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Gallery | Open House in Colombo

With Chathuri Nissansala, Vicky Shahjehan, Vasi Samudra Devi, Veenadari Lakshika Jayakody, Hema Shironi Joseph & Sabeen Omar and the curators Sandev Handy and Sakina Aliakbar. 

Photography by Ruvin de Silva and Team House of kal Colombo

With resident works on display, on-going activities and refreshments.

House of kal Colombo Opening

With resident works on display, on-going activities and refreshments.

© kal

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This performance recontextualizes how text constructs identity, matriarchy understandings of ‘healing’. Introducing mark-making within an intimate space, Birth is a ritual for unlearning the imperial sediments of the past and the present, necessary for imagining new futures.

Birth by Vicky Shahjehan, Chathuri Nissansala, Shiromi Subasinghe & R. Rasamma (Invitation through registration only)

This performance recontextualizes how text constructs identity, matriarchy understandings of ‘healing’. Introducing mark-making within an intimate space, Birth is a ritual for unlearning the imperial sediments of the past and the present, necessary for imagining new futures.

© kal

2/38

This performance recontextualizes how text constructs identity, matriarchy understandings of ‘healing’. Introducing mark-making within an intimate space, Birth is a ritual for unlearning the imperial sediments of the past and the present, necessary for imagining new futures.

Birth by Vicky Shahjehan, Chathuri Nissansala, Shiromi Subasinghe & R. Rasamma

This performance recontextualizes how text constructs identity, matriarchy understandings of ‘healing’. Introducing mark-making within an intimate space, Birth is a ritual for unlearning the imperial sediments of the past and the present, necessary for imagining new futures.

© kal

3/38

With resident works on display, on-going activities and refreshments.

House of kal Colombo Opening

With resident works on display, on-going activities and refreshments.

© kal

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With resident works on display, on-going activities and refreshments.

House of kal Colombo Opening

With resident works on display, on-going activities and refreshments.

© kal

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With resident works on display, and on-going activities.

House of Kal Colombo Open House

With resident works on display, and on-going activities.

© kal

6/38

How can one collect and make archaic memory tangible? Through a circle of narrations, Vicky invites you to tease out the memories, presences and identities embedded within a collection of objects/materials. It is imagined as a series of interactive sessions that welcomes participants into a shared space of “Embracing and embodying your special self”

Porrutkal/ nineiwugal/ oorawugal/ inneipugal by Vicky Shahjehan

How can one collect and make archaic memory tangible? Through a circle of narrations, Vicky invites you to tease out the memories, presences and identities embedded within a collection of objects/materials. It is imagined as a series of interactive sessions that welcomes participants into a shared space of “Embracing and embodying your special self”

© kal

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How can one collect and make archaic memory tangible? Through a circle of narrations, Vicky invites you to tease out the memories, presences and identities embedded within a collection of objects/materials. It is imagined as a series of interactive sessions that welcomes participants into a shared space of “Embracing and embodying your special self”

Porrutkal/ nineiwugal/ oorawugal/ inneipugal by Vicky Shahjehan (Invitation through registration only)

How can one collect and make archaic memory tangible? Through a circle of narrations, Vicky invites you to tease out the memories, presences and identities embedded within a collection of objects/materials. It is imagined as a series of interactive sessions that welcomes participants into a shared space of “Embracing and embodying your special self”

© kal

8/38

Vasi and Keshiya discuss their animated film “What Kinda Trans Am I?” developed for Transfigure Lanka’s Trans/Queer Collaborations. A short animated film co-created by Keshiya Rayla Kaavyashri and Vasi Samudra Devi, two trans/non-binary artists under the idea of trans and queer liberation during the medical transition process which they are both undergoing simultaneously.

What Kinda Trans Am I? — Animated Film by Vasi Samudra Devi and Keshiya Rayla Kaavyashri

Vasi and Keshiya discuss their animated film “What Kinda Trans Am I?” developed for Transfigure Lanka’s Trans/Queer Collaborations. A short animated film co-created by Keshiya Rayla Kaavyashri and Vasi Samudra Devi, two trans/non-binary artists under the idea of trans and queer liberation during the medical transition process which they are both undergoing simultaneously.

© kal

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Vasi and Keshiya discuss their animated film “What Kinda Trans Am I?” developed for Transfigure Lanka’s Trans/Queer Collaborations. A short animated film co-created by Keshiya Rayla Kaavyashri and Vasi Samudra Devi, two trans/non-binary artists under the idea of trans and queer liberation during the medical transition process which they are both undergoing simultaneously.

What Kinda Trans Am I? — Animated Film by Vasi Samudra Devi and Keshiya Rayla Kaavyashri

Vasi and Keshiya discuss their animated film “What Kinda Trans Am I?” developed for Transfigure Lanka’s Trans/Queer Collaborations. A short animated film co-created by Keshiya Rayla Kaavyashri and Vasi Samudra Devi, two trans/non-binary artists under the idea of trans and queer liberation during the medical transition process which they are both undergoing simultaneously.

© kal

10/38

Vasi and Keshiya discuss their animated film “What Kinda Trans Am I?” developed for Transfigure Lanka’s Trans/Queer Collaborations. A short animated film co-created by Keshiya Rayla Kaavyashri and Vasi Samudra Devi, two trans/non-binary artists under the idea of trans and queer liberation during the medical transition process which they are both undergoing simultaneously.

What Kinda Trans Am I? — Animated Film by Vasi Samudra Devi and Keshiya Rayla Kaavyashri

Vasi and Keshiya discuss their animated film “What Kinda Trans Am I?” developed for Transfigure Lanka’s Trans/Queer Collaborations. A short animated film co-created by Keshiya Rayla Kaavyashri and Vasi Samudra Devi, two trans/non-binary artists under the idea of trans and queer liberation during the medical transition process which they are both undergoing simultaneously.

© kal

11/38

With resident works on display, and on-going activities.

House of Kal Colombo Open House

With resident works on display, and on-going activities.

© kal

12/38

The act of "play " resides within civilizations, cultures and also within archives. This interactive performance invites attendees to “play” and masquerade by becoming performers or taking on various personas. The performance interrogates various scenarios of imperial identity, remembrance, memorialization and nationalism by interplaying a series of cultural conundrums. Each scenario explores how one symbolically encounters the act of ‘forgetful remembrance’.

இந்த நிலம் எனக்கு சொந்தமில்லை அம்மா (Mother this land is not ours) by Chathuri Nissansala

The act of "play " resides within civilizations, cultures and also within archives. This interactive performance invites attendees to “play” and masquerade by becoming performers or taking on various personas. The performance interrogates various scenarios of imperial identity, remembrance, memorialization and nationalism by interplaying a series of cultural conundrums. Each scenario explores how one symbolically encounters the act of ‘forgetful remembrance’.

© kal

13/38

The act of "play " resides within civilizations, cultures and also within archives. This interactive performance invites attendees to “play” and masquerade by becoming performers or taking on various personas. The performance interrogates various scenarios of imperial identity, remembrance, memorialization and nationalism by interplaying a series of cultural conundrums. Each scenario explores how one symbolically encounters the act of ‘forgetful remembrance’.

இந்த நிலம் எனக்கு சொந்தமில்லை அம்மா (Mother this land is not ours) by Chathuri Nissansala

The act of "play " resides within civilizations, cultures and also within archives. This interactive performance invites attendees to “play” and masquerade by becoming performers or taking on various personas. The performance interrogates various scenarios of imperial identity, remembrance, memorialization and nationalism by interplaying a series of cultural conundrums. Each scenario explores how one symbolically encounters the act of ‘forgetful remembrance’.

© kal

14/38

The act of "play " resides within civilizations, cultures and also within archives. This interactive performance invites attendees to “play” and masquerade by becoming performers or taking on various personas. The performance interrogates various scenarios of imperial identity, remembrance, memorialization and nationalism by interplaying a series of cultural conundrums. Each scenario explores how one symbolically encounters the act of ‘forgetful remembrance’.

இந்த நிலம் எனக்கு சொந்தமில்லை அம்மா (Mother this land is not ours) by Chathuri Nissansala

The act of "play " resides within civilizations, cultures and also within archives. This interactive performance invites attendees to “play” and masquerade by becoming performers or taking on various personas. The performance interrogates various scenarios of imperial identity, remembrance, memorialization and nationalism by interplaying a series of cultural conundrums. Each scenario explores how one symbolically encounters the act of ‘forgetful remembrance’.

© kal

15/38

The act of "play " resides within civilizations, cultures and also within archives. This interactive performance invites attendees to “play” and masquerade by becoming performers or taking on various personas. The performance interrogates various scenarios of imperial identity, remembrance, memorialization and nationalism by interplaying a series of cultural conundrums. Each scenario explores how one symbolically encounters the act of ‘forgetful remembrance’.

இந்த நிலம் எனக்கு சொந்தமில்லை அம்மா (Mother this land is not ours) by Chathuri Nissansala

The act of "play " resides within civilizations, cultures and also within archives. This interactive performance invites attendees to “play” and masquerade by becoming performers or taking on various personas. The performance interrogates various scenarios of imperial identity, remembrance, memorialization and nationalism by interplaying a series of cultural conundrums. Each scenario explores how one symbolically encounters the act of ‘forgetful remembrance’.

© kal

16/38

Veena invites you to participate in a lighting ritual for meditations on the body and change. Light the candles over plaster Paris body casts meditate over the changes happing to the candles and the body cast.

Ritual of Changing Appearances by Veenadari Lakshika Jayakody

Veena invites you to participate in a lighting ritual for meditations on the body and change. Light the candles over plaster Paris body casts meditate over the changes happing to the candles and the body cast.

© kal

17/38

Veena invites you to participate in a lighting ritual for meditations on the body and change. Light the candles over plaster Paris body casts meditate over the changes happing to the candles and the body cast.

Ritual of Changing Appearances by Veenadari Lakshika Jayakody

Veena invites you to participate in a lighting ritual for meditations on the body and change. Light the candles over plaster Paris body casts meditate over the changes happing to the candles and the body cast.

© kal

18/38

Veena invites you to participate in a lighting ritual for meditations on the body and change. Light the candles over plaster Paris body casts meditate over the changes happing to the candles and the body cast.

Ritual of Changing Appearances by Veenadari Lakshika Jayakody

Veena invites you to participate in a lighting ritual for meditations on the body and change. Light the candles over plaster Paris body casts meditate over the changes happing to the candles and the body cast.

© kal

19/38

Veena invites you to participate in a lighting ritual for meditations on the body and change. Light the candles over plaster Paris body casts meditate over the changes happing to the candles and the body cast.

Ritual of Changing Appearances by Veenadari Lakshika Jayakody

Veena invites you to participate in a lighting ritual for meditations on the body and change. Light the candles over plaster Paris body casts meditate over the changes happing to the candles and the body cast.

© kal

20/38

Veena invites you to participate in a lighting ritual for meditations on the body and change. Light the candles over plaster Paris body casts meditate over the changes happing to the candles and the body cast.

Ritual of Changing Appearances by Veenadari Lakshika Jayakody

Veena invites you to participate in a lighting ritual for meditations on the body and change. Light the candles over plaster Paris body casts meditate over the changes happing to the candles and the body cast.

© kal

21/38

Hema and Sabeen have been talking, sharing stories and making work. They have an affinity for fabric which is closely tied to the history of the women in their families. In their collaboration, Talking Hands, both artists used a collection of cloth handkerchiefs as a medium to express fragments of their memories.

Talking Hands Circle, with works and offerings by Sabeen Omar and Hema Shironi

Hema and Sabeen have been talking, sharing stories and making work. They have an affinity for fabric which is closely tied to the history of the women in their families. In their collaboration, Talking Hands, both artists used a collection of cloth handkerchiefs as a medium to express fragments of their memories.

© kal

22/38

Hema and Sabeen have been talking, sharing stories and making work. They have an affinity for fabric which is closely tied to the history of the women in their families. In their collaboration, Talking Hands, both artists used a collection of cloth handkerchiefs as a medium to express fragments of their memories.

Talking Hands Circle, with works and offerings by Sabeen Omar and Hema Shironi

Hema and Sabeen have been talking, sharing stories and making work. They have an affinity for fabric which is closely tied to the history of the women in their families. In their collaboration, Talking Hands, both artists used a collection of cloth handkerchiefs as a medium to express fragments of their memories.

© kal

23/38

Hema and Sabeen have been talking, sharing stories and making work. They have an affinity for fabric which is closely tied to the history of the women in their families. In their collaboration, Talking Hands, both artists used a collection of cloth handkerchiefs as a medium to express fragments of their memories.

Talking Hands Circle, with works and offerings by Sabeen Omar and Hema Shironi

Hema and Sabeen have been talking, sharing stories and making work. They have an affinity for fabric which is closely tied to the history of the women in their families. In their collaboration, Talking Hands, both artists used a collection of cloth handkerchiefs as a medium to express fragments of their memories.

© kal

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Hema and Sabeen have been talking, sharing stories and making work. They have an affinity for fabric which is closely tied to the history of the women in their families. In their collaboration, Talking Hands, both artists used a collection of cloth handkerchiefs as a medium to express fragments of their memories.

Talking Hands Circle, with works and offerings by Sabeen Omar and Hema Shironi

Hema and Sabeen have been talking, sharing stories and making work. They have an affinity for fabric which is closely tied to the history of the women in their families. In their collaboration, Talking Hands, both artists used a collection of cloth handkerchiefs as a medium to express fragments of their memories.

© kal

25/38

Hema and Sabeen have been talking, sharing stories and making work. They have an affinity for fabric which is closely tied to the history of the women in their families. In their collaboration, Talking Hands, both artists used a collection of cloth handkerchiefs as a medium to express fragments of their memories.

Talking Hands Circle, with works and offerings by Sabeen Omar and Hema Shironi

Hema and Sabeen have been talking, sharing stories and making work. They have an affinity for fabric which is closely tied to the history of the women in their families. In their collaboration, Talking Hands, both artists used a collection of cloth handkerchiefs as a medium to express fragments of their memories.

© kal

26/38

Hema and Sabeen have been talking, sharing stories and making work. They have an affinity for fabric which is closely tied to the history of the women in their families. In their collaboration, Talking Hands, both artists used a collection of cloth handkerchiefs as a medium to express fragments of their memories.

Talking Hands Circle, with works and offerings by Sabeen Omar and Hema Shironi

Hema and Sabeen have been talking, sharing stories and making work. They have an affinity for fabric which is closely tied to the history of the women in their families. In their collaboration, Talking Hands, both artists used a collection of cloth handkerchiefs as a medium to express fragments of their memories.

© kal

27/38

With resident works on display, and on-going activities.

House of kal Colombo Open House

With resident works on display, and on-going activities.

© kal

28/38

A lecture performance based on the real-life experiences by Vasi Samudra Devi and her interactions with the Sri Lankan trans community and the internalization of cishet language in constructing transness and queerness.

Artificial Women by Vasi Samudra Devi

A lecture performance based on the real-life experiences by Vasi Samudra Devi and her interactions with the Sri Lankan trans community and the internalization of cishet language in constructing transness and queerness.

© kal

29/38

A lecture performance based on the real-life experiences by Vasi Samudra Devi and her interactions with the Sri Lankan trans community and the internalization of cishet language in constructing transness and queerness.

Artificial Women by Vasi Samudra Devi

A lecture performance based on the real-life experiences by Vasi Samudra Devi and her interactions with the Sri Lankan trans community and the internalization of cishet language in constructing transness and queerness.

© kal

30/38

A lecture performance based on the real-life experiences by Vasi Samudra Devi and her interactions with the Sri Lankan trans community and the internalization of cishet language in constructing transness and queerness.

Artificial Women by Vasi Samudra Devi

A lecture performance based on the real-life experiences by Vasi Samudra Devi and her interactions with the Sri Lankan trans community and the internalization of cishet language in constructing transness and queerness.

© kal

31/38

A lecture performance based on the real-life experiences by Vasi Samudra Devi and her interactions with the Sri Lankan trans community and the internalization of cishet language in constructing transness and queerness.

Artificial Women by Vasi Samudra Devi

A lecture performance based on the real-life experiences by Vasi Samudra Devi and her interactions with the Sri Lankan trans community and the internalization of cishet language in constructing transness and queerness.

© kal

32/38

Buiding on the queer and feminist practices of worldbuilding, Sakina explores possibilities through sound and movement in non-binary and genre-mixing methods. The performance provides a safe space for one’s internal and external world on a dance floor.

proper sounds, improper sounds by Sakina Aliakbar/Sak’d

Buiding on the queer and feminist practices of worldbuilding, Sakina explores possibilities through sound and movement in non-binary and genre-mixing methods. The performance provides a safe space for one’s internal and external world on a dance floor.

© kal

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With resident works on display, and on-going activities.

House of Kal Colombo Open House

With resident works on display, and on-going activities.

© kal

35/38

With resident works on display, and on-going activities.

House of Kal Colombo Open House

With resident works on display, and on-going activities.

© kal

36/38

With resident works on display, and on-going activities.

House of Kal Colombo Open House

With resident works on display, and on-going activities.

© kal

37/38

With resident works on display, and on-going activities.

House of Kal Colombo Open House

With resident works on display, and on-going activities.

© kal

38/38