The Prince Claus Fund has launched its first Biennial Symposium, titled Legacies of Care, Failures and Emerging Solidarities. Taking place from 3-5 December in Colombo and Bentota, this inaugural event features talks, presentations, tours, performances and more.
As a Fund, we have been tirelessly working on finding ways how we can engage global cultural practitioners who aspire to make this world more peaceful, equitable and inclusive. We hope that our Biennial Symposium will serve as a catalyst for us and for all of you to find ways to address urgent societal challenges and stimulate international solidarity across such global issues as climate, equity, and freedom – says Prince Claus Fund Director, Marcus Desando.
The event has kicked off tonight in Colombo with a dance performance titled Whose History is it, Anyway? choreographed by performance artist Venuri Perera. Tomorrow, on December 4, the Biennale Symposium will continue with a full day of talks, presentations and discussions starting from 09:30 at the Stables Venue, Park Street Mews, Colombo. The event is free and you can see the full programme here.
The three-day Symposium will culminate with an event titled Seeds for the Future taking place on December 5, 17:30 at the Lunuganga Estate in Bentota, where the honorary Chair of the Prince Claus Fund Board, HRH Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands will have a conversation with the Symposium’s artistic director Keng Sen Ong reflecting on the Fund’s work and legacy, alongside the presentations of Prince Claus Seed Awardees Chathuri Nissansala, Parilojithan Ramanathan, Adit Dewan, Ankur, Arpita Akhanda, Debashish Paul, Moe Myat May Zarchi, Ujjwala Maharjan, Suranga Katugampala, Ammara Jabbar and Asad Ali Zulfiqar.
I really look forward to the coming days and I hope that we can do our best in creating a space for South-to-South knowledge exchange – something that we find to be so important at the Prince Claus Fund. We need space to connect, learn from one another, share and reflect so that we can build together. This is what the Prince Claus Biennial Symposium is all about, – says the honorary Chair of the Prince Claus Fund Board, HRH Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands.
Organised in collaboration with the Geoffrey Bawa Trust and co-curated with renowned artistic director Keng Sen Ong, the Biennial Symposium welcomes international and local thinkers, artists and change-makers, such as one of the country’s leading architects, Channa Daswatte; renowned filmmaker, Anomaa Rajakaruna; accomplished artist and art historian, Thamotharampillai Sanathanan; choreographer and performance artist Venuri Perera; arts educator Sharareh Bajracharya; artist and curator Fadescha; visual artist and 2020 Prince Claus Laureate from Pakistan, Hira Nabi; Nepali writer, publisher, and 2009 Prince Claus Laureate, Kanak Manit Dixit; visual artist and 2020 Principal Prince Claus Laureate, Ibrahim Mahama, and more.
You can see the full programme and learn how to attend here.
Prince Claus Fund is an independent foundation dedicated to development through culture. With trust-based funding, connections and recognition we serve engaged artists in places where culture is under pressure. By creating a global network of changemakers and amplifying the ground-breaking work they do we contribute to a more equitable, peaceful, sustainable and inclusive future. Because culture is a basic need for human progress.
The Geoffrey Bawa Trust is a non-profit, public trust that was established in 1982 by the late architect, with the objectives of furthering the fields of Architecture, the Fine Arts and Ecological and Environmental Studies. Since the architect’s passing in 2003, the Trust has sustained year-round public programmes comprising lectures, educational tours, scholarships, residencies and exhibitions which engage broader discourse on the built environment and the arts in both Sri Lanka and overseas.
