ARTRA Magazine, Sri Lanka’s Modern and Contemporary art magazine is set to launch ‘Art & Design of Ismeth Raheem’ their anticipated 67th edition on the first day of their Art Experiential Festival from 6 to 8 September at 6.30 pm. This edition will feature a remarkable collection of over 65 works of art collated across Raheem’s distinguished career as an artist, architect and art historian. The curated works centre the astonishing influence of Raheem’s time working at Edwards, Reid and Begg in the 1960s, influenced by the architectural and design icons Geoffrey Bawa and Ulrik Plesner among other artistic contemporaries that has resulted in an oeuvre of works teeming with a profound understanding of the intersection between art and architecture, characterising his collection of seminal work as imaginative responses to built environments.

ARTRA Magazine’s forthcoming edition ‘Art & Design of Ismeth Raheem’ will be launched through the Art Experiential Festival – a grand three-day festival from 6 to 8 September in Colombo. Previously hosted in artistic spaces across the island, such as Galle (Launch of the Laki Senanayake Edition and Art Experiential Festival, March 2023) and Bentota (Launch of the Comics & Caricatures Edition and Art Experiential Festival | Bawa Brothers, October 2023), this will be the first iteration of the festival to debut in Colombo. The festival themed ‘Art & Design’ will be hosted across venerated art and heritage spaces in Colombo, including the Harold Peiris Gallery at the Lionel Wendt Art Centre, the iconic de Soysa House that was designed by the legendary architect Geoffrey Bawa (1919 - 2003) and the elegant Galle Face Hotel situated in Colombo 7 and the latter two in Colombo 3 respectively.

Image Courtesy | Luxshman Nadaraja, 2024

Celebrating the teeming treasures of artistic, architectural and cultural heritage spaces in Colombo, the historic spaces that will host this year’s festival were chosen in line with ARTRA’s on-going efforts to bolster Art Tourism and share the story of Sri Lanka by strengthening Sri Lanka’s art economy. The Lionel Wendt Centre for the Arts which hosts the Harold Peiris Gallery holds an immense importance in the country’s art and cultural spheres. The art centre was built on the foundations of Alborado (translation: Daybreak), the historic home of one of Sri Lanka’s most significant Modernist artists, Lionel Wendt. Not only was Alborado at one point the epicenter of Sri Lanka’s Modernist art movement in the 1940s, it also hosted the the very first meeting of Sri Lanka’s first Modernist Collective, after which the group christened themselves the 43’ Group for the historic moment of their formation on that day in August 1943. The de Soysa House situated in Colombo 3 is a living architectural monument to the later work of Geoffrey Bawa (1919 - 2003). Commissioned in 1985 and eventually completed in 1991, the residence gleans intriguing insight into the maturation of Bawa’s style through his career, while the Galle Face Hotel is emblematic of the nation’s bygone era and is a heritage space that represents the country’s rich colonial history and its independent present. 

AEF Day 3 | Sun, 8 Sep | de Soysa House by Geoffrey Bawa

AEF Day 2 | Sat, 7 Sep | Harold Peiris Gallery, Lionel Wendt Centre for the Arts

The highly anticipated Art Experiential Festival promises a dynamic and exciting line-up of programs across its three-day run, featuring exclusive art tours, art exhibits and talks by some of the most relevant and influential figures at the heart of Sri Lanka’s contemporary art industry, including renowned architect Anura Ratnavibhushana who was an apprentice of Geoffrey Bawa and Ulrik Plesner at the firm Edwards Reid & Begg in the 1960s and has published notable works such as his autobiography Creating Simplicity (2009) and his limited edition architectural book Timeless Houses: Architecture for Living in Sri Lanka (2014), 2022 LVMH Prize nominated designer and artist Amesh Wijesekara, reputed children’s literature author and Senior Professor in English at the University of Colombo Professor Neluka Silva, Professor Sharya Scharenguivel who is currently Emeritus Professor of Law and former Dean, Professor of Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo, and daughter of the owners of the De Soysa House, Cecil and Chloe de Soysa, as well as the revered artist and architect Ismeth Raheem of which the forthcoming magazine is centred upon.

ARTRA’s Art Experiential Festival | Art & Design presents a unique opportunity for art enthusiasts and fascinated guests of the festival to engage with the art heritage sites that are the de Soysa House by Geoffrey Bawa and the Harold Peiris Gallery, Lionel Wendt Centre of the Arts, Colombo. The first day of the festival opens on Friday, 6th September at 6.30pm with the highly-anticipated Launch of the forthcoming magazine ‘Art & Design of Ismeth Raheem’ Edition 67. This grandiose segment entails an evening of art, conversation, canapes and cocktails with the revered artist, architect & art historian Ismeth Raheem, celebrating the over 65 selected works of art including paintings, drawings, wood panels, woodcuts and etchings collated and curated from the 1960s onwards where he joined Edwards, Reid and Begg in the 1960s, which fueled the creative renaissance of that era in collaboration with the legendary Geoffrey Bawa and Ulrik Plesner. Following the grand launch, Day 2 will take place at the cultural epicentre of the Harold Peiris Gallery, Lionel Wendt Centre of the Arts on Saturday, 7th September. Amidst the art centre that was built upon the foundations of Wendt’s original home Alborado, the second day will feature a plethora of intriguing art talks as well as an exclusive exhibit ‘Purveying the Body’ curated by Azara Jaleel which showcase a selection of 30 photographs by Lionel Wendt from the Lionel Wendt Memorial Fund Collection, in response and reminiscence of ARTRA Magazine’s Photographs of Lionel Wendt Edition (2021). Day 3 of the festival will be hosted amidst the architectural marvel and historic design of the de Soysa House by Geoffrey Bawa on Sunday, 8th September and will feature an interactive walkthrough of the space at 9am, amidst the dynamic talks of the day.

The segments at ARTRA’s Art Experiential Festival | Art & Design therefore offer art enthusiasts the unique opportunity to expand their insight into the historical works of art by bygone legends of the Sri Lankan art world such as venerated Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa (1919 - 2003) and the Modernist maestro Lionel Wendt (1900 - 1944) and offers them the chance to engage in exciting discourse around Sri Lanka’s art, design and cultural hemispheres with key art personalities, while seamlessly blending together themes from ‘Art & Design of Ismeth Raheem’ regarding the life, works and multidisciplinary artistry of Ismeth Raheem across his six-decade career. For more in-depth information about ARTRA’s Art Experiential Festival’s programme line-up including the speaker profiles, view the official programme here 

For Tickets to ARTRA’S Art Experiential Festival | Art & Design on 6th to 8th September 2024 in Colombo and to pre-order your copy of the Art & Design of Ismeth Raheem Edition 67 call +9477 570 1891.