour the exhibition will be gifted to the Ministry of Heritage to make it more widely available to a
Sri Lankan audience.
An online version of the
exhibition will also be made available by the British Council for
12 months at
www.britishcouncil.org/srilanka
from September 16 onwards.
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| W. L. H. SKEEN AND CO.,
Ruanweli Dagoba, Anuradhapura, c. 1880. |
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| BOURNE AND SHEPHERD, Jewellers of Galle, c. 1872 |
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Johann Wolffgang Heydt (after a
watercolour of 1710 by C. Steiger),
View inside the Fort at Jaffna, with the Dutch Church and Commander’s Residence on the right, c. 1735 |
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When you can see it:
Admission is free and the exhibition will visit four major cities in the island between September and November 2011.
The organisers have set aside three whole days in which schools and groups can be given guided tours of the exhibition.
For details on how to arrange such a session, contact the British Council in Colombo on 011-4521521. The venues and schedules for the display are as follows:
COLOMBO: Lionel Wendt Gallery September 14 – 28, 2011
JAFFNA : Jaffna Public Library
October 5 –19, 2011
KANDY : Kandy City Centre October 24 – November 6, 2011
GALLE : Galle Municipal Council November 11 – 24, 2011
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