‘Stronger Together’, an Art Exhibition by the students of Elizabeth Moir Senior School took place recently at the Lionel Wendt Art Centre in Colombo 7.

Talking about the inspiration behind this year’s theme, Art Teacher Aruni Wijegunawardene had this to say “It conveys a collective sentiment… we need to stand together as one to prevent the further spread of this pandemic. The kids have poured their hearts and souls into these pieces; on display will be very raw and honest representations of work which expresses their frustrations, annoyance, anger at being locked down, and concern over what seems to be an uncertain future.”

Chief Guests at the Exhibition, Dr. Linda Speldewinde, Founder and Chairperson, Design Corp, and Shilanthi Abayagunawardana, Lecturer in Design Research in Textile, Academy of Design, Colombo, also judged the school’s Inter-house art competition that took place alongside the Exhibition.  Both judges expressed their admiration for the student’s originality, in-depth analysis and creativity when interpreting the burning issues of our times. When it came to choosing the winners, Shilanthi said “This is about skill as well as your message…so trying to weigh between the two was tough…there were really interesting messages…you are the future, and we learned a lot from seeing your work”.

The theme of the Inter House art competition was “This is My Voice”. Much like the overall theme, this topic too gave students the opportunity to express themselves passionately about their desire to be seen, heard, and to make a contribution to bringing about positive change in the world.

Rayyan Hameed won Best Individual Artist in the Senior category, with Malak Naseem and Jiawen Shen taking 2^nd and 3^rd place.  In the Intermediate category Taha Anverally emerged the winner with Sanula Edirisinghe and Avlok Wignaraja in 2^nd and 3^rd place respectively. Columbus won Best Overall House, followed by Fleming and Hillary.

The exhibition also featured work by the school’s current Lower 6^th class, all of whom gained brilliant results, scoring A**, A* and A grades in their IGCSE Art exams.

Art Teacher Hannah Perera, who worked with the younger students, spoke of the complexities associated with arranging an event of this nature within the concerns and confines of ‘the new normal’, and praised the students for their hard work, energy and adaptability, commending their creativity and enthusiasm in the face of any and all challenges.

 

The exhibition is the first major event in the school’s academic year, and, as always, was a vibrant display of talent, skill and versatility. The work exhibited included the use of a wide range of media from paintings, portraits and wire sculptures, to photography and digital artwork. Of special note was a highly topical and relevant display that featured students wearing masks, all of which had been painted using non toxic fabric paint.

Picture credit : Aruni  Wijegunawardene and Sehanya  Wickramanayake

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