Diyabubula, where the magic happened
Favourite perch: Laki in the pavilion and (right) an owl painted in Orlando in 1998
Laki, our blessed friend, passed away on May 30.
Laki was an incredible artist, landscape gardener, architect, mathematician, naturalist, writer of prose, who was comfortable working in several art forms and prolifically. He enjoyed meeting friends, was never one to discourage people knocking on his door- many visitors would drop by to meet this special man who inspired his guests by conjuring up riddles, talking in rhyme and playing his flute.
At Diyabubula which means “bubbling spring” — the small man-made lake bubbled merrily on his property so you had to walk over and beside water to get upstairs to where the magic happened.
This is where Laki painted, slept, entertained, played music; where his guests slept, and parties organically arose.
Many stories have taken place in this space which is a platform made out of corrugated sheets with cement to reinforce the sheets so they keep sturdy and strong. Diyabubula is in Dambulla. I was there one day when he had non-stop visitors. He smiled, welcoming the unexpected guests still smiling. I continued to read my book, the avant garde music seemed to come from everywhere. He owned an impressive hi-fi system, the speakers custom-made and monkey-proof, placed across the lake in chosen spots for best sound.
I glanced at our visitors and observed our magician perform his conjuring tricks. A few notes on his flute, two paintings whisked out to be seen, he spies a crocodile and points at it. The guests leave with smiles on their faces and stories to tell.
Laki was a lover of humanity and everything that exists in it. People, trees, plants, birds, bees, animal life. A socialist by inclination, he was a free spirit at heart, despised preferential treatment and was as unprejudiced as they come. At least, that’s how I saw him.
Back in the 1970’s, I would fly into Colombo during school holidays, a scrawny teenager, and spend most of the time travelling the island. In 1981 we drove to the brand new Triton Hotel owned by Aitken Spence. The design of the hotel, the interior and its two swimming pools impress, but it was the huge drawing of foliage by Laki measuring 30ft by 40ft that caught my eye. Little did I know I would meet the artist 12 years later.
In 1991 I re-met Dom (Dominic Sansoni) who invited me over to ‘Ulrik’s annexe’ where he lived. I noticed a stunning canvas on the wall measuring 10ft by 3ft. It was a silk screen ink painted on canvas. Its main feature, an owl, took up the breadth of the piece. There were other figures in the painting too: A woman’s body, a dog, a man lying down, a self-portrait. It was Laki. Upstairs, behind the bed, were three paintings of what looked to me like Greek gods and goddesses painted in stone with gray and blue hues. Stunning work!
Laki had frequented the annexe since the late 1960’s. He was a guest at B’s (Barbara Sansoni’s) parties; dressed in black tights and barebodied, he would twist the night away much to everyone’s approval. Laki was very close to the family and I saw a lot of him when I moved to the annexe in 1993. I met my subliminal friend on a Thursday evening at one of B’s open houses. He was very good-looking, gracious, smiled a lot and was so kind. I drank an arrack and ginger beer with him. He asked me what I did and I immediately said ‘stunt woman’. What else to say?
Barbara and Ron (Lewcock) have worked, lived and travelled with Laki and been the closest of friends. They worked on a book together, producing what must be the seminal book on architecture in Sri Lanka ‘The Architecture of an Island’. Sadly, a lot of the buildings drawn in the book have been destroyed.
Barbara can’t speak about Laki. It’s too painful. “He was my best friend,” she says.
“He was a wonderful man and a superb artist. That’s how he expressed himself by making things. He had a lovely face and a lovely manner.”
She went on to say that Laki nearly always bought a piece of work with him when he came to visit. As a homage from one artist to another? Laki was extremely generous.
“Laki was amusing, entertaining, quite unpredictable,” according to Ron Lewcock. “He took to wearing no shirt, wore his hair long and looked as if he was independent of any kind of organised group. When I first met him, he was hanging around parks, drawing the trees and birds. Shirtless, with long hair, he looked as if he was having a wonderful time!
“Laki was also very concerned about other people. He devoted his life to supporting them. He wanted them to be independent.”
Laki tried to persuade his daughter, Mintaka, not to go to school. “Darling you can play with rocks and stones all day, walk where you want. Why do you want to go to school?” he would say. Mintaka moved to Orlando, Florida, where she still lives and Laki enjoyed his many visits to Orlando, where he painted and came back with the best exhibition (in my opinion) of paintings to show at the Barefoot Gallery. This was in October 2002, and very successful. Laki’s relationship with the Gallery has been a long and fruitful one. Dom and Laki were very good friends before the 706 and Barefoot Gallery opened and the Gallery has supported Laki’s work since its inception. He has exhibited with us many times. Laki was always painting and Dom loved collecting his work as did Anjalendran and many others.
We will miss him.
(Nazreen Sansoni was the Director of the Barefoot Gallery from 1993- 2016 and curated many of Laki’s exhibitions
at Barefoot)