Cinnamon Colomboscope establishes:

Colombo as an Arts and Cultural hub in South Asia

The 'Opening Conversation' of Cinnamon Colomboscope 2016 was held recently at the Old General Post Office (GPO). The event was graced by the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe amidst a gathering which included Ministers, members of the diplomatic community, artists and contributors to the festival.

Established in 2012, Cinnamon Colomboscope is a festival that evolves and changes shape with a new curator each year. Testing Grounds was curated by Dr. Susanne Jaschko, a renowned expert in the field of media arts who can look back on an impressive list of international art events and exhibitions.

The festival was curated under three sub-themes that offer different perspectives of how society, and contemporary art is responding to the shift towards digital technology in Sri Lanka, the South Asian region and Europe.

For many artists living and working in Sri Lanka today, working with electronic and digital media remains a widely unexplored field. Testing Grounds, with its focus on contemporary art was to create awareness on how digital technologies impact society and cultures.

The festival commissioned over 10 Sri Lankan artists and artist collectives to foray into this field, conceptualise and produce artworks that reflect this year's theme. The festival also brought together techies and artists to build on a conversation as to how they can share expertise and take digital art to the next level in Sri Lanka.

This year's Cinnamon Colomboscope was the first time that a festival of great scale and quality ventured out to unfamiliar territory in a local context and focus on digital art and communications in Sri Lanka.

'Creating and supporting events that generate significant value and publicity to promote Sri Lanka as a destination is one of the main strategies for Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts. Cinnamon Colomboscope is one such signature event that has grown is stature and is becoming a permanent fixture not only in the calendars of art enthusiasts in Sri Lanka but also in South Asia. I urge members of the general public to visit the festival and discover digital art through Cinnamon Colomboscope', said Krishan Balendra - President Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts.

Over 50 Sri Lankan and 17 international artists and speakers contributed to this year's program including an exhibition, film screenings, audio-visual performances, workshops, talks and thematic conversations, immersive theatre performance and an online exhibition.

(Pix: Sulochana Gamage)