LANKA 2 LAST

The ‘Iron Man – In Front of the Museum’ by Bandu Manamperi The ‘Iron Man – In Front of the Museum’ by Bandu Manamperiis a collection of photographs exhibited here, that show theartist removing his own clothes and ironing them in public. According to the text supporting the works, "Relationshipbetween the past and present, colonial and contemporary, oldand new makes the statement that there is no great differencebetween the exertion of power in the colonial era of Sri Lankaand after its independence indicating a prevailing sense oftotalitarianism." Another work by K Pushpakumara, titled ‘Barbed Wire’portrays the ‘caged’ environment in which the displacedrefugee population was forced to live after the war. Weersinghe also says that the show attempts to address thediscrimination meted out in domains of gender, art and craftand also the distinction made between high and low art. "We took a holistic approach – the work of craft and brushall are put together at one place. This is also challengingthe idea of art per se," he says. While ‘Silent Sitters and Doll Houses’ by Anoli Perera,who has curated the exhibition, explores the ideas ofmemories, history and relics, her protest series titled, "Ilet my hair loose" brings to the surface the politics of’gaze’. "It deals with the portrayal of female subjectivity. Overthe past decade my work evolved around the subject of ‘woman’narrated within a personal context seen through the lens of myown family history. Reflections on subjectivity, identity,memory and history are embedded in my work," she says. The exhibition which opened on August 23 is set toconclude on August 28. PTI MG TRS ANSANS