The Geoffrey Bawa Trust launched the third season of their ongoing program, To Lunuganga between July 11 and 14, which celebrated 75 years of Geoffrey Bawa’s garden. A series of multivocal projects took place over the past 12 months during Seasons 1 and 2 of the program under the themes “nature and the natural,” “empathy through ecology,” “access beyond language,” and “garden as lens.” The Trust welcomed the third and final season with a series of events across Colombo and Bentota, including the launch of two new installations at Lunuganga.
The weekend began in Colombo with an opening reception at the Trust’s new office: the Kannangara House, designed by Geoffrey Bawa between 1959 and 1961. Chairperson Channa Daswatte welcomed guests to the space, while Chief Curator Shayari de Silva reflected on the 18-month program thus far and previewed its third season. Curator Aneesha Mustachi introduced the Tree Talks Listening Room, the first installation at the Kannangara House which showcased all of the eponymous podcast’s episodes including the newly-released Garden Rhythms, a special episode mapping the garden’s sonic landscape and featuring an interview with Head Gardener Mulle Widanalage Amarasiri.
New installation
The Geoffrey Bawa Trust and Ena de Silva Foundation unveiled a new installation, Botany and Batik: the Living Archives of Ena de Silva on July 13. The installation is at No. 5 at Lunuganga, formerly the Ena de Silva House which was designed by Geoffrey Bawa and moved to Bentota in 2017 in a landmark conservation effort by the Trust. Botany and Batik: the Living Archives of Ena de Silva drew from de Silva’s meticulous documentation of the natural world and its influence on her textile practice while also featuring drawings by her son, artist Anil Gamini Jayasuriya. The installation honoured Jayasuriya’s memory through artistic renderings of his ecological interests by metalwork artist Salome Nanayakkara.
On July 14, Artist Chathuri Nissansala launched Saudade: The Haunting Presence of Prince Dorovana, made from natural materials found throughout the garden including coconut beads, fungus-grown jakfruit, and beads of the Anthurium flower. Nissansala has previously engaged with Lunuganga through a live performance in the garden as part of the Prince Claus Fund Seed Awards, of which she was a December 2023 awardee.
Nissansala was also recently selected for the residency program at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten—an Amsterdam-based organisation focused on fostering global talent in the fine arts through a two-year program—which she will commence this September. Her installation is the latest addition to the ongoing collaborative project The Order of Nature. Its first contribution by artist Shenuka Corea featured a zine and double-sided triptych painted on folding timber panels. Geoffrey Bawa Trust Senior Design and Communications Manager Thilini Perera, the curator of The Order of Nature, debuted the curatorial project in December 2023 with the support of the Prince Claus Fund.
Alternative tour
Nissansala and Perera guided an alternative tour of the garden that strayed away from architectural elements and instead examined it as a site of queer discourse and ecologies. Artist Firi Rahman offered tours of his installation, In between: the existence of Firdaus, which has been on view at Lunuganga since December 2023 and launched in February 2024. Rahman spoke of his creative process and the experience of conceptualising an outdoor installation—his first of the kind—meant to evolve with the changing environment of the garden. Both tours were given on Saturday and Sunday.
As dusk approached on Saturday evening, renowned musician, dance practitioner, and choreographer Ravibandu Vidypathi took the stage. Vidyapathi composed the soundtrack to Salt River, the first film about Lunuganga which premiered in 2004. 20 years later, Vidyapathi returned to the site of his inspiration in a reimagining of the score, complete with an impressive ensemble orchestra and projections of the film.
Guests sipped on drinks conceived using the flora of Lunuganga as inspiration from Colombo restaurant GINI during a sunset cocktail hour. The restaurant, known for its live-fire outdoor cooking, then built a fire pit in the garden to prepare a series of locally sourced ingredients and innovative dishes inspired by Lunuganga. GINI brought its same philosophy to a specially-designed picnic menu the next day, enjoyed by guests in the afternoon as Colombo artist Ruvin de Silva deejayed with a special playlist curated to the setting of the garden.
The Season 3 launch of To Lunuganga emphasised local connections and collaborators including: Aquila Peris, Chathuri Nissansala, Dr. Danister Perera, the Ena de Silva Foundation, Firi Rahman, Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne, GINI Outdoor Kitchen, Salome Nanayakkara, Sanjeewa Wijesundara, Shenuka Corea, and Ravibandu Vidyapathi. The program drew visitors on and off the island, including a patron cohort from Hong Kong-based museum M+.
