ARTRA Magazine

25/11/2025

Working on oil-painted plexiglass, Cortesão deconstructs modernist architecture and interiors — letting reflections, shadows, and memory blend in luminous yet fragile forms. The works blur the line between structure and dissolution, suggesting that what once seemed solid and rational is in fact permeable, temporal, and full of uncertainty.

Click the link in bio to read the full article.

article link: https://www.artra.lk/all-that-is-solid-reframing-modernity/

22/11/2025

In this interview, artist and dramatist Manel Jagoda, the daughter of Swanee Jayawardene, reflects on the bold modernist who defied convention, tracing her mother’s artistic beginnings and the innovations that shaped her legacy as both a painter and an educator.

Click the link in bio to read the full interview

For your copy/copies of ARTRA Magazine’s Women & Modernism Edition 69, call +94 76 632 4433

article link: https://www.artra.lk/women-and-modernism-edition-into-the-life-of-swanee-jayawardene/

21/11/2025

Peering into the life and legacy of Lionel Wendt, the pioneering modernist whose photography, music, and critical voice shaped Sri Lanka’s cultural landscape, this critical essay traces his artistic evolution, his role in nurturing the ’43 Group, and the timeless impact of his visionary practice.

Click the link in bio to read the full essay

For your copy/copies of ARTRA Magazine’s Lionel Wendt Photographs Edition 58, call +94 76 632 4433

article link: https://www.artra.lk/lionel-wendt-edition-a-portrait-of-lionel-wendt/

16/11/2025

From 8 November 2025, this exhibition of photography traces the Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean as crossroads of trade and culture through an extensive selection of photographs and archival documents from the collection of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi.

Sharjah Art Foundation

Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE Photographic Encounters along the Gulf Coasts features late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century glass slides depicting people, places and activities along the Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean littorals, revealing the region as a vital nexus of trade, culture and human co...

14/11/2025

In tracing Nalini Jayasuriya’s legacy through these recollections, this interview reveals an artist shaped by her innate spirituality, the beauty of nature, and quiet rebellion - whose legacy, sustained through relationships and remembrance, points to a powerful alternative archive of Sri Lankan modernist art.

For your copy/copies of ARTRA Magazine’s Women & Modernism Edition 69, call +94 76 632 4433.

In Conversation with Prof. Sharya Scharenguivel and Suhada Gamlath While Nalini Jayasuriya (1927–2014) was internationally recognised for her deeply spiritual and modernist visual language, exhibiting her work across continents and lecturing at leading universities such as Yale University, Univers...

12/11/2025

Celebrating the impactful artists of the global photography industry, HIPA announced the recipients of its Special Awards for its 14th Season under the theme ‘Power’, naming Rick Smolan, Mark Smith and Salim Al Hajri.

HIPA 14th Season Special Awards The Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum International Photography Award (HIPA) has announced the recipients of its Special Awards for the 14th Season of the award, themed ‘Power’. The honours spotlight three leading figures whose work has redefined modern ph...

11/11/2025

Tracing the rising global presence of South Asian art, Rajeeb Samdani reflects on collecting practices, the artistic ecosystems in the region, and the changing ways South Asian art circulates and is valued internationally.

For your copy/copies of ARTRA Magazine’s South Asian Contemporary Art Edition 68, call +94 77 570 1891.

Samdani Art Foundation

In Conversation with Rajeeb Samdani For ARTRA Magazine’s South Asian Contemporary Art Edition 58, we had the privilege to speak to Rajeeb Samdani, Co-Founder and Trustee of the Samdani Art Foundation, Co-Chair of the Tate’s South Asian Acquisitions Committee, and board member of the Delfina Foun...

09/11/2025

‘Amphibian Aesthetics’, from 13 December 2025 to 31 March 2026, reimagines the ‘amphibian’ as a symbol of adaptability and shared vulnerability. Drawing on Kerala’s oceanic histories, the exhibition explores water as a living archive connecting species, geographies, and time.

Ishara Art Foundation, The Ishara House, Kochi, Kerala Amphibian Aesthetics emerges from the urgencies of precarity in the Anthropocene – climate collapse, displacement, extinction and hyper-capital – where questions of survival and radicality become inseparable from artistic practice. The exhib...

04/11/2025

Reflecting on C. Anjalendran’s enduring impact on Sri Lanka’s art and architectural landscape, Jagath Weerasinghe highlights how Anjalendran bridged divides of class and ethnicity, creating a space where artists from across the island could engage with collectors and communities alike.

For your digital copy/copies of ARTRA Magazine’s Architecture of Anjalendran Edition 62, call +94 77 570 1891.

In Conversation with Jagath Weerasinghe C. Anjalendran imparted much of his learnings unto the people he met and into the houses he built. The architect effortlessly took on the role of a cultural conduit as he conveyed and translated his own interpretation of the Sri Lankan identity, instilling a s...

02/11/2025

An intimate cinematic portrait of Sri Lankan modernist George Claessen, Babel to Abstraction traces the artist’s life through rare archival material, letters, and animation. Produced by Three Highgate Production, the George Claessen Estate, and Lemkino Pictures, the film reflects on Claessen’s pursuit of beauty and truth amid displacement, revealing the quiet depths of one of Sri Lanka’s most significant modernist figures.

Three Highgate Production, George Claessen Estate and Lemkino Pictures Babel to Abstraction is an inventive documentary exploring the life and work of George Claessen, a Sri Lankan pioneer of abstract art whose life reflected the major forces of the 20th century – colonialism, migration, identit....

01/11/2025

From the Galle Fort to Galle’s streets — the Art Trail, in collaboration with ARTRA Magazine , is back this 22 January – 1 February 2026. Expect a series of art exhibitions, conversations, workshops and surprises along the way. 🎨🌴