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Sunday Apr 28, 2024
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Pala Pothupitiye has become one of Sri Lanka’s most recognised and celebrated emerging artists. His latest body of works being shown at Hempel Galleries reveal the artist’s strong expressions of Sri Lanka’s contemporary social and political culture.
Pala’s background is traditional training in ritual-craft mixed with formal academic education that have uniquely modelled his art thinking. His lineage includes traditional craft artists and ritual specialists. Goldsmiths, ritual healers and medicine men form part of his ancestry. 
Coming from a low caste family and having personal experience with the often lawless and brutal disputes over land in his home village, Pala’s well-known map works have fearlessly addressed the politics of Sri Lanka during and after the long civil wars. He focuses on questions of personal identity by bringing attention to his caste and lineage. He presents the concept of national identity by addressing issues of ethnic violence, religio-cultural extremism and geopolitics.
Pala’s dedication and commitment to his work has consistently taken priority in all aspects of his life. He is in every sense of the word, a ‘true’ artist. Over the last 10 years, he has come to achieve international success and recognition. Pala has exhibited extensively both within Sri Lanka as well as internationally, such as in Delhi, Dhaka, Karachi, Kathmandu, Japan, Germany, Hong Kong and London. In 2010, he was nominated for the Sovereign Asian Art Prize and won the first prize which proved to be a turning point in his career. Pala’s work goes from strength to strength.
Religio-cultural extremism and majoritarian Sinhala nationalist sentiments are the main focus in this latest exhibition at Hempel Galleries in Colombo. Works for the current exhibition include paintings, drawings, sculptures and installation, in which religio-cultural extremism and majoritarian Sinhala nationalist sentiments are the main focus.
Naga visathi kesara hisathi demala mannaya
Last year’s Aluthgama tragedy and political support for extremist Sinhala Buddhist nationalism are the background to the inception of these works. His representation of traditional symbols and patterns shows how Sinhala Buddhist national and cultural icons can be misused and abused to support violence and extremist ideas.
The attraction of Pala’s work is inescapable. It allows the viewer to address the realities of terror, violence, corruption, right-violations and injustice, within an environment of visual pleasure. Pala provides an aesthetic experience similar to life in Sri Lanka, where despite the underlying acute problems; people are enjoying much of the country’s recent development and beautification.
“Pala is a multiple organism,” says friend and photographer Michael O’Shea. The sweat and thoughts of many people come together in this artist’s work. For further information: 0774282067.
Snakes
