Cinnamon Colomboscope positioning Colombo as hub for art and culture

Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts is once again preparing to host the city’s most anticipated multi-disciplinary contemporary arts festival – Cinnamon Colomboscope. 

Conceptualised by EUNIC (the European Union National Institutes for Culture), the festival, is currently in its fifth edition and is scheduled to be held at a non-traditional venue from 1 to 6 September. Cinnamon Colomboscope will celebrate six days of curated visual and performing arts that will reiterate the importance of environmental sustainability whilst creating conversations around the impact that humans have on the planet. This is the third consecutive year in which Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts and the John Keells Foundation will organise the event. 

Commenting on Cinnamon’s commitment to the project, Dileep Mudadeniya, Head of Brand Marketing, Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts and Vice President John Keells Group said, “Cinnamon Colomboscope is the only contemporary arts event of its kind in the country. This year, the festival theme will reflect our impact on the planet and urge us to embrace sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives portrayed by the finest contemporary artists from across Sri Lanka and the world. Our intention is to put Colombo on the map as a hub for art and culture in the region, and give our growing visitors a festival to look forward to every year. As a city developing over 3,000 rooms and apartments for the anticipated growth in tourism, it is important to develop events and activities that will encourage visitors to spend more time in the city.”

Since its inception, Cinnamon Colomboscope has consistently promoted and built a platform for contemporary art in Sri Lanka; in 2016 it was recorded as the most popular cultural festival in the country according to statistics on social media. It supports and inspires local and international artists to create engaging, evocative and daring pieces of work that are able to communicate powerful messages to the world, as well as mobilise communities to experience and engage in stimulating and thought-provoking creative processes. This year, Menika van der Poorten will serve as the curator for the event. She has spearheaded arts and music festivals in London such as Tieria Latina and London’s biggest festival of Asian arts Lambeth Mela.

With the theme of arts, culture and environment, this year’s Cinnamon Colomboscope will celebrate 6 days of curated visual and performing arts with an extensive programme of outreach initiatives, talks exploring environmentalism and its intersections, film screenings and more.  

Rising temperatures, pollution and volatile weather patterns marked by recurring cycles of drought and floods are realities for Colombo and Sri Lanka. Displaced communities, poorly distributed natural resources, loss of biodiversity, the ever-growing use of non-biodegradable plastics, non-transparent contingency plans for disaster management, unsustainable resource management and implementation of destructive ‘development’ programs with no consideration of the serious consequences of deforestation, are just a few concerns surrounding this year’s theme. Recognised internationally as a Biodiversity Hotspot, Sri Lanka is home to fauna, flora and ecosystem diversity that is unique in the region. 

Art and culture as a platform renders a very real creative contribution to bring to light the defining and complex issues and the search for possible resolutions. Multi-disciplinary artists and creatives, both in the Arts and Sciences, bring unique and myriad perspectives to bear. Cinnamon Colomboscope will bring together creative practitioners and thought leaders to interrogate, communicate, reflect, explore, and re-imagine how creativity could inspire change and support environmental sustainability.

To find out more about the festival, please visit: www.cinnamoncolomboscope.com.