My intention is to pursue a practice-based research project titled “The paradise in a changing world” A pictorial and conceptual excavation of location and identities within a post-colonial framework. Through a series of projects which combine paintings and installations, I intend to explore post-colonial transformation and its current situations through the case study of Sri Lanka. I will explore how does modern Sri Lankan identity is reformed through internal and external cultural factors and its current crisis. The influences of other cultures such as European, American and Indian within the Sri Lankan community and displacement and complexity of ethnic conflict of the present days will be more concerned in order to critically represent transition through my art practice. In future studies the terms of identities, post-colonialism, modernism and hybridity will be used in order to critically define my art practice. Furthermore, the research will be developed with limitation to contemporary art practice.
Research questions
1) How does Sri Lankan identity re-form as a result of hybridity? What are the effects of external influences, ethnic conflict and civil war? What are the subsequent cultural and social reformations?
2) Are all identities subject to change? What are the social reactions, against new changes? In this situation, which people are prioritising, invariably influence and subject to changed. I will develop this idea through study of young Sri Lankan contemporary artist’s activities. During the 1990s, many young artists were trying to make experimental pieces of work. This situation led to the development of cultural debate of the national identities among the political and cultural establishments in Sri Lanka.
3) How do contemporary artists identify and respond to post-colonial situations, and how do they express their experiences and thoughts throughout their art practices? How to develop concepts and discourse around the context of The paradise in a changing world through my personal art practices, using a combination of material, things, places, weaving, colouring and making?
Aims of study
1. To explore and question cultural transition in order to study location and identity in a Sri Lankan context and to make a comparison between the contemporary situation and historical visual records to critically appraise stereotypes and fixities.
2. To investigate the meaning and significance of modern art as a visual cultural product in Sri Lanka in order to explore the meaning and significance of vivid juxtaposition of traditional elements and ultra modern forms based on the interaction between traditional and transition.
3. To provide a personal, visual response to which explores the truth and transition of visual identities from a contemporary perspective and to develop a new body of work, which explores the post colonial transition of Sri Lanka.
4. To reveal the post-colonial conflict situation in order to reconsider the complicity of multiculturalism and transition.
5. To reveal the external cultural and economical influences on contemporary Sri Lanka.
Objectives
1. To disclose the impact of cultural transition on the subjectivity of identities through image making, photography, personal commentaries, narratives and essay writing.
2. To reconsider the official historical records (that directed by studio project) such as texts, documentary films and photographs to develop personal narratives and studio projects. This will include making a linear time line of the transition. Fragmented memories will be collected through photography and archives.
3. To provide a personal, visual response to which explores the truth and transition of visual identities from a contemporary perspective and to develop a new body of work, which explores the post colonial transition of Sri Lanka.
4. To reveal the post-colonial conflict situation in order to reconsider the complicity of multiculturalism and transition.
5. To reveal the external cultural and economical influences on contemporary Sri Lanka.
Outcomes
I will make a new body of work in mixed media, including paintings and installation. Through the juxtaposition of found, made and painted images I will explore the aspects of transition and overlapping cultural identities in Sri Lanka. The installations will be developed using a juxtaposition of painting, photograph and sculptures. A range of methods, including nomadic ways of representation as well as various materials will be used. The ways of representation can be changed over the project development. The research objective is to carry out a wide range of research around the idea of location and visual identities from an art practitioner’s point of view.
The works that produced during the period of research will be exhibited in different formats such as websites and exhibitions.
Research context and contemporary art practice
Research context
“Do island exist? Has the rising tide of globalisation submerged all borders? The boundaries of culture are not as stable as they once were,” (Papastergiadis, 1998, p215)
In many cases the word ‘island’ is a paradisiacal idea. Its habitant, landscape, flora and fauna, culture and living habit may be take deferent mode than the identity of mainland and there will be a different meaning to strangers. So outsiders can be seen the notion of island as a paradise, wiled and fertile, dark, open or strange (Papastergiadis, 1998). All those ideas make myths and fantasies of Island. The stories of Cannibalism, Pirates of Caribbean and mythological figures on the canvas of Paul Gauguin can be seen as the examples for above idea. ‘From the Shakespeare’s The Tempest to Stevenson’s Treasure Island, the story of the island was related from beyond its shores’ (Papastergiadis, 1998, p217).
The island can be a metaphor for space in which relationship between human and nature (Papastergiadis, 1998). Without any influences from the outside world the inhabitants of the island will generate their own lifestyle. In this sense the identity can be fixed on an island, but in the case of Sri Lanka the idea of fixed identity was a controversial subject matter in the face of globalisation.
Sri Lanka is an island in South Asia, located off the southern cost of India with over two thousand years of colourful history. It is located on a major sea route between West Asia and South Asia which was part of the ancient Silk Road. In this case the islands economy and culture has opened up to outside world up to certain level. Sri Lanka was known as Taprobane, Pearl of the Indian Ocean, Thambapanni or most popularly Ceylon among the travellers or merchants (Weerasinghe, 2003). The culture of the island had been considerably influenced from the outside world such as India, China, Japan and Europe. The island had spent over three hundred years of colonial rule under the Portuguese, Dutch and the British. Within the colonization the borders of the island had been expanded beyond the Indian Ocean making new contacts with the outside world. Then during the post colonial era the transition of the island has been evident in many areas. So, today the island is not a place where it was (Papastergiadis, 1998). It is a something more complex and controversial subject matter.
Transition and ethnic conflict
Nowadays there are two types of cultural and social backgrounds have been evident in Sri Lanka. When, one part of Sri Lankan society is experiencing the globalisation under the dark shadows of ethnic conflict, and the other area is experiencing cruelty of war, dislocation and the prospect of hopeless future. In order to this situation, I shall argue that the transition of contemporary Sri Lankan society is continuing into future with two different factors; the external and internal factors. The external fact is global process and the internal factors are ethnicity and multiculturalism. With this background, contemporary Sri Lankan society is experiencing not only cultural reformation or deformation but also cultural fluidity. Since the end of the 1980’s globalisation was affected to a greater level to reformed Sri Lankan identity in same strength the internal factors such as ethnic conflict and war deformed once hybrid contemporary Sri Lankan identity. There are some deep political and social realities around this situation. At the same time my intention is not to talk about these deep political realities of Sri Lanka but in order to make a critical debate around my art practice I will be considered the key political and social issues in contemporary Sri Lanka. I will be developed this argument through my personnel experiences.
In Victorian times pictures of the Buddha, Queen Mary or Victoria, Jesus and Siva were painted using unified style (Sri Lankan and Indian artists painted those pictures and several companies printed them commercially) and placed over the doorways and living rooms of privet houses. One of my grandmother’s the chambers of worship was full of Buddhist and Hindu gods and they were respected in same way. Many bus and lorry drivers placed framed pictures of Buddha, Shiva, Nat Raj, Jesus, Scripts from Islam and Lakshmi (Goddess of wealth) in above front of driving seat without any contrast. They respected and practised each other’s cultures. Even my mother used to go to both Buddhist and Hindu temples. In another words Sri Lankans were practising a kind of innovative culture. We celebrate each other’s New Year and practice cultural events. The question is that, why these kind of mixed societies try to separate. In order to better understand this I will consider ideas of Dharani Senanayake.
In her essay Senanayake recognised Vanni border regions (Northern Sri Lanka) as one of most diverse areas outside the islands capital of Colombo (2004). She draws her attention to analysed why and how ones highly mixed, often hybrid and multicultural country transformed in to a conflict land. The people (Tamil, Sinhalese, and Muslims) spoke each other’s language, worshiped each other’s religion and practised each other’s cultures. Officer of the Land settlement department (1908) Englishman John Still wrote that, ‘In the north of Sri Lanka as in England there is a border where two races meet.... The northern frontier were Tamils and Sinhalese join hands’ (pp123). Still report this without any scientific racial classifications. He might be recognised Sinhalese and Tamil as different ethnic groups although he may be perceive Scottish and English as two different races. Since 1980’s the people who lived in those areas had been separated; the once mixed multicultural community had been separated. The ones culturally mixed lands became border lands. The multi ethnic and multi cultural villages became battle fields for Tamil tigers and government troops. The innocent people were separated and dislocated; many of them lived in refugee camps and others flee to different countries establishing Sri Lankan Tamil diasporas around the world. These historical realities continued regularly until today and young generation have no idea about their actual identity or history. They have educated themselves as Tamils, Sinhalese or Muslims. I will consider Senanayake, R, D. Identity on the borderline: modernity, new ethnicities, and the unmaking of multiculturalism in Sri Lanka. In Silva, N (eds) (2004) The Hybrid Island–Cultural Crossings and the Invention of Identity in Sri Lanka: Colombo and works by Sri Lankan Jaffna base artist K. Sanathanen’s work in order to study transition and ethnic conflict.
Transition; Traditions, socialism & capitalism
Dynamic changes have happened in Sri Lanka since end of 1970’s. Sri Lanka began to turn away from a socialist orientation in 1977. Since then, the government has been deregulating, privatizing, and opening up the economy to international competition (Samarasiri, 2008). At that time, the economy moved from socialism to capitalism. Many Euro-American multinational companies established their brand names in the country. Furthermore, through the regional friendship and power, Japanese and Chinese consumer goods such as electronic and automobile became essential to day-today life.
Other than consumer behaviour, social values, traditions and beliefs have also been changed. For instance, in contemporary Sri Lankan understand of gender issues such as sex, feminism, fashion and entertainment become nomadic. Another example, some traditions are timeless and unchanged but some are flexible in the face of global changes such as in contemporary wedding, where tradition is followed, the bride wears traditional costume, the groom wears a European suit and in Sri Lankan farmers using modern technology within traditional technology.
Also social life has been considerably changed. Vikram Singh states that:
“Examples of global interconnectedness are all around us: in the shows we watch, the cloths we wear, the cars people drive. But just how far this hybridity reaches was driven home recently by an ad for MTV in Asiaweek. The advert is a piece of lined notebook paper: “Urgent!” it says at the top, “… We need an ad pronto to announce this startling fact: MTV actually reaches more homes in Asia that it does in the U.S, Asia-110millon U.S.-77 million” (Singh, 2002 p138).
Extensive numbers of viewers are gathering around the media like MTV and this is effectively changing the traditional way of life. For instance, the younger generation act, dress or behave like Western gangsters or “Fifty Cents”. Most of young Sri Lankan singers are directly influenced by American popular culture. Due to the celebrity as well as the power, the East is frequently adapting to new arrivals from the West. Against this background, the nature of Asian societies is becoming nomadic. For instance, the post-colonial cosmopolitan Colombo cityscape is a mixture of new and old life. New sky scrapers and colonial architecture are proudly standing side by side. International dining, global fashion, modern vehicles, shopping mall, various posters, advertisements, publications and satellite TV are together with traditional way of life (Kumari, 2003).
The current generations of Sri Lankan are experiencing transition and they are becoming part of global process. Moreover, the people who gather around the urban areas are constructing new identities, changing the characteristics of nations. Hence, the individual is neither traditional nor westernised. Transition is evident internally and externally within the individual.
In parallel to this economic and social transformation several internal social tensions have been developed specially among the Sri Lankan rural youth who lived in southern Sri Lanka. Les infrastructure facilities, poor education, unemployment and anti Western activities have led to developed contradictions and social reactions against the current economic system. For instance, the Para military and rebel groups started activities against the present political and economical system. This engagement was totally different than the Tamil liberation army’s engagement, if Tamil Tigers against to Singhalese oriented government the Sinhala youth were against their own government. This fusion of social, cultural and political change and contestation formed my life experience as an emerging artist. Within my life time I have experienced two militant engagements; the just finished thirty years old Tamil Elam war and Sinhalese youth armed struggle against the Sri Lankan Government from 1986 to 1989. The large-scale violence spread over the southern and northern part of the country. So these issues become one of the pictorial elements in my studio work.
In this situation rather than the merging of two or more different ethnic groups or religious groups, most of the current changes are happening through mass communication and globalisation. Under the title “The paradise in a changing world”, I intend to study Transition through the examination of post-colonial and contemporary symbols within the socio-political context of Sri Lanka. Therefore, the cultural hybridity, merging or juxtaposition of “External” perspectives with “Native” traditions are key features of contemporary Sri Lanka. “Global capitalism and global telecommunication have recently added new dimensions - as well as misapprehensions – to the image of Asia” (Poshyanada, 1996 p23). The disciplinary displacement of identities in the present world is becoming a unique experience. In this situation, the talk of ‘pure’ national identities can no longer be valid.
The history of contemporary Sri Lankan art and my art practise
The beginning of contemporary Sri Lankan art remains the end of 1980’s with related to above mentioned socio political backgrounds. Several commercial gallery spaces had been opened and their priority was young artists. For instance, The Paradise Road Galleries and 706 Galleries facilitate to the several group shows and experimental artists. Also the artists who actively participated in contemporary art were imbued with the experiences and memories of civil wars and continued ‘Blood Rivers’ political killings, the result of racism and party politics (Weerasinghe, 2003). Sri Lankan society with its long Buddhist culture and history was shocked by this calamitous turn of events. In order to this, the art that developed in this background reflects post colonial social conflicts, violence and an under developed consumer society. In other words, the contemporary art in Sri Lanka became directly concerned with living reality. To contextualise the development and establishment of Sri Lankan contemporary art I will be concerned leading artists, major exhibitions and artists groups in Sri Lanka within the future research.
· “Anxiety” (1992) the exhibition of paintings by Jagath Weerasinghe remains one of milestone in the Sri Lankan art history. ‘Titled ‘Anxiety’, the exhibition of ten oils and twenty acrylics was the product of an intense year of creative activity’- Bandaranayale, S. and Dharmasiry, A. (2009) Sri Lankan painting in the 20th century Colombo. This exhibition had been established and announced the new era of paintings to Sri Lankan art audience. Studying art in America and visiting west his works displays artistic intelligence, sophistication and creativity.
· I will consider, Foster, Y. The performance of hybridity in the visual culture of No order group of Sri Lanka. In Silva, N (eds) (2004) The Hybrid Island–Cultural Crossings and the Invention of Identity in Sri Lanka: Colombo. She considers works by Jagath Weerasinghe, Kingslee Gunathilaka and Chandraguptha Thenuwara. In this essay she developed her argument keeping these artists works in contemporary stage and discussed within current socio political situations.
· Weerasinghe, J. (2000) Made in IAS (Exhibition catalogue) 706 Gallery, Sri Lanka. Made in IAS was a group exhibition that holds at 2000 at 706 galleries in Colombo. Majority of exhibiting artists were fellow students that graduated from Institute of aesthetic studies Colombo (Today University of fine art Sri Lanka). The exhibition curator was Jagath Weerasinghe. The artists of this exhibition were highly influenced from No Order Group artists and their major concerns were more controversial and debatable subject maters. Most of works talk about domestic life, politics or capitalism.
As an art student I could visit most of above mentioned art events that hold in Sri Lanka and I wanted to be one of them. I continued my art practice with two identities. I worked as an experimental artist as well as an exhibiting artist and I supplied mural paintings to interior designers. As an experimental artist I have developed several installations and experimental paintings in Sri Lanka. With closet connections with mural paintings of temples in Sri Lanka most of my paintings derives, elements of traditional painting in Sri Lanka. Majority of my paintings well detailed, colourful and carefully constructed. Even in the early stage of the artist career I was lucky enough to exhibit my work in leading Sri Lankan galleries and internationally. They were colourful and eye catching.
The interest of experiment in art had further developed after joined to the college of contemporary art and graphic design in University of Leeds Metropolitan in 2006. The final MA project was consisted of series of paintings and an installation. The installation comprised of about ten inch height plaster-of-Paris human shaped objects (thirty of them in the installation) that covered by pasting Asian materials and placed them on a Sri Lanka map.
The Asian materials such as lentil, rice and tea had been pasted on the objects giving multiple meanings, texture and colour. They symbolised several South Asian cultural and economical situations. The camouflaged and burned human figures represented aspects of the present human conditions in Sri Lanka. Tea and lentil were imported to Sri Lanka in two different socio political backgrounds. Tea had been introduced during the colonial period and Lentil in the post-colonial period. They were not native products but today the tea plays a major cultural and economical role in contemporary Sri Lanka. Rice and fabric were directly symbolised of the current economic situation. These materials suggested physiological meanings for my works and they projected certain socio political conditions of Sri Lanka. So, after received positive feedback to MA project show I have encouraged myself to continue my art practice with more theoretical way.
After joined practise based research I am thinking about some sort of transition in my studio work. I will look at new artistic methods and explore diverse representations within the period of research. This idea will be followed by research into new artistic materials and flexible as well as more practical ways of representations. My major concern is to research how to represent certain location and its rapid transition through the media of contemporary art practice. The work will be developed in different scale and using different medium but they will be titled under one idea which is project title The paradise in a changing world. The whole practice will not be contemplated individually but would be contemplated as a process.
Working alongside with very different style and techniques, I am trying to develop an innovative and creative ideas and complex methodologies of art making. It defines how two different medium can hybrid and inspire each other creating exploratory and innovative visual vocabulary within colour and material.
My current work could be read as the process of painting and material. I use collage and found objects as hybrid medium juxtapose with colour. Then the material represents colour, texture and shape. This pursues several artistic ideas. The first one is to experiment in using different artistic elements. The birds, flowers, butterflies and insects exempt traditional colour applying methods. Also it makes a complex ambiguous visual environment on the canvas giving multiple meanings. Within the last century the collage had established as an accepted art medium around the western world but still in Sri Lanka it is not well established art medium. The use of collage and objects changes the established idea of art. It rejects Indian ancient artistic methods such as rasa theory and established European artistic ideals. Then the use of collage changes accepted role of the artist.
The current series of art work that I am working now follows above mentioned discourse which is ‘The paradise in a changing world’. The paradise is an unattainable place, even commerce attempt to lure us in to its wonderlands and holiday destinations. The current works questions the notions of paradise and critically address its current situations.
The paintings and floor installations composed of collage and objects; artificial flowers, toys, collage and circuit boards imply to the complex and transitional nature of location. In this new work I address the characteristics of the paradise motifs which are new and old. My motherland, which in the case I am using as the case study become the subject of cultural and political struggle during the last three decades. In the work, I explore the beautiful, painful, lost and alien elements of the paradise, concerning the changes to the landscape and living conditions. The paintings depict its traditional and contemporary characters such as gods, heroes and hybrid human figures.
Different objects or paper cuttings such as birds, flowers, insects or printed medical illustrations are juxtaposed within the painted passages giving multiple meanings and ideas. Those materials have juxtaposed over and over on the canvas or board making complex, ambiguous and rough surface and over painted using acrylic or oil. This process made thousand of accidental moments on the canvas developing speculative forms.
The flowers, birds, insects and butterflies have suggested elements of the paradise and medical illustrations, circuit board and toy soldiers are visible making contrast in the both paintings and installations. In many case my country is still managed to secure its paradisiacal elements. But, inside this shell, as I mentioned before, there are many complex situations evident during the last thirty years. Good and bad beauty and horror tradition and modern are together within the day-today life. The transition is evident positive as well as negative ways. As an artist my intention is not to criticise those issues but I am observing them and expect to mediate territories of the transition with a theoretical dialogue. The idea of making this new work is to create alternative visual images through contemporary art practice. The viewers will be observed paintings within different distance and angles. A visual and intellectual conversation will be developed in between painting and viewer.
The art work explores landscape as a figurative visual vocabulary. According to Asian teaching the land identified as a holy place or figurative metaphors such as Mother Land or God of Earth. In this context most of my landscape paintings holds human shapes. The shapes of the figures depict cultural symbols such as Natraj, the Crucifixion, Bodhisattva and contemporary youth. They are native as well as foreign. The images suggest the manner of changing Sri Lankan cultural identity in the different stages of history.
· Sculptor and painter, Hew Locke once said that he used material as shape, colour, or size in his work. He uses array of materials such as collage, toys, jewellery, cloths and wood. His works explores post-colonial socio political situations in Africa.
· I will look at and influence from the work of Philippines collaborative artists Remillio and Juliet (Alwin Reamillo and Juliet Lea) who explore cultural and social transformations of the post-colonial Philippine. In the painting series named “Kakainin ba nila ang mga saging” (Will they eat all bananas) they used a map of the Philippines and a variety of domestic and consumer items as well as different texts. The Map becomes the skin of the mother Philippine (Poshyananda, 1996).
· Nusra Lathif Cureshi, Pakistan born Australia resident artist have been exhibited in 53rd Venice biennale and represents Queensland art gallery. Her work examines the British involvement of the Asian societies specially India and Pakistan. Most of her works questions British values and how these values effects into nativity.
· The Sri Lankan artist Geethangana Kudaligam’s (now resident in America) work and ideas will be considered. According to his thoughts his current practice of art making is based on a pictorial and conceptual excavation of the roots of marginalization within the context of cultural critique (Kudaligamage, 2003).
· I will be recognised and constantly checked web site
http://www.universes-in-universe.de/english.htm as a rich source of information for Asian contemporary art. Majority of Asian art events and artists have been represented in this site and it would be more convenient way to access regional contemporary art and art activities.
The three-year research project will be developed and continued through research into The paradise in a changing world. Moreover, it will be focused on the study of location and identities within a post-colonial framework, its current situation and affectivity on contemporary art.
Methodology and plan of work
Methodology
Within the framework and research questions, the research methodology includes two main types of fieldwork, studio practice and text. The field works are data collection and interviews. I will travel to Sri Lanka in order to collect archives and text. By visiting art galleries, libraries, museums and privet collections I will build a personal collection including many artefacts and images that can visualise the colonial and post- colonial eras. Professional interaction with artists, art communities with interviews and discussions and other research tools such as artists groups, exhibitions and workshops will be accessed.
I will interview artists, collectors, critics and historians during my visit to Sri Lanka. In addition to formal meeting spaces such as face-to-face meeting, informal meeting spaces will be used such as phone calls and emails.
The secondary records of the related exhibitions, workshops and lectures presented in Asia, Australia, Venice and America will be considered such as articles, books, journals, exhibition catalogues and web sites. These sources will be used to build content of the project and final text will be written in a narrative style.
The traditional Sri Lankan craft and art making methods will be mixed within contemporary art making methods to make identical and more personal works. The art making methodology will be included painting, collecting, photographing, juxtaposing, making, displaying and exhibiting.
The practical work in visual art and theoretical writing will be used as two different approaches of investigation. The practical work will investigate and produce three and two-dimensional work reflecting the subjectivity of cultural transition. In parallel to this, the theoretical writing will contextualise the practice-based research.
Plan of work
Visual records, texts, photocopies, exhibition, catalogues, bibliography, biography and bodies of organisations will be collected in order to develop a rich contextual review of Sri Lankan contemporary art. The familiar places, destinations, organisations and people such as National Art Gallery, National Museum, National Archive and other related places of Sri Lankan contemporary art will be revisited to collect data. The medium of photography will be used to visualise and document new identities around the day-today life in Sri Lankan.
The main intention of the visual diaries is to document progress of studio practice. This will include sketches and archives. The appearance of the studio works will be changed throughout the period of research but the final work will include a series of paintings and an installation.
The text will detail the artistic and aesthetic transition of the Sri Lankan art. Furthermore, the narratives will provide an intellectual base for the changing nature of Sri Lankan visual culture.
Conclusion
This proposal attempts to provide an appropriate means of visual and theoretical consideration to critically analyse post-colonial transition in Sri Lanka. The proposed methods and plan of work run constantly during the period of research. The inter-relationship of the art practice and contextual writing will be more parallel. The outcome of the research will be a new body of work presented in an exhibition and a text, which will establish and strengthen the project in order to redefine the complexity of transition, seeking to contribute new knowledge devoted to subjectivity, location and identity.
Sources of research
National Art Gallery Sri Lanka, National Museum Sri Lanka (Colombo, Galle, Kandy), National Archive, Sapumal Foundation, Serandib Gallery, Paradise Road Gallery, University of Fine Art-Sri Lanka (Library), George Kyet Foundation, Lake House Library Colombo, Personal connections.
Ethics
To gain written approval from the official and individual collections to use visual images and archives. Written approval will be obtained from the interviewees to use their ideas and thoughts. I will acknowledge all kinds of resources such as visual and literal.
Reference
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18. Poshyanada, A. (1996) Roaring Tigers, Desperate Dragons in Transition. Traditions – Tensions- Contemporary Art in Asia (Exhibition Catalogue) New York: Harvy N. A Brames, Inc, pp 23-49.
19. Samarasiri, P. (2008) Exchange Control Liberation, Measures and Their Impact on the Economy: Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
20. Savage, P. (2003) New Art from Sri Lanka London: October Gallery.
21. Senanayake, R, D. (2004) The Hybrid Island–Cultural Crossings and the Invention of Identity in Sri Lanka: Colombo.
22. Singh, V. (2004) The Hybrid Island – Cultural Crossings and the Invention of Identity in Sri Lanka: Colombo.
23. Still, J. (1908) The jungle tide: New Delhi (Reprint 1999)
24. The Three Man Show of Painting, The Ceylon Fortnightly Review: Colombo1949.
25. Weerasinghe, J. (2000) Made in IAS (Exhibition Catalogue) Barefoot Gallery, Sri Lanka.
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Online resources
www.apt3.net/apt3/artists/default.htm
http://www.singaporebiennale.org/www.biad.uce.ac.uk/research/rti/riadm/http://www.land2.uwe.ac.uk/www.qag.qld.gov.au/collection/contemporary_asian_art
www.universes-in-universe.de/asia/english.htm
