The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Sri Lanka (MMCA Sri Lanka) closed their exhibition ‘Total Landscaping’ on 29 May. The admission free exhibition was curated by Sandev Handy and Thinal Sajeewa, and was open to the public in three rotations from 12 September 2024.
“As ‘Total Landscaping’ comes to a close, my hope is that the exhibition has served to reframe the idea of a landscape not only as a site of beauty, but also as a struggle, an archive of memory, and at times a scar,” noted Handy. He also said that, “The exhibition aimed to make clear that no serious history of art in Sri Lanka can be written without reckoning with the politics of land—from plantation economies to free trade zones and militarised terrain.”
‘Total Landscaping’ explored the broad, dramatic, and stirring ways in which land has been transformed in Sri Lanka. The exhibition brought together 29 contemporary artists whose works go beyond traditional illustrations of landscapes. Instead, their works register the different ways in which perceptions of land have been constructed and contested. ‘Total Landscaping’ unfolded as a sequence of changing displays that elicited an all-out renegotiation of our relationships to land.
Rotation 1 of ‘Total Landscaping’, which was open from 12 September to 1 December 2024 featured artists Anomaa Rajakaruna (b.1965), Arulraj Ulaganathan (b.1992), Barbara Sansoni (1928–2022), Chandraguptha Thenuwara (b.1960), Danushka Marasinghe (b.1985), Dominic Sansoni (b.1956), Hanusha Somasundaram (b.1988), Jagath Weerasinghe (b.1954), Jasmine Nilani Joseph (b.1990), Jesper Nordahl (b.1969), Pradeep Thalawatta (b.1979), Sebastian Posingis (b.1975), Stephen Champion (b.1959), Suntharam Anojan (b.1991), Thavarasa Thajendran (b.1987), and Thisath Thoradeniya (b.1975).
Rotation 2 of the exhibition was open from 15 December 2024 to 2 March 2025 and it featured Abdul Halik Azeez (b.1985), Chandraguptha Thenuwara (b.1960), Danushka Marasinghe (b.1985), Dominic Sansoni (b.1956), Jasmine Nilani Joseph (b.1990), Koralegedara Pushpakumara (b.1968), Pala Pothupitiya (b.1972), Pradeep Thalawatta (b.1979), and T. Shanaathanan (b.1969).
The final rotation of ‘Total Landscaping’, which was open from 15 March to 29 May, featured Bandu Manamperi (b.1972), Danushka Marasinghe (b.1985), Deshan Tennekoon (b.1977), Isuri Dayaratne (b.1985), Laki Senanayake (1937–2021), M. Vijitharan (b.1985), Muhanned Cader (b.1966), Ruvin de Silva (b.1986), Sakina Aliakbar (b.1996), Suntharam Anojan (b.1991), and Tashiya de Mel (b.1991).
Speaking of the significance of the works included in the exhibition, Handy said that, “‘Total Landscaping’ has engaged with the work of artists who have grappled with the urgent and enduring questions of land over the past seven decades. They have done so often in the absence of formal archives.” He added that “This engagement has pointed to a role that the museum must embrace, by becoming more than a container for objects. It means stepping into the role of mediating dialogue: one that must hold contested memory, not only material.”
The exhibition attracted 15,012 visitors, with 722 students from nine schools and higher educational institutes who visited the MMCA Sri Lanka on outreach visits. The museum also curated 58 public programmes in relation to ‘Total Landscaping’, which had 942 participants. These public programmes included Gallery Talks, Curator’s Tours, Exhibition Tours, Workshops, Special Performances, among others.
‘Total Landscaping’ also marked a collaboration between the MMCA Sri Lanka and the Supporting Effective Dispute Resolution (SEDR) project which is funded by the European Union. Their joint project titled ‘Arts 4 ADR’ was a 12-month endeavour that aimed to increase awareness and understanding of community-based Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms, and facilitate dialogue about the root causes of community-based conflict, disputes, and grievances in Sri Lanka through art.
As a part of these efforts, the MMCA Sri Lanka commissioned artists Anomaa Rajakaruna, Jasmine Nilani Joseph, and Hanusha Somasundram to develop three artworks in relation to contexts of communal conflict in Vavuniya, Mannar, Ampara, Trincomalee, Badulla, and Monaragala. These artworks were on display in the first Rotation of ‘Total Landscaping’, gaining significant public attention. Additionally, the MMCA Sri Lanka conducted 15 regional workshops as part of ‘Arts 4 ADR’ in November and December 2024, and January 2025, with the participation of over 460 community leaders across seven districts in Sri Lanka.
The MMCA Sri Lanka is an education-led initiative that aims to establish a public museum dedicated to the display, research, collection, and conservation of modern and contemporary art for the benefit and enjoyment of the general public, schools, and tourists. Information about the museum, and its exhibitions and public programmes can be found via their website www.mmca-srilanka.org, or on Facebook at facebook.com/mmcasrilanka and Instagram at instagram.com/mmcasrilanka/.
