Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Sri Lanka

தமிழ் සිංහල

Upcoming

Three Songs of Ceylon
23 January–11 February 2026
The Stables, Park Street Mews, Colombo 2

‘Three Songs of Ceylon’ takes as its starting point a propaganda film titled ‘The Song of Ceylon’ (1934) commissioned under British colonial rule.

This exhibition traces how, in the decades that followed, two artists re-visited this film from two distinct vantage points, each producing an alternate ‘song’ as a response.

By bringing together each of these three songs of Ceylon into conversation with recent moving image works by contemporary artists, this exhibition explores how stories are told, retold, and unsettled through the medium of moving images.

Curated by Sandev Handy, assisted by Thinal Sajeewa and Nimaya Harris, the exhibition features works by Bani Abidi (b.1971), Basil Wright (1907–1987), Imaad Majeed (b.1991), John Grierson (1897–1972), Laleen Jayamanne (b.1947), Lionel Wendt (1900–1944), Mark LaPore (1952–2005), Rosalind Nashashibi (b.1973), Sharika Navamani (b.1990), and Walter Leigh (1905–1942).

‘Three Songs of Ceylon’ is presented as part of the Art Exchange: Moving Image programme, which is supported by the British Council and organised by LUX and Art South Asia Project. The exhibition is generously supported by Park Street Mews, Goethe Institut Sri Lanka, Fulbright Sri Lanka and American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies. The MMCA Sri Lanka is supported by their Major Benefactor, John Keells Foundation, and the MMCA Sri Lanka Founding Patrons.

About

The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Sri Lanka is a new education-led initiative that aims to establish a public museum dedicated to the display, research, collection and conservation of Sri Lankan modern and contemporary art.

Our priority is to create a museum that is compelling, inclusive and relevant to the art histories that are unique to the contexts of Sri Lanka.

In the coming years, the museum will be defined through a process of exploration into what a museum of the future can be, who it will serve and how it will function. Through a process of reflecting aloud and in collaboration with different audiences, we hope this initiative will provide the opportunity to think about the space of a museum in different ways.

How can we approach language, class and socio-economic barriers to ensure that we are more inclusive and reflective of the contexts in which we are located? What can we learn and adapt from museums around the world? How will we contribute to the changing role of museums today? We will continue to pose these questions and those like them, in the belief that the museum it gives rise to will be better because of it.

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