“Let’s migrate to the “wounderment ” of our lives, to poetry itself,” she urges, asking for reflection, playfulness and complex public conversations, offering a portmanteau between ‘wondering’ and ‘wounding’, as an embodiment of our condition.

The seventh edition of the interdisciplinary art festival Colomboscope that opens this week uses Vicuna’s words as a springboard to similarly explore and unpack several concepts embedded in our everyday – some more pertinent than ever before in light of COVID-19, migration flows and changing political and social contexts.

This year’s festival brings together over 50 Sri Lankan and international artists, with a special focus on South Asian dialogue and encounters with cultural practitioners from the diaspora. Curated by Anushka Rajendran with artistic director Natasha Ginwala, Colomboscope explores concepts of belonging, identity, mobility, hybrid identities and more.

For instance, Rajni Perera’s work at Colomboscope is a result of a residency experimenting with studio pottery, inspired by utilitarian clay vessels found across the island. It also responds to forms such as cones and spheres long associated with sacred energy diagrams related to Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism. Belinda Zhawi’s sound work, ‘Black Skin, White Lines’ (Episode Two, Track 2) and her use of her matrilineal totem of the zebra becomes a personal balancing act while also drawing attention to the distinctions of animal and human. Danushka Marasinghe’s artistic practice maintains an interest in surveillance culture, histories of violence, and the spectacle economy while Mounira al Solh’s work at Colomboscope includes an ongoing collaborative project: ‘In Blood In Love’ involves 24 women in Sri Lanka, responding to lexicons of love through embroidery, dialogue and language.

For Colomboscope, Pangrok Sulap – a collective of artists, musicians, and activists based in Sabah, Malaysia – collaborated over several months with the Sri Lankan music group The Soul reflecting on shared similarities and the histories of both countries. The woodcut print produced and sent by Pangrok Sulap to Colombo is based on these exchanges and will be presented with a performance by The Soul at the Colombo Public Library.

Adopting a responsive festival model, Colomboscope has also adapted to the global changes over the past years holding workshops and outreach programmes, online screenings, collaborations and more.

Colomboscope 2022 will be open from January 21 to 30. All events are free and open to all.

Exhibitions and events are spread over six venues across Colombo: Colombo Public Library, Rio Complex, Barefoot Gallery, W.A. Silva Museum, Lak Café – Viharamahadevi Park and Lakmahal Community Library.

Events are at limited capacity. For the full list of events, registration and more info, please visit: https://www.colomboscope.lk/programmes

Event spotlight

Date and time : January 21 – 30, 4 – 6 pm (daily) Location : Lak Café, Viharamahadevi Park Event : Conversations, readings and performances: The Hearing Voices Café The Hearing Voices Café, a project by Dora Garcia, held in different parts of the world, will be realized in Sri Lanka for the first time. Participants include: Arka Initiative, Everystory, Harshana Rambukwella, Iffath Neetha Utthumalebbe, Jayampathi Guruge, Kanchana Malshani, Kasun Chathuranga, Omar Kasmani, Shehan Karunatilaka, Neloufer de Mel, Stages Theatre Group and more. Date and time : Friday, January 21, 6.30pm – 8.15pm Location : Barefoot Gallery Event : Conversations: Artist Encounters & Translocal Solidarity Dialogues among Colomboscope’s cultural practitioners about their processes, research, collaborations and more. Part I features: Areez Katki, Hema Shironi, T. Vinoja, Omer Wasim and Anushka Rajendran. Part II with: Palesh Bhattacharjee, Lavkant Chaudhary, Natasha Ginwala and Kirubalini Stephen. Date and time : Saturday, January 22, 4 – 5 pm Location : Rio Cinema Complex (third floor) Event : Artist tour: Fragile inheritance A walkthrough and discussion with Aamina Nizar and Megara Tegal on the disappearance of Gundul (the Malay script), familial stories and the evolution of Sri Lanka’s Malay community. Date and time : Saturday, January 22, 7.30pm onwards Location : Rio Cinema Event : Performance: Aaraniyam Four contemporary performers and dancers – Srikannan, Ragaventhan, Shalini and Yalini – use improvised choreography combining theatre and narrative elements, responding to poems by Packiyanathan Ahilan. The collective will plot visualization elements in collaboration with Lalindra Amarasekara. Date and time : Saturday and Sunday, January 22 & 23, 10am – 12pm Location : Colombo Public Library (Children’s Library, 1st floor) Event : Children’s Workshop: Our land, inner land with Malki Jayakody Artists Malki Jayakody will lead a children’s workshop on mixed media collage making. This workshop engages with reflecting on the ways our built horizon changes and the ways of recording living history. Date and time : Sundays January 23 & 30 , 10 – 11am Location : W.A. Silva Museum Event : Walking tour: Neighbourhood movements Led by Phusathi Liyanaarachchi and Zul Luthufi, the tour narrates a history of labour unrest, feminist engagement through the Polytechnic while memorialising the Black July pogrom, neighbourhood stories from residents and migratory histories. Date and time : Sunday January 23, 11am – 12pm Location : Lakmahal Community Library Event : Workshop: Reading for life beyond tea Led by cultural anthropologist, Mythri Jegathesan, participants will be asked to reflect about the language, labour and Malayaka Tamil estate workers that make Ceylon Tea possible.

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