‘Colouring with Jasmine Nilani’
About the Series ‘Address of Residence’
“These works talk about two different places, Jaffna and Vavuniya. My family moved from Jaffna and settled in Vavuniya because of the civil war. I returned to Jaffna to study art in 2010 and decided to continue my practice as an artist there. I live in Jaffna on rent. My family is still in Vavuniya. I struggle to choose one place as my studio and permanent residence. I can’t decide yet. This series expresses this tension.”
The Landscape
Jaffna–“I see huge old churches and the fences (resettlement fences and the high security zone fences). And, damaged houses of people with Bougainvillea trees in recently released land. Some of them are still abandoned. Some old houses near Jaffna town are let out on rent by the land owners.”
Vavuniya–“The place where my family lives is a village created through a housing scheme project around twenty years ago. The land here was an illegal quarry before the settlement. Today, people have some issues: the foundations are unsteady, sometimes moving, sometimes perishing. People here face difficulties with getting water. So the village has lots of deep tube wells. With limited space here we could build only a very small church.”
Pick your drawing:
Address of Residence I
Address of Residence II
Address of Residence III
Address of Residence IV
“I was born in Jaffna, in 1990. In 1995, my family moved to Vavuniya because of the civil war. I finished my school education in 2009, and then studied for a BFA degree at the University of Jaffna. My ambition was to be an artist, and it came true. I have participated in exhibitions in Colombo, Goa, New Delhi and Dhaka. I now live and work in Jaffna, Sri Lanka as a practicing artist.”
—Jasmine Nilani Joseph, 2020
This worksheet ‘Colouring with Jasmine Nilani’ was contributed by artist Jasmine Nilani Joseph
