On View
Three Songs of Ceylon
23 January 202611 February 2026
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.
‘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.
Bani Abidi
Basil Wright
Imaad Majeed
John Grierson
Laleen Jayamanne
Lionel Wendt
Mark LaPore
Rosalind Nashashibi
Sharika Navamani
Walter Leigh
Curated by Sandev Handy, assisted by Thinal Sajeewa and Nimaya Harris
Exhibition Design by Jonathan Edward assisted by Raeesah Samsudeen and
Shamod Dilshan
Exhibition Production by Malshani Delgahapitiya with Hussain and Hassan Nizam
Editorial by Kaumadi Jayaweera
Translations by Ambikai Forman, Kaumadi Alawathugoda, Miriam Naveendran, Piyumi Wattuhewa, and Shiyalini Janarthanan
We would like to thank all the artists, lenders, funders, and our Founding Patrons for the generous support in making this exhibition possible.
Additional thanks and gratitude to:
Sophia Sansoni
Savani Ranasinghe
Vindhya Attygalle
Benjamin Cook
Moira Lindsay
Chloe Austin
Laura.Peterle
Leah McGurk
Sarah Rajper
Delani Pietersz
Anuj Malhotra
Bunu Dhungan
Kehkasha Sabah
Alison Rooke
Mala Yamey
Nour Aslam
Kuhu Kopariha
Nilushika Wittachy
Tashiana Yu
Tasneem Moosajee
Zachary Epcar
John Rogers
Ramla Wahab-Salman
Amali Wijesundara
Patrick McNamara
Akshay Senanayake
Isa Spoerry
Soraya Fajudeen
Stefan Winkler
Jan Ramesh de Saram
Kishan Perera
Estate of Mark LaPore
Yasaru Construction
Akesh Fernando
Kamal Sanjeewa
Anoja Seneviratne
Neeta Suvarna
Nishantha Hettiarachchi
Bilesha Fernando
Dinesha Pinnagoda
Rasika Silva
Shathis Perera
Dinuk Senanayake
Jagath Weerasinghe
Kalpa Munasinghe
P. G. D. Dilrukshi
Soniya Rajendran
Sujeewa De Silva
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