Kala Pola, Sri Lanka’s Annual Open-Air Art Fair, was held for the 32nd year on Sunday, 16th February 2025 drawing large numbers of art lovers, professionals and students to Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha in Colombo 07 (Green Path) throughout the day.
Conceptualised and launched by the George Keyt Foundation in 1993, the event has, since 1994, been held with the continued patronage and implementation support of the John Keells Group.
Kala Pola provides the country’s largest platform for visual artists, including painters, sketchers and sculptors, to connect with buyers and the art community, providing both a marketplace and a space for dialogue, knowledge transfer, and collaboration, furthering the creative economy and social cohesion of the nation.
This year’s event showcased the works of over 390 local artists hailing from the different provinces of Sri Lanka.
His Excellency Andrew Patrick, British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, graced the official ceremony of the event as the Chief Guest and browsed through the art stalls, interacting with the artists. The event was further enlivened by a Children’s Art Corner, a young artists workshop, a live painting session, an art talk and cultural entertainment.
Other key information to media:
- Kala Pola, Sri Lanka’s annual open-air art fair, marks its 32nd anniversary on 16th February 2025, celebrating over three decades of fostering the livelihoods of Sri Lankan visual artists.
- Kala Pola takes inspiration from the world-famous outdoor art fairs in Montmartre, Paris, and the Turl Street Art Festival in Oxford and has evolved as an eagerly awaited event of the art and culture calendar of Sri Lanka.
- This uncurated visual art fair aims to consistently elevate the visitor experience, expanding its reach to include more artists and attract a broader audience of both local and international art enthusiasts, consequently generating increased participation and income for the artists, not only through sales at the event but also through potential commissions thereafter.
- The event’s success also stems from its networking and learning opportunities, with Kala Pola being an event at which artists from different levels of seniority and provinces of Sri Lanka converge, fostering an environment of collaboration.
- This year’s event featured several fringe activities including:
- ‘Kala Pola Katha’ – featuring Jasmine Nilani Joseph with Priyantha Udagedara
- A Live Painting Session featuring Prageeth Manohansa and Nuwan Nalaka
- A Young Artists Workshop facilitated by Kingsley Gunatillake
- The Children’s Art Corner conducted by the teachers of the Cora Abraham Art School and sponsored by Ceylon Cold Stores with Sakura as the Art Material Supplier.
- The John Keells Group has funded and co-presented the event over the past three decades which has enabled Kala Pola to sustain and evolve. Kala Pola is now a major tourist attraction having established itself as one of Colombo’s iconic art events. The Sri Lankan Art Gallery – a digital art gallery hosted by John Keells Foundation free of charge to artists – provides a year-round platform for visual artists to showcase their work and engage with buyers.
- The John Keells Group also strives to showcase and promote the economic and social cohesion potential of the country’s creative economy while supporting the development of an ecosystem that nurtures creativity and promotes broader understanding among people.
- About the John Keells Group and John Keells Foundation – Art and Culture fall within the ‘Social Health and Cohesion’ focus area of John Keells Foundation – the CSR entity of John Keells Holdings PLC (JKH), the largest conglomerate listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange, operating with over 80 companies in 7 diverse industry sectors. With a history of over 150 years, the John Keells Group provides employment to over 15,000 persons and has been ranked as Sri Lanka’s ‘Most Respected Entity’ for the last 19 Years by LMD magazine. John Keells Holdings PLC was ranked first for the fourth consecutive year in the ‘Transparency in Corporate Reporting Assessment’ by Transparency International Sri Lanka. Whilst being a full member of the World Economic Forum and a participant of the UN Global Compact, JKH drives its CSR vision of “Empowering the Nation for Tomorrow” through John Keells Foundation and through the social entrepreneurship initiative, ‘Plasticcycle’, which is a catalyst in significantly reducing plastic pollution in Sri Lanka.
- About the George Keyt Foundation – The George Keyt Foundation has significant contributions to the promotion and revival of arts and culture since the 1980s by organising and presenting exhibitions and presentations, giving emerging artists the opportunity to develop and present their work to a broader audience and the opportunity to be discovered. Over the years, the foundation has led many initiatives such as Young Contemporaries from 1991, for artists below forty years of age. Sculpture and Painting, now named Sri Lankan Art to include senior artists by invitation, has been held annually since 1991. Kala Pola is an open-air Art Fair that was presented initially in 1993 and annually thereafter other than in 2001 and 2007. Nawa Kalakaruwo, which commenced in 1994, is an annual exhibition presenting new and emerging art from both established and emerging artists. The George Keyt Foundation has organised hundreds of presentations, exhibitions of Sri Lankan painting and sculpture, exhibitions of groups of artists, month-long exhibitions of featured painters, individual exhibitions of Sri Lankan and overseas painters and also exhibitions by SAARC painters.
