“Imagining Peace” - The First Colombo Art Biennale

A restrospective by Founder & Director Annoushka Hempel

Wow! That really is the first word that comes to mind when I think about our first Colombo Art Biennale. From beginning to end it was without question an extraordinary experience. I still can’t quite believe it happened, and what a huge success it turned out to be.

It was, after all, a crazy idea suggested by crazy people at a crazy time when Sri Lanka was not only in the depths of its thirty year terrorist war, but globally the economy was worse than it had been for over 20 years, not to mention the fact that we had zero funding! However, the concept was born with enthusiasm and serendipitously, an inspiring location presented itself and was offered as a gift.

It was over a glass of wine at an exhibition I organized during the Galle Literary Festival in January 2009 that the concept was born. During a conversation with my dear friends Jagath Weerasinghe and Giles Scott we played with the idea of “doing something big!”….famous last words…..!

Once the concept of the event crystallized, the theme, “Imagining Peace”, suggested by Jagath, was agreed. The speed at which the project was put together was extraordinary. In no time at all the concept ballooned from being simply a cool exhibition, to being Colombo’s first Art Biennale.

Sri Lanka’s first Art Biennale boasted the involvement of 50 artists at the main Biennale venue in the Warehouses of Park Street Mews in central Colombo. Additionally, more than 25 independent satellite venues were set up in association with Colombo Art Biennale as a unified expression of art under the title of ‘CAB Around Town’.

The challenge of getting this project off the ground in such a short space of time was both exciting and demanding. Obtaining funding was paramount. However, not only did the project come together in record time but it was met and welcomed with tremendous positivity and voluntary collaboration.

Very quickly I found myself immersed in this project as it took on a life of its own, growing, developing, expanding to such an extent that my role became that of gently steering and mostly trying to keep up with this rapidly self-evolving force. Before long, I began to have that wonderful feeling that we were in fact, doing the right thing in the right place at the right time, and the universe was swinging in to support us.

I was incredibly busy with the run-up to the event, working virtually around the clock, seven days a week. The opening day arrived and I felt ready for it. The evening before the grand opening, I stood in Park Street Mews amidst the warehouses and waited for the curators and artists to arrive. Soon trucks began to arrive and smiling eager artists poured out of them. We were on tenterhooks waiting to see what artworks would be unloaded. Crates, rocks, plaster cast walls, video equipment, palm-leaves and plastic bottles were just some of the things that emerged from those trucks. The excitement intensified as I watched artists set up scaffolding, climb it themselves and then have a close shave as the scaffolding almost collapsed.

Artists from around the country as well as Sri Lankan artists who had moved abroad, all worked together, lending a hand to help each other. It was a wonderful reunion as artists who hadn’t seen each other for years got together, catching up, laughing and joking.

As we worked through the night watching these unused run-down warehouses transform and metamorphose into Art Biennale pavilions, any hint of impending tiredness was transmuted into pure glee and excitement at what was happening before our eyes.

Dark storage rooms were transformed into glorious universal shrines and moving video installations of reconciliation. Panels depicting displaced persons (IDP’s), peace stones and stirring poetry spoke of the fragility of peace. Walls showed stories of division and greed, and a gigantic curtain revealed the dualities of domestic objects. Huge hanging panels screamed for peace, flying bullets and flying burnt books told stories. Emotive, witty and interactive digital creations and reading walls captured everyone’s interest. Endless wheelbarrows representing industrial peace contrasted with universal Gods representing spiritual transcendence to peace.

The open invitation to take part in the Colombo Art Biennale was accepted by 25 satellite venues, including independent galleries, artist studios, photographic shows and street artists under the heading of CAB Around Town. Collaborative events included poetry, prose, music and discussions on art and politics. Presentations on the definition and meaning of ‘Art’ and performances by both local theatre groups and international artists captured people’s hearts.

Dozens of volunteers appeared wanting to be part of the event, and visitors flocked in both day and night throughout the five-day event, encouraging us to extend our opening hours.

The first Colombo Art Biennale (CAB) had an enormous impact on Sri Lanka. It was hugely positive for the city, country and its people, highlighting the talent of its artists, the enthusiasm and interest of visitors, and the potential for growth of cultural events of this kind.

In a country where the average number of visitors for an art exhibition would be about 150, the number of visitors at the Biennale was estimated at about 3,000. For five days the whole of Colombo was buzzing with Biennale events and associated activities with people returning again and again.

The Sri Lankan Tourist Board have endorsed the event and committed to continuing to support future Biennales. The CAB press conference hosted the Minister of Tourism, the Chairman of the Tourist Board and Dutch ambassador on its head table. Almost every national press publication attended and covered the event. Countless professional photographers documented the event, MTV and Young Asia TV both produced half hour programs and of course the Goethe Institute sponsored not only photographers, but a group of film-makers to document the event and produce a 45 minute film, namely “Footprints”.

What was all the hype about? This was the first Art Biennale in Sri Lanka. The theme “Imagining Peace” was imagined at a time when the war in Sri Lanka was at its peak in February 2009. Serendipitously, after nearly 30 years of war, in May 2009 war suddenly ended, this gave the theme “Imagining Peace” a deeper significance. It was the first time that artists in Sri Lanka had the opportunity to be fully creative and not restricted by limited space or market forces. It was also the first time that artists from different schools of thought, from different backgrounds who normally do not exhibit under the same roof, came together to ‘Imagine Peace’; fifty artists, forty Sri Lankan, ten international, under six curators.

The effect that CAB 2009 has had on both artists and viewers has changed the face of the art scene in Colombo and is being hailed as a springboard to new standards in contemporary art in Sri Lanka.

All this could not have happened without the tremendous support and inspiration from so many: Jagath and Giles for being birthing partners, curators Saskia, Thenu, Jagath, Nazreen and Chaminda for all their work and contributions, and of course the artists whose enthusiasm to rise to the challenge of imagining peace has been admirable. A special thanks also goes out to our sponsors, particularly the Dutch Government who shared our vision from the start.