Curator's Note by Lalith Manage

Curators’ Note:

A Different Road – an exhibition by Pradeep Thalawatta

by Lalith Manage

In mid-December 2010, Pradeep Talawatta engaged in the “Innovative Design Workshop” conducted by the National Design Center, for the students of Art and Design at the University of Jaffna. The very next year, he was selected by the University of Jaffna as an Assistant Lecturer in Art & Design. This was the beginning of long ten-hour bus journeys about twice a month which he has continued to do for two years—a 750 km meter round trip between Colombo and Jaffna.

Let us look at some precursor events, which enabled such a connection with the North of Sri Lanka.

The 30 year military conflict in Sri Lanka ended in 2009. After that political conditions became calmer and enabled artists like Pradeep Thalwatta, to live and teach in the North. In addition, the roads were gradually cleared of restrictions; landmines were removed, the number of security checkpoints were reduced, and roads underwent repair work. The A9 road from Kandy to Jaffna was open after 19 years in Dec 2009. The A3 – A14 route to Jaffna via Puttalam is also an alternative and this route is along the Northwest coastal line where the sky, sea and Road combine in the visual field of the traveller.

However, the roads that Thalawatta is focusing on in this exhibition 'A Different Road' are mainly the ones in the Jaffna area. These are the roads which Jaffna people use in their day to day lives, as does the artist, when he is in Jaffna.

Being a Sinhala Buddhist, coming from a different cultural background, and engaging for a lengthy period of time in the predominantly Hindu-Tamil culture, including the University of Jaffna, has had a significant impact on Thalawatta's art practice. Especially in Jaffna, a significant part of Thalawatta's methodology has been to simply listen and observe the people around him and, interacting with students and colleagues has been an integral part of shaping his experiences and perceptions.

Two of Thalawatta's early works are worth mentioning with regard to this body of works. First is 'My Paparazzi Agent' done in 2009, a two channel video art showing his road journey on a motorbike to and from his work place. The second is 'City Circle' a giant circular installation of digital prints shown in a public open space, which brought into focus the cultural geography of Bangalore, a city in India, changing very rapidly due to construction of roads amongst many other factors. In these two works the artist talks about aspects of city development and personal commuting experiences.

With the rapid construction of roads in Jaffna by the government, the people of Jaffna, as well as Thalawatta have experienced the process of road development, seeing how the damaged, broken roads were widened and carpeted with asphalt. As an artist sensitive to texture and allured to exotic aspects of materials and objects around him, as well as attentive to the day to day experience of his life, Thalawatta's focus falls on these roads. By listening to the people around him, engaging in long evening chats with friends, he encounters a different perspective which many people he associates with in Colombo would not have.

As Thalwatta's encounters in these dialogs, despair and a feeling of loss are still sensed several years after the end of war. It seems as if these new infrastructural changes are not whole-heartedly embraced. A sense of distance between the people and political authorities seems to prevail at varying degrees. For them, physical and socio-cultural landscapes are being altered without consent. But in all this, a determined tone to rebuild towards a stronger future is still present. (In contrast one could say, in Colombo, talk about corruption and impact on the environment, have a louder voice than the benefits of mega construction works.)Several works in this show simply depict the sky, sea and road. A road is drawn on a fragile tissue-roll. It is also drawn on the back of playing cards hinting to the careless, corruptive game-like nature associated with construction work. The old road is intricately textured in contrast to the new asphalt covering. 'Raja Theatre Halt' depicts a roadside shrine which is now removed to widen the roads. 'KKS Road' shows some of the road side shrines Thalawatta had captured in his regular commuting to Jaffna University. Nearly all of these venerating spaces are now a removed, affecting the history and heritage of these places. The red color Hibiscus flowers are used in Hindu religious rituals. A well rooted Hibiscus tree with red flowers resiliently stands through the old and newly laid asphalt layers.

In this art making process, Thalawatta is very clearly not engaging in a victorious or dominating Sinhala Buddhist mentality. Nor does he engage as foreigner who exotically perceives underlying religious, cultural and social complexities, and grossly simplify them. His attempt is to be understanding, empathetic and sensitive.

This exhibition 'A Different Road' is a succession of the artist's previous two sets of exhibitions: First, 'Red and White' in 2010 at the University of Jaffna, presented a set of works showing the visual attractions in a socially and culturally different environment and it tries to locate the artists own identity in that environment. 'Disappearing and Reappearing Landscape' – a rebuilding process with changes, is the second set of works, whereby his works were received with extreme interest and enthusiasm by art writers and curators. This line of work shows potential for further development, with the social political changes of Jaffna as well as the country.

The socio-politics behind these Roads are highly convoluted and complex. The carefully decided title of this exhibition, 'A Different Road' leads us to think of the road as a metaphor. It leads to many thought provoking questions: What is the difference? Is it a different Road or a new Road? For whom is this difference and for what? And where does or should this Road lead to?

by Lalith Manage

November 2012

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse