The Saskia Fernando Gallery (PRSFG) presents the first exhibition for the new year 2025 with Jagath Weerasinghe’s Discovery of Histories.
Weerasinghe is pivotal to contemporary Sri Lankan art and has been a driving force in its development since the early 1990s. The artist’s practice that has unfolded over the past four decades consistently examines and critiques Sri Lankan anxieties, responding to collective attitudes — as he identifies them, taking themes such as nationhood, religion, identity, and confrontation for commentary.
Jagath Weerasinghe
Weerasinghe holds a Master of Fine Arts Degree (1991) from the American University in Washington DC. He is the co-founder of the Theertha Collective and the moving force behind collaborations such as the Colombo Art Biennale and Matara Arts Festival.
His work has been featured at the Matare Art Festival (2024), Khoj India (2018), Art Dubai (2018), Aicon Gallery New York (2017), Serendipity Arts Festival India (2016), Breese Little London (2014), Colombo Art Biennale (2012), Asia House London (2011), Museum fur Volkerkunde Wien Austria (2009), Singapore Art Biennale (2006), Asia Pacific Triennial (1999), Fukuoka Asian Art Museum Japan (1994).
His work belongs to collections at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), USA and the Fukuoka Art Museum, Japan. In Discovery of Histories, Weerasinghe showcases a gradual and significant evolution in his artistic practice over the past four decades. From his earlier critique of Sri Lanka’s ethno-nationalism, this new body of work explores the broader, increasingly fragmented global political landscape.
Created between 2020 and 2024, these artworks reflect the social and political upheavals caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, political unrest in Sri Lanka, and growing global instability. The series ‘Under the Dark Sky’ poignantly captures the uncertain and unsettling atmosphere following the pandemic. Through a sombre palette and discordant brushstrokes that create a dark sky that overshadows the canvas, Weerasinghe conveys a pervasive sense of anxiety and discord, as he wrestles with the turmoil of the past decade. Yet, the works also suggest a glimmer of hope, envisioning a future where the people through collective action disrupts the status quo and challenges existing power structures.
Weerasinghe revisits the recurring motif of the ‘ruined’ stupa, which has long symbolised his personal disillusionment with the way Buddhism’s peaceful teachings were co-opted to justify violence. In this new series, Explorers Have Eyes and Guns, the stupa is reimagined as a symbol of enduring resilience. With colonial figures juxtaposed against these ruins, Explorers Have Eyes and Guns urges a reexamination of history and a collective effort to reclaim and reshape our narratives for a more inclusive future.
In Discovery of Histories, Jagath Weerasinghe strives to critically examine the systemic issues that perpetuate extremism and violence, offering a sharp commentary on the forces shaping contemporary global conflicts.
The exhibition will run until February 9.
