Artwalk and Colombo Design Market collaborate at the Floating Market, Pettah

ArtWalk and Colombo Design Market collaborate this October to share a platform that nurtures home-grown creativity and encourages freedom of expression. Together, they share their focused retail and showcase platforms to provide artists and designers with a complete end solution in the market. 

By day, Colombo Design Market will take place in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Pettah, and ArtWalk will bring the runway to life in the evening. ArtWalk exhibits the seamless synergy of art and design. Runway models become living canvases for the artists’ expression. 

The brainchild of Anjuli Flamer­Caldera, ArtWalk has seen four successful instalments and returns for its fifth show and one can expect nothing less than ground-breaking work. ArtWalk 2015, built around the concept #LoveYourSelfie, will showcase how the digital realm has created diverse markets as a result of countless individuals communicating and expressing themselves through a wide range of media. 

The Colombo Design Market (CDM), over the past year, has grown into a vibrant hub for emerging designers and artists to engage with like­minded individuals, create novel designs and promote their own work. Since its inception, CDM has witnessed individual ideas grow; from first-time launches to store openings, from debut performances to album launches and promising collaborations, and much more. 

The October Edition of the Colombo Design Market will see the debut of emerging designers, with a focus on ethical fashion from brands such as Rice and Carry and Macudhi Loomsware. 

With a core team consisting of Founder Alifiya Mutaher, Music Curator Buddhima Kurukulasuriya, Interactive Arts and Graphic Designer Sugama Manish, Arts and Social Media Manager Munira Mutaher and Structural and Layout Designer Inaya Bongso, the market continues to experiment and explore the possibilities that Sri Lanka can offer with design, collaboration and entrepreneurship. 

The ArtWalk production prides itself on being a platform for creative expression, setting no boundaries or limits on what the participants can showcase on the runway. Freedom and ‘big ideas’ are encouraged and as a result, many designers who debut at ArtWalk have gone on to create holistic collections, design labels and businesses ­ highlighting the event’s impact on the country’s creative industry. 

The event presents a vast wealth of young talent and makes the transition easier for aspiring artists and designers looking to take that first step. The power and possibility of young ambition, skill and ingenuity is a transforming realisation for participants and audiences alike. ArtWalk showcases media that goes beyond the limits of purely fashion and art. On the runway, there will be a mixture of paintings, sculptures, recycled or upcycled pieces, photography, film and even food art. 

At the Colombo Design Market, expect to find yourself immersed in interactive art installations, where musical instruments are created from upcycling everyday items and are open for market visitors to play their own beat. Find some shade from the Saturday sun as you browse through the photography section, featuring compelling photography series’ by Amalini De Sayrah that explores the immediate environment and occupants of the Floating Market and gain insight into the history of Colombo riots by Malaka Pathmalal. 

In a nook of the Floating Market, you can cosy up to a series of ‘13 Under 30’ – a film room featuring 13 emerging Sri Lankan film makers under the age of 30, with the opportunity to have a conversation with the film makers themselves during the Q&A sessions after the screenings. 

This time, CDM dives deeper into their structural elements, visibly noticed in the official Colombo Design Market stall, which serves as an information kiosk and sells official CDM merchandise, and the floating barge that has been converted into the ‘Sound Stage’ where musicians will take over for the evening. 

In keeping with ArtWalk’s tradition of re-purposing underutilised urban spaces, a feature that Colombo Design Market actively works to create, the events will be held at the Floating Market in Pettah which will be uniquely equipped to accommodate a crowd of visitors during the day and a runway and audience for the evening’s show. 

The market is located in the heart of Colombo, alongside one of the city’s most vibrant neighbourhoods. The energy of the streets surrounding it and the entrepreneurship of its vendors are what the event encourages and hopes to further develop by generating awareness around the potential of the space.

Two of the most vibrant artistic showcases in Colombo will take place on 24 October, with the Colombo Design Market running through the day (10 a.m. to 8 p.m.), the runway show in the evening (7:30 p.m.­10 p.m.) and the ArtWalk After Party at Clique (505, Union Place, Colombo 7) from 10 p.m. onwards featuring DJs Demo, Dirty Dozen, Type B, Nigel and a guest performance by Prince Leon and Julius Mitchell. 

For more information follow ​facebook.com/colombodesignmarket​ and www.facebook.com/artwalksrilanka, ​and go to ​www.artwalksrilanka.co​m/shopbox to purchase tickets for the show and after party.