Tilak weaves magic

COLOMBO: Architect Tilak Samarawickrema's hand woven tapestries are being exhibited at the Paradise Rad Galleries at Alfred House Road until September 27 from 10 a. m. to midnight daily.

His tapestries were first exhibited at the SHED design gallery in Milan in 1992 and were later marketed through the design store of the Museum of Modern Art New York for many years.

Two international museums have held personal exhibitions of his work - Deutsches Textilmuseum Krefeld Germany in 1995 and the Norsk Form Architecture and Design Museum Oslo in 1998.

Tilak's designs are woven by the traditional wavers of Udu Dumbara Talagune, in the Kandy district, the only village where indigenous cloth weaving has persisted unbroken through the ages.

The mastery and ability of the weavers of Talagune lie appropriately in their manner of working with cotton in the most complex and intricate technique which allows the creation of tapestries which are clearly beyond their customary products.

Tilak's work has been published and reviewed by the international architectural and design magazines and also in the Corriere Della Sera, La Republica and The Guardian, London.