Nature’s Magnificent Eye photo exhibition in California, USA

The Sri Lanka Consulate General in Los Angeles in collaboration with the Sri Lanka-America photographic Art Society and Sarathchandra Buddhist Centre in Oxnard, California, presented a two-day Sri Lankan nature and wildlife photographic exhibition at the Ken Locke Hall, University of the West, Rosemead, California on 15 and 16 September. This is the first time that a Sri Lankan photographic exhibition of this magnitude was held in the western states of the USA.

The exhibition included a large number of rare photographs taken by Sri Lankan photographer and Sri Lanka-America Art Society President Suriya Jayalath Perera, who was also a University of Kelaniya graduate student and a former Project Officer of the Department of Wildlife Conservation, Sri Lanka.

The exhibition depicted the rich and historical Sri Lankan cultural heritage dating back over 2,500 years, wildlife, flora and fauna of national parks of Sri Lanka, such as Yala, Wilpattu, Udawalawa, Horton Planes, and Sinharaja Rainforest, together with a number of unique photographs captured at several US National Parks that include Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Sequoia, Muirwood, Zion, Arches, Antelope Canyon, etc., located in the American West that falls under the consular jurisdiction of the Consulate General.

The opening ceremony and the reception, hosted by the staff of the Sri Lanka Consulate General, was attended by over 300 guests representing the US Government, regional city administrations, civic societies, the corporate sector, and multi-ethnic communities living in California. Keynote speeches were delivered by Prof. J. B. Dissanayaka and Independent Television Network, Sri Lanka, Program Director Dr. Hasantha Hettiarachchi.Consul General Swarna Gunaratne, delivering opening remarks, while thanking Suriya Perera for his untiring efforts in covering the unseen beauty of Sri Lanka through Camera lenses, and Prof. J. B. Dissanayaka as well as Dr. Hettiarachchi for taking time off from their extremely busy work schedule to travel to California to grace this historic occasion, briefed the audience on the forthcoming major promotional programs that are being coordinated by the Consulate General in Western USA during this year to commemorate ‘Sri Lanka 70’. 

Nature’s Magnificent Eye drew a large number of visitors from all over California and from some other western states during the two-day exhibition, and was able to create tremendous awareness among them about Sri Lanka and her astonishing beauty.