Shalini Amerasinghe Ganendra speaks of her work

We feature here an interview with Shalini Amerasinghe Ganendra, lawyer and cultural entrepreneur, who takes us through her journey in making the colonial era photographic image a tool of insightful story telling.

Excerpts of the interview:

Q. Your book ‘Veins of Influence’ is a unique work of photography that incorporates consideration of a social psychology as case studied through photographers and collectors. Could you run us through key aspects of this publication? 

A. My construct of visual evaluation, namely ‘Veins of influence’, takes a reconstructive approach to contextualise and interpret colonial era photographs of Ceylon. This construct examines the dynamics implicit in the image and takes into account historiography, biographies of collectors and the idiosyncrasies of the social context that are best understood by identifying for whom these photographs were intended. This analytical approach is not new; in assessing other cultural objects, this is best practice. However, recognising how vital it is to understand these ‘veins’ when studying photographic material and that which the famed John Berger so aptly termed ‘ways of seeing’, offers fresh methodology. This writing would also place the still unfamiliar early colonial era photography of Ceylon within a broader geographical discourse about world photography. 

This approach gives a more humanistic and personal approach to the collecting of the image – i.e. to that personal selection by key influencers of the time, who visited Ceylon. Moving away from the dominant constructs of orientalism and the hardened critiques of Empire, I take on the photographs as extensions not only of place, the times and history, but of the people who collected them. The images also necessarily act as influencers now, on our view of what certain aspects colonial Sri Lanka looked like. 

Q. Could you speak of the combination between photography and paintings as tools of social research in encapsulating lost horizons of history?

A. Photographs and paintings operate in different ways, but both can be mirrors of the times in which they come out of. One must take care, however, to approach each differently because the photograph necessarily involves technical interventions (the camera and development process) whereas the painting is thought to be a brush/tool controlled by hand, without that same technical intervention.

Q.  Your book is a testimony of practice based research and breaks the framework of the rigidly theoretical. Could you speak of your earliest experience and experiments with photography and the formation of your art based company in Malaysia where you live, as well as how your book came to be and the challenges in completing it.

A. This publication has been a lifetime in the making based on a lifetime of seeing! The development of the idea to look at the early influence of photography really started with a generational family photo-wall. How, I asked myself, did the viewing of those photographs influence my world and self view? How do they affect my children’s and ancestors? What prompted the taking of certain photographs and poses? What memories and whose did they capture? And so on. 

I had the opportunity to explore these ideas during a series of visiting fellowships at Oxford University, which marked an amazing and blessed turning point in my career. During that time, I was able to refine thinking around the images that I accessed, and develop this visual construct of ‘veins of influence’.  The pandemic inconveniently presented certain challenges for travel and access, but I kept going and the archives that hosted me were absolutely wonderful. Not only did they welcome my interest and give me access, but I benefitted from the expertise and insights of the archivists.

These deep considerations serve also as examples for the methodology I apply in my project work, whether curating museum exhibitions or planning a lecture program, the approach is how to connect to the viewer/audience in an accessible manner. The more complicated the ideas, the more important it becomes to distil them into clear and understandable contexts without compromising their gravitas. 

Some of the most heartening moments for this publication include its entry into leading libraries and collections, including the Getty Foundation, the Library of Congress, University Libraries. Super bookshops in Colombo are offering a limited number of hard copies. The hardcopy publication is limited edition with only 1,000 hard copies printed. (Cambridge University Library, for example has listed it as a ‘rare book’ that must be read in the Special Collections Room!) 

To increase accessibility, I worked with the Publisher, Neptune Publishing, to bring out an EBook available on Amazon, but also limited copies. A recent accolade is that, Daunt Books Marylebone, that well known and trendy book shop in London, will carry Veins of Influence. 

https://www.veinsofinfluence.com/

Kindle EBook: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CPFSC5BV/ref=sr_1_1?crid=4P5S4R5X6AIH&keywords=veins+of+influence&qid=1701728631&s=digital-text&sprefix=veins+of+influence%2Cdigital-text%2C60&sr=1-1

Q. You have all your life worked with artists across the world. Could you speak of your work?

A. I have worked for nearly three decades as a cultural entrepreneur and scholar to develop what I term the ‘culture of encounter.’ I have delivered programming to give feature to all aspects of visual culture, to build sustainable connections between communities and individuals, local and global and foster inter-disciplinary discourse through place making.

My focus on  community well-being has been realised through educational, exhibition and workshop programming for all ages,  primarily in Malaysia and Sri Lanka, creating high impact social value by building  appreciation of the handmade, creations and creators, ( at one time ) through a  gallery, city-wide cultural programming and international projects. One driver for these programs is the belief that increased understanding for culture, provided through such accessible programs, would necessarily give support to the creative fields and enrich community.   

I have worked on nearly 100 exhibitions locally and numerous international exhibitions; the first exhibitions of Sri Lankan Art at the Nehru Centre, London and of Malaysia Art at Asia Week New York. The most recent was the Image and Identity exhibition at the Museum of Oxford (2022).

I launched the Vision Culture Lectures, (endorsed by UNESCO Observatory and published in  Arts in Asia UNESCO Observatory) in 2011 and this series operated for a decade to bring international luminaries to Malaysia for free public talks and workshops and to bring increased recognition to local artists who went on to participate in international projects through the connections made. I established Artist and Research Residencies that connected artists, curators, scholars and other cultural stakeholders to wonderfully build expanding networks.

In 2016, I founded the Gallery Weekend Kuala Lumpur, an annual city-wide, cultural marquee  featuring multi-disciplinary Malaysian, SE Asian  and global creative content. Gallery Weekend Kuala Lumpur (GWKL) has brought more than 30 international luminaries from 5 continents, specialising in numerous fields including:  art practise, curatorship, museum management, architecture, design engineering and, journalism, to engage with the citizens of the region. For most participants, despite their international remits, this GWKL engagement has been the first physical introduction to the region, providing immersive engagement with local communities.  The benefits of these engagements continue, including the feature of Malaysian artists in the Venice Biennial 2022, and generally towards promoting understanding transnationally. 

My cultural centre’s programming took place in one of the first certified green buildings in Malaysia, Gallery Residence, (since nominated for the Aga Khan Architecture Award in recognition of community impact).  I have just aimed to replicate and echo my  personal experience of benefitting from engagement with creators and creative endeavour (whether art, craft, design or architecture), including celebration of difference. Gallery Residence hosted Artist and Research Residencies; Art Hug children’s programs and workshops. I have also developed outreach programs that extend far beyond urban centres, for example  a valuable children›s art/reading program for the native Kelabit community in Bario, Sarawak that combined exercises of drawing, reading and presentation to groups of young children (5 – 15 years), to seed interest and independence.

Q. You are Sri Lankan born and a lawyer by training?

A. I am Sri Lankan born and read law at Cambridge University (1987) and qualified as a Barrister and New York Attorney. I was the first Sri Lankan specialist to be appointed to the Tate Gallery (UK) Acquisitions Committee (SAAC) and have served on numerous judging panels including for the Commonwealth Arts Award and as a nominator for the Sovereign Art Prize and Aga Khan Architecture Awards.

I continue to develop writings that focus on the visual culture as an active agent in the telling of stories about the creators, collectors, viewers and the times they operate across.

(SV)