On View

‘88 Acres: The Watapuluwa Housing Scheme by Minnette De Silva’

30 November 20237 July 2024

The Watapuluwa Housing Scheme in Kandy was completed in 1958, and heralded
a new form of social housing in Sri Lanka. Designed by architect Minnette De Silva
(1918–1998), the Scheme was notably created with the participation of its users.

‘88 Acres’ explores how this sprawling hillside development was ahead of its time
in providing affordable accommodation for a diverse ethno-religious community of
government public servants in Sri Lanka. Alongside a specially commissioned artists’
film by Irushi Tennekoon (b. 1989), Sumedha Kelegama (b. 1988), and Sumudu Athukorala
(b. 1980), ‘88 Acres’ looks back at the Scheme 65 years later to consider De Silva’s influences and the challenges of her design approach.

Minnette De Silva
Irushi Tennekoon, Sumedha Kelegama, and Sumudu Athukorala
Dominic Sansoni
Ulrik Plesner
Anuradha Mathur
Additional artworks in alphabetical order, by and from:
Ananda Moonasingha
Architectural Association
Associated Enterprises Limited
Kandy Public Servants’ Building Society
Katherina Tatyana
Michael Blee
Modern Architectural Research Group
Municipal Council, Kandy
Patrick Geddes
Rajitha Konara
Royal Institute of British Architects
Sounak Atta
Survey Department of Sri Lanka
The Studio of Modern Architecture, Kandy

‘88 Acres’ is curated by Sharmini Pereira and Ritchell Marcelline, with curatorial assistants,
Thinal Sajeewa and Nimaya Harris

Exhibition Design by Jonathan Edward with Exhibition Design and Production Intern Raeesah Samsudeen

Exhibition Identity by Nia Thandapani

Exhibition Production by Malshani Delgahapitiya

Editorial by Kaumadi Jayaweera

Translations by Kaumadi Alawathugoda, Miriam Naveendran, Raeesha Ikram, Ravihari Ravendrakumar,
Saambavi Sivaji, and Shiyalni Janarthanan

Education and Public Programmes by Pramodha Weerasekera assisted by Mineli Karunaratne

We would like to thank all the artists, lenders, funders,
and our Founding Patrons for their generous support
in making this exhibition possible.

Additional thanks and gratitude to:

A. M. N. Koralegedara
Akesh Fernando
Amaury Blow
Ananda Amarasiri
Anoja Seneviratne
Arj Wignaraja
Bilesha Fernando
Chinthika Gunawardana
Crescat Management, Maintenance, and Security
Desmond Perera
Detmar Blow
Dinesha Pinnagoda
Dinuk Senanayake
Don Gamini Ranjith Jayasinghe
Dr. Chandika Basnayake
Errol Perera
Eyal Weizman
Helga DeSilva Blow Perera of Helga’s Folly*
Art*Museum*Heritage*Anti Hotel *Residence* Kandy
Heshma Wignaraja
John Darlington
Jyotsna Nambiar
Kalpa Munasinghe
Kamal Sanjeewa
Kavidasan Balakrishnan
Kishan San
Lalith Kumara Aludeniya
L. H. A. Tharuka
Linuka Mallikarachchi
Council Members of the Sri Lanka Institute of Architecture
Mohamed Zarook
Nath S. Weerakoon
Neeta Suvarna
P. G. D. Dilrukshi
Priyantha Wickramaratna
Radev Basnayake
Rasika Silva
Robert Trafford
Rohana Bandara Herath
Ruwan Meegammana
Samaneh Moafi
Sandeep Gopal
Sandya Kulathunga
Selina Blow
Shathis Perera
Shivatmika S.R.
Shukla Sawant
Sonali Wijeyaratne
Susil Lamahewa
Thavisha Wickramatunga
Thushara Perera
Victoria De Silva
Yasangi Basnayake

‘88 Acres: The Watapuluwa Housing Scheme
by Minnette De Silva’ exhibition is generously supported by

British Council Sri Lanka

Officially endorsed by

World Monument Fund
Sri Lanka Institute of Architects

Additional support provided by

Art South Asia Project
Foto Design
Foundation for Arts Initiative
Advent Projects (Pvt) Ltd.

Major Benefactors and Funders of the Museum of Modern
and Contemporary Art Sri Lanka

John Keells Foundation
Nations Trust Bank
Fairfirst

Official Airline Partner

Sri Lankan Airlines

Radio Partners

Lite FM
Rhythm FM
Rock FM

Founding Patrons 2024

The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Sri Lanka is
a non-profit organisation that receives annual financial
support from a group of Founding Patrons. We proudly
recognise and thank the following Founding Patrons for
working with us to build a museum of modern and contemporary
art in Sri Lanka.

Abbas and Alnaas Esufally
Ajit and Chandani Gunewardene
Amitha, Arshia, and Shasthi Silva
Angeline Ondaatjie
Anila and Romesh Bandaranaike
Christoph Feyen
Kumar and Ranmali Mirchandani
Leena Hidaramani
Niloufer Esufally Anverally
Roshni and Sheran Fernando
Samantha de Silva
Sharmila and Akram Cassim
Shivanthi Atukorale and Ravin Basnayake

‘The Foreigners’

4 May–22 October 2023

The term ‘foreigner’ is commonly used to describe someone from another country.
Can a foreigner, however, just as easily be someone who inhabits another identity,
speaks another language, or is from another community? Moreover, can a foreigner
be someone who straddles multiple identities, languages, and communities without
neatly belonging to one?

‘The Foreigners’ brings together the works of 15 contemporary artists, who use
varying media to address the entangled ways in which foreignness is inscribed onto
them, marking them as strangers, outsiders, or transgressors. Together their works
resist, reimagine, and re-mix well-worn tropes of how otherness is categorised and foreignness is perceived.

Arjuna Gunaratne
Danushka Marasinghe
Dinelka Liyanage
Hema Shironi
Hania Luthufi
Imaad Majeed
Isuru Kumarasinghe
Janani Cooray
K K Srinath Chathuranga
Nina Mangalanayagam
Reginald S. Aloysius
S.H. Sarath
Shyama Golden
Stephen Champion
Sumudi Suraweera

‘The Foreigners’ is curated by Sandev Handy and Sharmini Pereira

Exhibition Design by Jonathan Edward

Production by Malshani Delgahapitiya

Editorial by Kaumadi Jayaweera

Translations by Kaumadi Alawathugoda, Shiyalni Janarthanan, Phusathi Liyanaarachchi, Miriam Naveendran,
Ravihari Ravendrakumar, and Saambavi Sivaji

Education and Public Programmes by Pramodha Weerasekera

We would like to thank all the artists, funders, and lenders
for their generous support in making this exhibition possible.

Additional thanks to:

Afzal Farook
Ananda Amarasiri
Anoja Seneviratne
Bilesha Fernando
Crescat Management, Security, and Maintenance
Emile Molin
Heshani Karunanayake
Jonathan Edward
Joyce Adams So
Kalpa Munasinghe
Kishan Perera
Lalindra Amarasekara
Madhavi Gore
Mohamed Zarook
Nalliney Thangavelu
Nikhil Chopra
Nilshan Fernando
Niroshi Jayasekera
Priyantha Udagedara
Rasika Silva
Rohit Gupta
Sandeep Gopal
Sanjay Kulatunga
Saskia Fernando
Shanila Alles
Thavisha Wickramatunga
Thushara Perera
Tushma Perera

‘The Foreigners’ exhibition is generously supported by

Anojie Amerasinghe and Hugues Marchand
Radhika Chopra and Rajan Anandan

European Union

Additional support provided by

British Council Sri Lanka

Major Benefactors and Funders of the Museum of Modern
and Contemporary Art Sri Lanka

John Keells Foundation
Nations Trust Bank
Fairfirst Insurance

Radio Partner

Lite FM

Founding Patrons 2023-2024

Shivanthi Atukorale and Ravin Basnayake
Sharmila and Akram Cassim
Samantha de Silva
Suresh Dominic
Abbas and Alnaas Esufally
Malik Fernando
Roshni and Sheran Fernando
Ajit and Chandani Gunewardene
Leena Hirdaramani
Anula Kusum Jayasuriya, David Gilmour, and Shani Sarkis
Kumar and Ranmali Mirchandani
Angeline Ondaatjie
Mohan Tissanayagam
Amitha, Arshia, and Shasthi Silva

‘Encounters’

11 February 2022 – 19 March 2023

Does a chance encounter between one thing and another alter how something familiar or commonplace is otherwise seen? Can two artworks placed side by side reveal something new about each of them?

This exhibition is structured as a sequence of changing displays which bring together six encounters between artworks from the 1950s to the present.

Each display revolves around and responds to a specially chosen painting drawn from the John Keells Holdings or the George Keyt Foundation art collections. The six encounters propose playful and at times contentious comparisons between the familiar and unexpected.

Visitors are invited to return to Encounters over the course of three rotations:

Rotation 1
11 February–22 May 2022

Abdul Halik Azeez
Afro-Asian Writers’ Bureau
Aubrey Collette
Martin Wickramasinghe
Permanent Bureau of Afro-Asian Writers
Senaka Senanayake

George Keyt
Pradeep Thalawatta

Asai Rasiah
George Keyt
Richard Gabriel
Susiman Nirmalavasan

Rotation 2
22 June–13 November 2022

Abdul Halik Azeez
Afro-Asian Writers’ Bureau
Aubrey Collette
Martin Wickramasinghe
Permanent Bureau of Afro-Asian Writers
Senaka Senanayake

Firi Rahman
Gamini Ratnavira
Ismeth Raheem
Laki Senanayake

Rotation 3
8 December 2022–19 March 2023

Abdul Halik Azeez
Afro-Asian Writers’ Bureau
Aubrey Collette
Martin Wickramasinghe
Permanent Bureau of Afro-Asian Writers
Senaka Senanayake

A. Mark
George Keyt
Nelun Harasgama

George Keyt
Janani Cooray

Encounters is curated by Sharmini Pereira, Chief Curator and Sandev Handy, Assistant Curator.

Exhibition and Graphic Design by Studio M: Emile Molin with Jonathan Edward assisted by Ruth Perera and Keshini Wewegama.

Translations by Kaumadi Jayaweera, Kirubalini Stephen, Miriam Naveendran, Phusathi Liyanaarachchi, Saambavi Sivaji, and Shiyalni Janarthanan.

We would like to thank all the artists, funders, and lenders for their generous support in making this exhibition possible.

Additional thanks to:

Afzal Farook
Anoja De J Seneviratne
Aravinda Dharmathilaka
C. Anjalendran
David Janszé Jr.
Dilko Samaranayake
Emile Molin
Jennifer Senanayake
Jithain Hathiramani
Jonathan Edward
Murfad Shariff
Niroshi Jayasekera
Padma Bandaranayake
Pathmanesan Prasanth
Prof. Hala Halim
Prof. Tariq Mehmood Ali
Prof. T. Sanathanan
Prof. Virinder S. Kalra
Rasika Silva
Ruvini Ekanayake and team at Crescat Boulevard
Shawnerine Abraham
Shayari de Silva
Stefan Winkler
Thisath Thoradeniya
Udaya Hewawasam

‘Encounters’ is generously supported by

Nations Trust Bank

Additional support provided by

Asian Hotels and Properties PLC
European Union
Fairfirst Insurance
Foundation for Arts Initiatives
Goethe Institut Sri Lanka
John Keells Foundation
MICD Associates
Studio M – CMB (Pvt) Ltd

‘one hundred thousand small tales’

19 December 2019–16 August 2020

In 2003, Cheran, a leading contemporary Tamil poet, published a poem where he described how a

“… bridge, strengthened by its burden
of a hundred thousand tales
collapses within a single tear.”

This exhibition draws its title, and curatorial impetus, from the exercise of imagining how the poem’s burden of countless tales might be conceived as an exhibition. To this end, it views the collapse of a physical structure as a tipping point that gives rise to a body of knowledge, of excessive and epic proportions, and how this excess might be displayed, arranged, catalogued and understood. From afar, this exhibition addresses the task of recording an art history in terms of an artistic output that bore witness to many narratives, episodes, and accounts of what has come to pass in Sri Lanka during its recent history. Up close, it recognises the strength of Sri Lanka’s artistic communities across several generations and the artworks that they have given form to, as the material manifestation of the poem’s ‘hundred thousand tales’. In doing so, the exhibition positions each artwork as a unique tale, seeing the potential each one possesses to tell or retell a story, depart from a story, or to remain silent. This exhibition is indebted to the countless exhibitions that have taken place over previous decades, and the efforts of many artists, curators, collectives, writers, collectors and organisations, as well as those to come.

This exhibition was originally commissioned by the Dhaka Art Summit and was first shown at the Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka from 2–10 February 2018

We would like to thank all the artists and lenders for their
generous support in making this exhibition possible.

Major Benefactors:

AOD Colombo (Pvt) Ltd
John Keells Foundation
MICD Associates

This exhibition would not have been possible without the immense generosity of:

ApiHappi
AzkoNobel
Colombo Innovation Tower
Elephant House
Fairfirst Insurance Limited
Geoffrey Bawa Trust
Gunaratne Offset (Pvt) Ltd
Idea Hub (Pvt) Ltd
M3Force Photonics (Pvt) Ltd
Samdani Art Foundation
True Value Green Products (Pvt) Ltd
VK Enterprises (Pvt) Ltd
Wijeya Newspapers
Wineworld (Pvt) Ltd

Gallery 1
Home, Land, Survey, Country

1Fig. 1 90° 18’ 43.057 N 80° 47’ 11.726, E (2014)

Cassie Machado (b. 1982)

2Barrelism Tourist Map (1997)

Chandraguptha Thenuwara (b. 1960)

3GPS Drawing: Jaffna to Delft, 9.30 am to 10.30 am, Boat, 10 Feb 2015 (2015)

Muhanned Cader (b. 1966)

4GPS Drawing: Jaffna Hostel (Kalviyankadu) to Ramanathan Academy (Maruthanarmadam), Three-wheeler, 12 km, 26 April 2012 (2012)

Muhanned Cader (b. 1966)

5GPS Drawings, England 2011, Oxford to Paddington, Train, 1.01 pm to 2 pm, 2011 (2011)

Muhanned Cader (b. 1966)

6GPS drawing: Killinochi to Vavuniya, Train, 2011 (2011)

Muhanned Cader (b. 1966)

7GPS Drawing: Kudirimale to Wilpattu National Park Gate, 53km, 1.40 pm to 5.40 pm, Jeep, 7 October 2017 (2017)

Muhanned Cader (b. 1966)

8GPS Drawing: Fuengirola to Córdoba, 8.30 am to 11.18 am, Bus, 9 August 2017 (2017)

Muhanned Cader (b. 1966)

9GPS Drawing: Babaragasthalawa to Kumana campsite, 10 km, 1.15 hr, Jeep Toyota 4×4, June 2011 (2011)

Muhanned Cader (b. 1966)

10Independence Day Colombo 1991 (1991)

Stephen Champion (b. 1959)

11St Peter’s Old Boys Reunion, Colombo (1991)

Stephen Champion (b. 1959)

12Private Lessons, Colombo (1991)

Stephen Champion (b. 1959)

13Rosie’s Deportment Class, Colombo (1989)

Stephen Champion (b. 1959)

14Tourist, Ahungalla (1991)

Stephen Champion (b. 1959)

15Spoken English, Balangoda (1988)

Stephen Champion (b. 1959)

16If You Boycott the Elections the Penalty Is Death, PRRA, Peoples Revolutionary Red Army, Galle (1989)

Stephen Champion (b. 1959)

17Corridors of Power: Drawing and Modelling Sri Lanka’s Tryst with Democracy (2015)

Channa Daswatte (b. 1965), Sanjana Hattotuwa (b. 1977), Asanga Welikala (b. 1976)

18Andare of Sri Lanka (1978)

Tilak Samarawickrema (b. 1943)

19Andare of Sri Lanka (1978)

Tilak Samarawickrema (b. 1943)

20Ceylon Since Soulbury Part I: A History in Cartoons by Collette (1948)

Aubrey Collette (1920–1992)

21Sinhala English Dictionary in a Steel Jail (2007)

Kingsley Gunatillake (b. 1951)

22The One Year Drawing Project: May 2005–October 2007 (2008)

Muhanned Cader (b. 1966) , T. Shanaathanan (b. 1969), Chandraguptha Thenuwara (b. 1960), Jagath Weerasinghe (b. 1954)

23Purification Ritual in the Manik Ganga, Kataragama, Ceylon (1957)

Reg van Cuylenburg (1926–1988)

24Hindu Penitent with Kavadi, Kataragama, Ceylon (1957)

Reg van Cuylenburg (1926–1988)

25Hindu Penitent, Kataragama, Ceylon (1957)

Reg van Cuylenburg (1926–1988)

26Nowhere Is Now Here (1985)

Laki Senanayake (b. 1937)

See All

Gallery 2
Gaze, Self, Portrait

27Me, Myself and I (2010)

Arjuna Gunarathne (b. 1976)

28Masked JVP Supporter, Tangalle (1987)

Stephen Champion (b. 1959)

29Female Searching, Checkpoint at Pallai (2007)

Stephen Champion (b. 1959)

30–33Untitled (c. 1930s)

W. J. G. Beling (1907–1992)

34Do Not Measure Me (2001)

T. P. G. Amarajeewa (b. 1972)

35I Let My Hair Loose: Protest Series II (2010)

Anoli Perera (b. 1962)

36I Let My Hair Loose: Protest Series I (2010)

Anoli Perera (b. 1962)

37I Let My Hair Loose: Protest Series IV (2010)

Anoli Perera (b. 1962)

38Living Sculpture (2004)

Sujeewa Kumari (b. 1971)

39Broken Hands (1998/1999)

Pradeep Chandrasiri (b.1968)

40Somewhere Between Truth and Its Telling (2007/2012)

Ruhanie Perera (b. 1979)

41Somewhere Between Truth and Its Telling (2007/2012)

Ruhanie Perera (b. 1979)

42Broken Palmyrah (1999)

Godwin R. Constantine (b. 1964)

43Safety Pin (2009)

Manori Jayasinghe (b. 1972)

44Lionel Wendt Caricature (c. 1940s)

Aubrey Collette (b. 1920–1992)

See All

Gallery 3
Landscape / Landscapes, Territory

45–59Nightscapes (1999)

Muhanned Cader (b. 1966)

60–62Nightscapes (1999)

Muhanned Cader (b. 1966)

63Nightscapes (1999)

Muhanned Cader (b. 1966)

64Ravana (1991)

Nillanthan (b.1965)

65This Is Not a White Flag VII (2012)