Celebrating creativity and community ties in Melbourne-By Daleena Samarajiwa

Much to discuss and delight in: The scene at Clayton Hall

An exhibition of art, photography and books on April 30 brought out the diverse talents of Sri Lankan Australians, highlighting the connection between art and culture, people and place

Sri Lankan Australian Inc. Art Photo and Book Exhibition in Melbourne last Sunday was a proud showcase of the talent that the Sri Lankan Australian community has to offer, and a reminder of the connection between art and culture, people and place.

The event brought together Sri Lankan Australians from across Australia and Sri Lanka. It started off about six months ago, with an open invitation to the community’s artists, photographers, and authors at any stage of their career, to exhibit and sell their works free of charge for a day at Clayton Hall, the largest community hall in the Australian state of Victoria. The exposition pivoted around the annual Victor Melder lecture, given this year by collector of antiquarian books Hugh Karunaratne and presented by Monash Libraries, in honour of the extensive library of books on Sri Lanka built by Melder, an early Sri Lankan migrant to Australia. The overwhelming response resulted in a showcasing of 100 artworks from 30 artists, 400 photographs from 10 photographers, and about 1,000 books.

The visual art section revealed myriad approaches and sensibilities of creative expression. Standouts included Vasantha Srinath Kurukulasuriya’s oils featuring Australian aboriginal and Sri Lankan Veddah subjects, Ruth Pinto’s portraits, Mohammed Nazeer’s vibrant abstracts, Peter Lieversz masterfully rendered seascapes and the work of Vernon Tissera, the artist behind the cricket mural for the T20 World Cup at the Geelong cricket grounds.

Rod Grigson with a selection of books. Pix by Daleena Samarajiwa

Among the unexpected were exhibits revealing the flourishing of creative expression during Victoria’s extensive Covid lockdown. Dishni Galkotuwe Yasamana displayed delicate oshibana, a Japanese art of using pressed flowers and other botanical materials. Her work created during the lockdown using the abundant flowers of her suburb Sassafras, culminated in Flowers of Sassafras, a booklet dedicated to Sassafras. Similarly, Krys Kurera took his interest in art off the back burner during Covid to create over a 100 works, while Crishmi Jayatilleka tried her hand at abstract relief sculpture art decorated with beads and other found elements and discovered a new vocation in home décor. Padmini de Silva’s stylistic figurative art were also created during the lockdown.

In the photography section, Cecil Perera captured panaromic vistas and Harin Dias offered glimpses of the underwater beauty of Koggala and the Great Barrier Reef. Chris Krikenbeck’s photos showed pictures of Pettah and the streets of Melbourne. Press photographer Asanka Brendon Ratnayake had plenty of stories to tell. Thematic groupings of photographs captured memorable moments, such as when Sri Lankan statesmen and other dignitaries visited Australia.

Books were the centrepoint of the event. It was the book lover in Hemal Gurusinghe that germinated the idea of a book exhibition around the 2023 Victor Melder lecture: “I got to know there are lots of books by Sri Lankan Australian writers living in Melboune, and there are writers of Sinhala books, who I realised I didn’t even know about… I didn’t know about the Tamil authors until I met Tamil members of our team, and they said, look we have hundreds of books published. So, I thought it would be a nice idea to bring them all together. Then came the idea of adding photography and art,” he said.

A young visitor looks intently at the exhibits

The hunger for cultural belonging to their ancestral lands is evident among the Sri Lankan diaspora. Many Sri Lankans here have large private libraries bulging with books about Sri Lanka. Buyers browsing titles said they too had libraries of books at home.

“As you can see, people are interested to come to sessions like this and meet others. We like to call ourselves Sri Lankan Australians, but who are we? I’ve been here over 40 years, more here than in Sri Lanka, but there is still a connection. The way we express ourselves in books and art brings out that connection,” said Hemal.

Local authors including Sakuntala Gananathan, Sam Sirimanne, Rod Grigson, Raine Wickrematunge, Dr Sanjiva Wijesinha, Mary Ann Grigson, Lucky Setunge, Damian Tangram and Channa Wickremesekera were onsite to answer questions about their books.

The delight in discovery of so many titles on Sri Lankan art, architecture, history, culture and cookery was palpable. “I didn’t know we had books like this,” exclaimed a visitor. “But they aren’t for sale,” bemoaned another. The presence of titles not only in English, but also Sinhala and Tamil, and Tamil translations of Sinhala classics and vice versa was an eye opener. On the Tamil books display table were novels and other publications by 15 different authors, also copies of a handwritten newsletter compiled over 40 years ago.

Despite anxiety over crowd control, the event was easy to navigate. Artworks were displayed on easels and tables, and photographs on panels. Tables exhibited books. Audience and exhibitors mingled, browsed, chatted, and made purchases. A roving mic gave authors and artists an opportunity to talk about their works. The sales section for authors was soon crowded. A raffle draw of a large painting collected funds for donation to the Cancer Hospital Sri Lanka. Refreshments were available free and on sale. The hall was abuzz with authors, artists, photographers, and visitors. A leisurely atmosphere not found in formal exhibition settings prevailed.

Speaking at the opening, Mangala Banneyake said: “Sri Lankan Australians Inc. is an umbrella organisation created with the dream of being a conduit for unity between various Sri Lankan community organisations operating in Victoria. I am proud to say that this organisation is headed by the community leaders and elders of the Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim, and Burgher communities originating in Sri Lanka … The art, photography and books on display come from all these communities.”

Art and culture have the power to strengthen social cohesion by opening up new channels to attain better understanding among communities. The event surmounted rifts and united Sri Lankan Australians from all communities in celebration. Visitors and exhibitors noticed and rejoiced. A Vietnamese visitor noted the exhibition was attended by people of all ages and had given her inspiration for ways to bring the communities of her own country together.