Sri Lankan among seven winners 
[May 31 2011]


<P>Sri Lankan among seven winners at Commonwealth Connections International Arts Residencies.

<P>Sri Lankan Pradeep Thalawatta is among the seven winners at Commonwealth Connections International Arts Residencies announced today. He has been picked in the installation art category. Commonwealth Connections International Arts Residencies enable artists from Commonwealth countries to work alongside artists in another Commonwealth country in a two-way cultural exchange.

<P>Twelve international judges, all experts in their fields, took part in the rigorous judging process where seven artists were selected from nearly 200 applications to receive awards of up to £8,000 to spend time living and working in another Commonwealth country. The winners will undertake original and innovative

<P>projects that promise to be of benefit not only to themselves, but to their countries of origin and their host communities. The winners are an exciting and diverse selection of artists, including the first winner from the Pitcairn Islands, Meralda Warren, who wishes to engage with tapa makers across the Pacific, and Trinidadian photographer.

<P>The seven winners are:

<P>* Ruth Feukoua, Installation art, Cameroon

<P>* Olaniyi Rasheed Akindiya (Akirash), Installation art, Nigeria

<P>* Pradeep Thalawatta, Installation art, Sri Lanka

<P>* Rodell Warner, Photography, Trinidad and Tobago

<P>* Emma Wolukau-Wanambwa, Installation art, United Kingdom

<P>* Meralda Warren, Painting, Pitcairn Islands

<P>* Neila Ann Ebanks, Dance, Jamaica