‘A Return to Sri Lanka’ reaches final destination in Galle

EXIBITION open from 11-24 November at Galle Municipal Council



The British Library (UK) in partnership with the British Council (Sri Lanka) recently launched ‘A Return to Sri Lanka’, a travelling exhibition showcasing images of Sri Lanka from British Collections. The exhibits cover nearly 300 years of Sri Lankan history, from 1640 – 1900.

Providing a rare opportunity to see a unique selection of over 150 images drawn from the collections of the British Library, the Victoria and Albert Museums, the Natural History Museum, London and the National Museum, Colombo through manuscripts, maps, prints, drawings, photographs and other artefacts, the exhibition illustrates how the island has inspired both visiting and local artists to document its peoples, landscapes and cultures.

The exhibition has travelled already to three major cities of Sri Lanka – beginning in Colombo, with over 3000 people visiting, including several national schools, Jaffna, with over 8000 people visiting and around 20 schools, and Kandy where the exhibition saw 20,000 visitors. As at the previous locations, admission to the exhibition is free and information about the exhibits is available in Sinhala, Tamil and English at the site.

European fascination with Sri Lanka was initially stimulated by its strategic position in the struggle for colonial dominance in South Asia and as the source of many of the immensely profitable spices for which European trading companies competed.

With increasing familiarity, Europeans also slowly became aware of—and attempted to record—both the beauty of the island and its rich cultural heritage, in fields as diverse as archaeology and natural history. The long story of interaction between Europe and Sri Lanka has resulted in a rich and varied legacy of images which provide a fascinating insight into the island’s history during the colonial period. The exhibition, ‘A Return to Sri Lanka’ brings a choice selection of this common heritage to a Sri Lankan audience in the form of digital facsimiles of material held in several major British collections. The exhibits include several images that are particularly pertinent to Galle, including early hand-coloured photographs of the Galle Fort, and an illustration of the city of Galle after its capture by the Dutch from the 1660s.

Some of the most memorable images of the entire exhibition are some stunning paintings of the coral reef off the shores of Galle.

At the end of its tour, ‘A Return to Sri Lanka’ will be gifted to the Ministry of Heritage to make it more widely available to the Sri Lankan audience. An online version of the exhibition is available at www.britishcouncil.lk/exhibition

 ‘A Return to Sri Lanka’ is co-curated by John Falconer (UK) and Menika van der Poorten (Sri Lanka) and is funded by the World Collections Programme. The exhibition is produced by the British Council Sri Lanka and the British Library UK.