2ND EDITION | DEC 12TH-15TH 2025
Artists, Musicians & Presenters (2025)
Split between Colombo and Midigama, Adria’s work includes writing, illustration, jewellery making, content strategy and more.
Adria developed her self-taught design skills with Canva during her time at Mindful.lk and Hatch. She uses the platform to create thoughtful, visually cohesive designs including for branding. She is also a volunteer with the Fearless Collective, a guest workshop facilitator at the Hatch Maker Studio and part of the community at Studio Kayamai.
Amani is the founder & fashion designer behind the hand painted and handcrafted sarees of Diora Apparell. Her artistic journey bridges fashion, craft, and contemporary art. Her contemporary art practice began as a Community Artist trained via MFA 2024 Community Art Programming, where she explored new approaches to creativity through embroidery and mixed media.
Rooted in Matara, Amani draws on the legacy of four generations of women in her family, who were skilled in beeralu (bobbin) lace making, and machine & hand embroidery.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Fashion Design from Lovely Professional University, India, where her graduation collection was recognised with the Best Conceptual Design Collection Award (2018).
After graduation from Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts in 2000, Anura has been intensely involved in continuing his art practice.
He has showcased his works in many exhibitions and art events both locally and internationally in countries such as Japan, India, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Singapore, China, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Maldives and Iran.
In 2008, he became one of the ten finalists of the Signature ART PRIZE organized by the Singapore Art Museum. Krishantha is member of Theertha Artists Collective and Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts. He lives and works in Athurugiriya, Sri Lanka. He has been a mentor to MFA’s community artists since our first edition in 2024.
Arulraj’s practice is anchored in the histories, memories, and unspoken narratives of the Malaiyaga Tamil tea plantation community. Raised in the line-room settlements of Haputale—environments shaped by colonial architecture, economic precarity, and generational endurance—he transforms lived experience and inherited memory into a visual language of resistance and remembrance. His paintings and mixed-media works, layered with acrylic, ink, pencil, and tea stains, often embed plantation materials such as tea leaves, woven baskets, name tags, and labor tools, reclaiming them as potent metaphors for displacement, exploitation, survival, and identity.
Educated at Pondicherry University (BFA) and the Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai (MFA), Arulraj combines technical skill with a critical sensitivity to cultural identity, materiality, and the politics of representation.
His works have been presented internationally in exhibitions such as The Land Sings Back (2025, Drawing Room, London), Total Landscaping (2024, MMCA, Colombo), Way of the Forest (2024, Colomboscope, Colombo & 421 Arts Campus, Abu Dhabi), A Life in Tea (2024, Lionel Wendt Art Center, Colombo – solo).
Bandu hails from Bandaragama and is one of the initiators of performance art in Sri Lanka, and is a core member of the Theertha Artists’ Collective. He creates highly personal art experiences based on the transformation of his own body. His art practice also encompasses sculpture, drawing, painting, and installation art, and he lectures and consults widely on topics including contemporary art, performance, museology, and local craft traditions.
Manamperi holds a BFA in sculpture from the Institute of Aesthetic Studies, University of Kelaniya & a M.A. in Archaeology from PGIAR. He also has a Certificate in Conservation of Cultural Property (murals & paintings).
He has performed and exhibited around the world including the USA, UK, India, Bangladesh, Sweden, Austria, Italy, Iran, and Myanmmar. He has been a mentor to MFA’s community artists since our first edition in 2024.
Bilaal is a Colombo-based visual artist and architectural designer. He holds an MA from the RCA, London, and a BA from the University of Hong Kong. He has worked on projects with OMA and the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, and collaborates on design initiatives at Hatch Makers Studio.
His practice explores global visual culture at the intersection of current affairs, spirituality, cultural identity and technology through painting and mixed media pieces. He has exhibited in Hong Kong, London, Colombo, Jeddah, Berlin, Goa and Islamabad; his pastel drawing Beruwala Blues is in the Lahore Museum collection of contemporary paintings.
Bread Modular is a Sri Lankan entity that designs and manufactures modular synthesizers. Unlike existing solutions, it focuses on affordable, minimalistic design while introducing modern capabilities. Beyond building instruments, Bread Modular is committed to introducing modular synthesis in Sri Lanka and presenting its possibilities as both a creative tool and a mode of music-making.
Chathurika is a Colombo-based mixed-media artist and graduate of the University of Visual and Performing Arts. Her works have been exhibited widely across Sri Lanka, including at the Saskia Fernando Gallery, Paradise Road Galleries, and in Sri Lankan Art curated by the George Keyt Foundation. Internationally, she has shown her work on South Asian platforms in Bangladesh, the Maldives, and Nepal, including the prestigious Asian Art Biennale. Jayani has also been recognized with multiple accolades at the State Art and Sculpture Festival, receiving First Place in 2011–2012, Second Place in 2020, and once again First Place in 2024.
Her practice, marked by bold textures and unconventional materials such as corrugated board, handmade paper, and thread, explores themes of urbanization, industrialization, and human connection—lately reframed through the resilient female gaze.
Through series such as City, Secret Vows, Dreamscape, and Dream Paradise, Jayani examines the tensions between progress and identity, personal desire and social expectation, as well as the environmental and ethical costs of development. Jayani brings these concerns into dialogue with her own journey as a wife, mother, teacher, homemaker, and female artist, layering the personal with the universal in chronicles of resilience, optimism, and imagination.
CHDM is a specialist institution working collaboratively and interdisciplinarily to devise and implement processes that interrogate Sri Lanka’s complex past, document the present, support the information needs of its citizens and that promote the creation and exchange of knowledge.
CHDM was founded by a group of practitioners from the fields of archives and records management, human rights, anthropology, sociology, museology, psychology, media, gender studies and transitional justice.
Dushyantha is a visual artist whose practice is deeply rooted in drawing, observation, and lived experience. His art evolves continuously with each drawing, shaped
profoundly by the places he has moved through or traveled to.
Hanusha hails from the up-country region of Sri Lanka. She explores her society and her own existence through unorthodox mediums, confronting the struggles of her community in the last 100 years. She uses materials associated with the everyday practice of drinking tea such as tea strainers, tea cups, tea bags, as well as the payslips received by tea pluckers that calculate their daily wages according to the weight of tea leaves plucked.
Hasini is a full-time freelance artist from Matara, and currently based in Kadawatha. She works across drawing, painting, mixed media, and collage art – always seeking new ways to explore and share creative ideas.
Her artistic journey began at the Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts (2013), which opened doors to early opportunities such as the 2011 Imagine Italy exhibition at the Harold Peiris Gallery, a wall painting restoration project at the Department of National Archives (2013), and her role as an Assistant Artist at the Kavitha Talent Art Workshop in 2014.
In 2015, she held her first solo exhibition Stairways at Theertha Red Dot Gallery. In the years that followed, she continued to grow as an artist, taking part in projects such as C/A/M/P 2016 at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery.
Most recently, Hasini contributed as a Community Artist at MFA 2024 and collaborated on a group project at Downtown Pulse in Galle Fort.
Hatch is Sri Lanka’s leading hub for innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship. Based in Colombo, it brings together startups, creators, and changemakers in a shared space designed for collaboration and growth. With programs spanning incubation, acceleration, and community-driven initiatives, Hatch fosters an ecosystem where ideas are nurtured into impactful ventures. Its diverse community of entrepreneurs, artists, and innovators positions Hatch as a catalyst for the country’s growing startup and creative economy.
The Hatch Maker Studio is a creative laboratory and makerspace within Hatch, dedicated to hands-on experimentation and design. Equipped with tools ranging from 3D printers and laser cutters to woodworking and electronics prototyping, the studio empowers individuals to bring ideas into tangible form. It serves as a platform for artists, technologists, and entrepreneurs to prototype, collaborate, and explore new materials and methods. Through workshops, residencies, and open studio sessions, the Hatch Maker Studio cultivates a culture of learning and innovation at the intersection of craft, technology, and community.
Hema Shironi is a multidisciplinary artist who lives in Colombo. Her wide-ranging artistic practice combines embroidery, mythological imagery, bricolage, and installation to inquire concepts of cultural identity. Her work is deeply rooted in observance of the history of colonization, civil war, displacement and migration, which she highlights through personal stories and experiences of living in Sri Lanka.
As a child, her family often moved from one place to another and she eventually found herself questioning the bonds that communities and individuals make. Her work is driven by the nostalgia of the numerous places she has called home and how each community belonging to those places grapples with concerns of language, culture, memory, myth, gender, and equality.
She completed her BFA (2014) from the Ramanathan Fine Arts Academy, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka and her MFA (2019) at Beaconhouse National University, Lahore. Her work has been featured at the Critical Zones conceived by ZKM, Centre for Art and Media Karlsruhe, Sri Lanka (2022) and at Colomboscope, Sri Lanka (2019 and 2022). Hema has also completed an Artist Residency at House of Kal, Sri Lanka (2021).
Irushi is an illustrator, animator, and educator based in Colombo. While starting out self-taught, her animated films have screened at local and international festivals and have received multiple awards.
She holds an MA in Animation from the Royal College of Art, supported by a Chevening Scholarship. Her recent collaborative film ‘is this an architectural documentary?’ (2023) commissioned by MMCA Sri Lanka was screened at the V&A Museum in London, the Venice Architecture Biennale and Thailand Biennale Phuket (2025). Irushi currently lectures in Animation at the Academy of Design and regularly conducts workshops on visual storytelling through her home studio.
Founded by Jezima in her early twenties, Jez-Look Batiks is now 55 years into its pioneering work in batik artistry in southern Sri Lanka. Jezima, today 84, transformed her love of drawing and initial hobby engagement in batik, to a shared craft effort via the creative training & support for the economic independence of 16 women in her community that have made up her team over the years.
Jez-Look Batik is based out of Jezima’s Matara home on Yehiya Road since its inception, and from it she has created work that has travelled the world. She herself has showcased her designs in the US & UK, crafted linens and tapestries for an Italian boutique hotel, and been the essential collaborator to an Ibiza-based fashion designer for nearly 20 years. Leading south coast hotels send a stream of excited tourists to discover her work, and more recently she is gaining overdue renewed local interest via a pop-up shop in Colombo hosted by MFA and Selyn.
Of much pride to Jezima herself is that her work earned recognition from the late Queen Elizabeth, who sent Jezima several jubilee acknowledgements over the years, one which included a photo of the Queen in a Jez-Look scarf.
Her granddaughter Nourah has been training alongside her grandmother, and signals continuity & distinctness in her own work.
From a young age Kethmin has had a passion for drawing and received his initial guidance at Rahula College, Matara. In 2016, he then embarked on his artistic journey at the University of the Visual and Performing Arts. In 2022, he began working as an independent artist under his brand, Ketha’s Gallery, and since then has been engaged in experimental practices within the field of visual art.
Lahiru is a Sri Lankan art collector and visual artist whose interests bridge contemporary Sri Lankan creativity and global modern masters. His collection reflects a deep engagement with both South Asian artist—such as Laki Senanayake, Muhanned Cader, and Jagath Weerasinghe—and internationally acclaimed figures including Frank Stella and Souza.
Beyond collecting, Lahiru is also an emerging abstract artist himself, known for colorful works inspired by landscapes and the human form, developed under the mentorship of the late Jayasiri Semage. His dual role as both collector and creator gives him a unique perspective on the dialogue between artist and audience. Works from his own practice, as well as his discerning acquisitions, are held in notable private collections in Sri Lanka.
Methun is among the most famous current artists on the Sri Lankan pop scene, especially for his beloved original singer-songwriter compositions.
He is equally famed as brilliant creative founder of the Naadha Gama music movement that goes beyond concerts to full-blown experiences and events held at changing venues across the country that have become must-attended experiences which their ever-growing fan base travel far and wide to be part of. Its latest offering in Nuwara Eliya took over the city for 4 days, with varying concerts running across different venues including a distant scenic hilltop.
Pathum (Sri Lanka, 1984) works at the intersection of art and storytelling. Based in Elpitiya, he trained at the Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts and held his first solo exhibition at Lionel Wendt in 2011.
His picture-book interests grew through Martin Salisbury’s writing and a 2016 workshop series at Vibhavi led by Kingsley Gunathilake. An admirer of Armin Greder’s direct, charcoal-led approach, Sameera builds narratives from rural experience, family life and interior states, often returning to recurring figures and motifs.
He lives and works in Elpitiya, where painting, drawing and writing remain closely tied to the landscape and community around him.
Established in 2011, Power of Play (PoP) utilizes the performing arts for communication and breaking down barriers, with a special focus on theatre and puppetry.
With over a decade of experience, Power of Play’s dynamic work has been called upon by public and private sector organisations to convey complex messaging in novel modes. Their performances and interactive work have impacted audiences urban and rural, local and international, with PoP founder Sulochana Dissanayke founding Power of Play Australia in 2024.
At the heart of PoP is a need to inspire people to overcome inhibitions, be empowered as dynamic changemakers in their own communities, to share in the joy of shared stories, and to remember the healing power of play.
Priyantha (b. 1975, Kandy) is a Sri Lankan artist and art historian whose practice engages with the socio-political realities of conflict, violence, and colonial legacy, juxtaposed against motifs of beauty drawn from flora, fauna, and the human form. He holds a PhD in Contemporary Fine Art Practice (2013) and an MA in Contemporary Art and Design Practice (2007) from Leeds Metropolitan University, UK, where he studied under a Presidential Scholarship, following a BFA in Painting from the University of Kelaniya.
After over a decade in the UK redefining his practice, Udagedara returned to Sri Lanka, where he now serves as Senior Lecturer in the Department of Art History and Theory at the University of the Visual and Performing Arts, Colombo. He is also a Council Fellow at the National Centre for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences and a Trustee of the George Keyt Foundation.
Udagedara has exhibited widely in Sri Lanka and internationally, including in London, Sydney, Los Angeles, New York, New Delhi, Lisbon, and Dubai. His major exhibitions include Garden of Earthly Delight, Herbal Garden, Orientalism, and Serendib (2020).
Having a distinct taste in music always allows for a unique identity. Rakhil’s taste revolves around the bouncy genres of Deep House, Minimal Tech House, and Groovy House. Having opened for legends like Bassel Darwish, Rakhil is popularly seen bringing his infectious spirit and fresh take on house music to the Dots Bay House in Hiriketiya.
Sara is the founder of ALKE, a brand she launched in 2014 after beginning her journey in jewelry-making at 13. Her work transforms recycled and ethically sourced materials—often combined recycled metal into contemporary pieces that carry deep cultural and emotional narratives. Each design is rooted in research and crafted under fair working conditions, reflecting her commitment to sustainability and equity.
Sara also leads Wearing Emotions, ALKE’s outreach program that empowers communities to manage waste creatively and sustainably. She has mentored young women in jewelry design with Emerge Global, and was selected as a mentor for the Shilpa Saviya Design Mentoring Program by Colombo Design Market(2017). Her work has been showcased at ARTWALK Sri Lanka (2015), recognised at the International Art and Design Competition, Accademia Riaci, Italy (2016), and most recently, she was part of the Solidarities South Asian Playground Residency (2025) in Patan, Nepal.
SeaSisters Lanka is a non-profit organization founded in 2018 that empowers women and girls through swimming, surfing, and ocean education. With a grassroots-to-leadership approach, SeaSisters focuses on creating change from the bottom up by building confidence, breaking gender barriers, and nurturing women’s leadership within coastal communities. The organization promotes women’s empowerment, ocean awareness, and a new generation of ocean advocates.
Senali is a studio ceramicist and ceramic artist based in Colombo. Through the changing, tactile material that is clay, Senali draws on such themes as childhood, memory, culture and religion as a social construct, reflecting the lived human experience on to itself.
Showcasing the many forms of sculpture and artistry through the possibilities of the medium of clay stands to be a key intent in Senali’s artwork and wider creative practice.
Tashiya uses visual storytelling to create narratives that drive social change. Tashiya grew up around the urban wetlands of Colombo, and spent much of her early adulthood exploring the remote corners of the Island.
She is the founder of ‘Lost in Lanka’, a platform for adventures, storytelling, and activism in Sri Lanka. Her photographic practice explores the nature and possibilities of documentary image-making and deals with themes such as colonial histories, heritage, landscapes, and the climate crisis.
She is the recipient of multiple awards and grants including the Visura grants for freelance visual journalists in 2023 for her project ‘Great Sandy River’. Tashiya is a recent graduate of the ‘Photography and Society’ masters programme at the Royal Academy of Arts in the Hague (NL), and is currently based in Colombo.
The Barefoot Gallery Colombo serves as a platform for artists, musicians, poets and film-makers. The space is used in a variety of ways: exhibitions by local and foreign artists and photographers, (including The World Press Photo) concerts, poetry readings, film nights and theatre.
After a hiatus, it reopened in 1991 as “Gallery 706 Colombo” and was the first commercial art gallery in Sri Lanka. The salon type atmosphere prevailed and Gallery 706 hosted many exhibitions in the 1990’s by artists such as Jagath Weerasinghe, Chandraguptha Thenuwara, Anoli Perera, and Muhanned Cader. It also presented exhibitions of work by visitors, either those living temporarily on the island or others just passing through.
Three notable exhibitions were a retrospective by George Classen in 1993, an exhibition of acrylics on paper by Ivan Peries in 1996, both were members of the illustrious 43 Group that was founded by Lionel Wendt in 1943; and a comprehensive exhibition of Lionel Wendt photographs that went up for view and sale – a request from the owners of the collection that the directors of Gallery 706 were happy to oblige. 150 pictures were selected from a substantial 600.
The Standards Project was formed out of Musicmatters School in Colombo, where its members first played together as part of the school’s ensemble before becoming a dedicated band. All members were born and raised in Matara with the exception of the vocalist. The group is committed to offering audiences an authentic jazz sound, performing a rich repertoire of jazz standards along with a few original compositions.
They have performed at leading hospitality venues, music festivals, and private events across Sri Lanka, including a special collaboration with Afro-Cuban duo Iroko Saisa during their time in Sri Lanka. The Standards Project brings a passion for improvisation and collaboration to every performance.
Thenuka joined the MFA community artists programme during his last year of schooling at Kamburupitya Maha Vidyalaya, Matara with encouragement from his art teacher Chinthaka. Now 18 and finished schooling, he has also completed a course on ‘tinker painting’, which is related to painting and scratch fixes on vehicles. This perfectly aligns with his coming back on board with MFA this year to support our Tuk Tuk mobile art project.