Colours of Liberation

Senali S PERERA

Art. One word that spreads its wings so wide, the feathers keep brushing the human heart for a long, long time. A simple definition: ‘The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form’.

A painting, a sculpture. When you have got that amazing imagination with that amazing skill, you really can make a huge difference. One such person with those very gifts is Anoma Wijewardena.

Her art reaches out yet again to touch our souls through “Deliverance” – the wondrous exhibition that illumines her talent that changes the world. The exhibition is open at three locations – Dutch Hospital Entrance Courtyard, Paradise road, Gallery Café and Saskia Fernando Gallery, with the principal partnership of the HSBC and the partnership of Sri Lankan Airlines. This marvelous collection of masterpieces was opened on June 13 and will run till July 18.

Anoma’s artistic talent has been shining since she was a child. “I’ve been an artist for over 50 years,” she says. And today, she speaks unspoken words to the world through her collections of masterpieces –“Deliverance”. Inspired by the issue of climate change, the exhibition coincides with the Earth Summit Rio+20, 2012.

Why ‘Deliverance’? It could have been any other name. Why the collections are called ‘Deliverance’?

In Anoma’s words, “Deliverance is a release. It’s a complex way of saying that something has been received. It means ‘Deliver us, the Earth. Deliver us from evil. Delivering hope.”

Anoma chose this special and important theme for her collections “because it’s the most challenging crisis of our time. I love nature. I don’t have children. If I did, I would be in petrifying terror for what they would have to face. We are the culprits for what is happening,” she says.

“Our planet is being irreversibly damaged due to climate change. The main culprit of this is us –humans. Can we unite to speak up before it is too late? We do not have another Earth to go to after we have destroyed this one. Let us never forget that humans and nature are deeply and viscerally one. We can not get a divorce”, she says with signifying importance and meaning.

When this issue was taken into consideration, Anoma has given a great amount of attention to water –the life giver since the very beginning that we, humans have seem to have taken for granted.

“Water some say, is the new soil, set to dominate global geopolitics in the 21st century,” she quotes Fred Pearce a well-known English author, journalist and science writer.

Further she says, “We had a very powerful hydraulic civilization in Sri Lanka. Our country has had a major history of superb water management in the 12th century. King Parakramabahu constructed and repaired several thousand reservoirs, dams and canals. And Parakrama Sagaraya, the sea of Parakramabahu was crowning achievement of a hydraulic civilization”.

Anoma’s themes have mostly to do with “existential anxieties”. Apart from nature, she has worked in ‘Peace and Reconciliation’, ‘Buddhism and Islam together –Ideas of different faiths’, ‘Power’, ‘Soul’ and ‘Space’.

Anoma is an artist by profession. She has completed her M.A. (Master of Arts) at Central St. Martins University of Arts, London. She has held exhibitions overseas – Sydney, New Delhi, London, Kuala Lumpur and several other places.

“I’ve had a lot of very experienced critics in India and Australia. Their observations have been very interesting”.

These incredible galleries show deep and meaningful work that touches the viewer’s heart permanently. The paintings together with their titles, –by Ramya Jirasinghe- make a wonderful effect.

“People seem to be excited about the theme. It’s a hot matter due to this year’s Earth Summit. The exhibition has gained a lot of attention. I always learn about my work from what critics say, whether I agree with them or not,” says Anoma, when asked about the feedback she has received so far. Among many positive reviews, comments by the viewers about her paintings included, “Let’s hope this will be a good eye opener to all”, “Only Anoma could do this with such aplomb,” etc.

The words of Anoma’s father leave a message that today, Anoma is trying successfully to convey.

“We need a fresh paradigm towards a permanent truce with nature in concurrence with her peace and sync with her rhythm”. –Ray Wijewardene.

It is truly amazing to think of the messages that flow from the paintbrush to the soul of a person.

The connection is strong and the feelings, thoughts and memories that hang in the minds of both the artist and the viewer will never be forgotten.

“Our veins will remember what our minds have forgotten.”