Nine artists
Women Artists’ Colloquium Exhibition 2010/11 ‘nine artists’ is
published by Theertha International Artists’ Collective and Theertha Red
Dot Gallery. The exhibition is organized by the Women Artists’ Program
of Theertha as part of the Women Artists’ Colloquium to support art
practices of women artists.
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Glass box
by Therica |
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Letters by
Inoka |
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Power line
by Louise Low |
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Crowd by
Saurganga Darshandhari |
The exhibition, organized by Lalith Manage, will remain open at 36 A,
Baddagana Road South, Pitakotte, from February 20 to 28.
Women Artists’ Colloquium (WAC) was started by Theertha as a program
that would encourage female artists to actively engage in their art
practice. Anoli Perera notes: “While the idea of segregating women
artists as a separate category is problematic in general, in a situation
where women as artists face varied impositions within their social,
cultural and personal contexts, it is important to give special focus to
women who are engaged in art to stabilize their careers as artists.
Hence, the necessity for programs such as Women Artists’ Colloquium”.
In 2008, Anoli Perera mentored the WAC and in 2009, it was continued
under the tutelage of Menika van der Pooten.
Last year Jagath Weerasinghe worked with the WAC which resulted in
the provocatively-titled and very assertive exhibition Omnipresence of
The Prick. However this year’s WAC exhibition was developed within a
different process. Without the mediation of a mentor, nine women artists
from six countries have worked for six months to develop the exhibition.
Hence the exhibition is named ‘Nine Artists’.
Inoka de Silva, Lakisha Fernando, Therika Miyanadeniya and Manori
Jayasinghe are from Sri Lanka. Along with them, the international
artists Louise Low (Malaysia), Ruchika Wason Singh (India), Majela
Clancy (Ireland), Saurganga Darshandhari (Nepal) and Kusana Ogg (USA),
all who have visited Theertha earlier to participate in workshops and
residencies, are taking part in the Nine Artists exhibition. WAC at
Theertha, coordinated by Lakisha Fernando has been the connecting point
for all of these artists.
The artists have informally connected with each other communicating
through email, Facebook and Google Talk.
They coined the term Fire Flies Project to refer to their art
activities which gradually and organically developed to an interesting
exhibition.
Fire Flies Project uses the web to engage in knowledge exchanges and
interactions using a web-based platform to showcase their art and their
voices. It exposes them worldwide and enables comments and feedback from
distant locations.
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