• Artist Jayantha Premachandra’s daughter Nilanka Premachandra on keeping her father’s legacy alive

From Moscow to Paris, from batik to bold abstraction, Jayantha Premachandra’s art travelled the world. In a dazzling collaboration with ITC Ratnadipa, his daughter Nilanka Premachandra brought that legacy home. On Kaleidoscope, we dove into memory, artistry, and the heartbeat of heritage with Nilanka Premachandra. 

Following are excerpts of the interview:

What was the emotional spark that led you to have this exhibition at ITC Ratnadipa?

The emotional spark would be that the ITC Ratnadipa valued Jayantha Premachandra’s art and were very happy to have this exhibition held at ITC Ratnadipa. That was the main reason; they really valued who he was and his art. And also, because his narratives are from India. He had art influences that came from India as well. I thought that a good match and we could come up with a nice event. 

My father was an expressionist artist; he drew from his heart and he spoke to the people. He wanted to express himself through compassion, emotion, and a lot of things which had to do with the people. I thought that this would be a good occasion to show the world about his art at this time.  His art was also beyond borders and it was also the occasion for us to show his influences. It was not just about his art, but also about his life in general.

 How did you manage to curate this collection to capture both his global reach and his Sri Lankan soul?

The curation was done by artist Jagath Ravindra. I’m very grateful to him for having curated this exhibition wonderfully, not just looking through the life of Jayantha Premachandra, but also looking at his works from different periods of his life. 

We have a few paintings from his time in the ’60s, and then it went along with the ’70s and ’80s because he was preparing his exhibition for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation in Paris in 1988. These are the last pieces that he left with me before he passed away.

Which piece in the exhibition feels most like a conversation between two people?

All the pieces spark conversations because there’s so much depth in his work, where he wanted to express himself about emotion, sadness, and struggles, so I can’t select a piece as such. The portrait of my mother is my favourite.

While you were looking through these paintings for the exhibition, did you discover any hidden sketches or unfinished work that just caught your eye?

I found a tiny sketch which is smaller than the palm of my hand. Each and every day, I do discover small pieces like this. Maybe a small sketch or a small drawing. This time, when we were looking at paintings to frame, I found this inside a sheaf of documents.

He painted on multiple themes. How do you think audiences today interpret all these themes of freedom and compassion compared to the 1970s, when he drew so prolifically?

I think that compassion, freedom, and all these themes are relevant today as well. Those are themes which are there in everyday life. We deal with these themes in different periods as well, but, it’s quite present across the board.  Even the young generation is facing all these aspects of liberty, freedom, identity, and compassion. I do believe that it’s relevant to the current times as well.

The batik and charcoal pieces were very difficult to preserve. What challenges did you face in actually preserving all these batik and charcoal works?

When it comes to preserving, transporting, and safeguarding the paintings, it was a big challenge because, first of all, these paintings were in France. When he passed away in 1988, they were in Paris and when I came to Sri Lanka in 2000, I brought all of these paintings back to Sri Lanka. 

That was a big challenge, how to bring them back while protecting them. They were not framed and there was this problem of humidity. Preservation is a very, very difficult path that I’m facing even right now. Once the paintings are framed, sometimes, it’s more difficult to preserve and so we’ve been into restoring slowly.

During the exhibition and while putting it together, did you ever have a moment where you actually felt his presence?

I always feel his presence. I think that there’s no such one moment, he’s always there. I would say that whenever people admire his art and talk about how he has been expressing himself about people, compassion, and about the country. He was very close to Sri Lanka, even though he was abroad most of the time.  During the exhibition, when people were admiring his paintings, I’m sure that he would’ve been very proud and happy about what people think about him and how his feelings have been shown to the people.

Being a custodian of his legacy and also your identity, how do you balance the two?

When my father passed away, I was very young, so I had to create my own identity. I had to live my life. Then, only after so many years, after more than 30 years, we created the foundation. I took time for myself, he was always with me. I knew that I had to bring back his works to the people. I had to show them that it wasn’t limited to me. I hope that I’m doing something good for the people by showing his art.

Are there actually any lesser-known facts about him or any anecdotes that come out through any of the paintings or anything that you saw when you were growing up?

He was a hard-working person. I remember from the time that I was young, he curated his exhibitions himself. When we travelled abroad, to so many countries, he had to organise, frame, and hang the paintings. It was quite a lot of work. This remained in my memory.

His art genres range from cubism, lots of Eastern influences, drawings, portraits, people, batik, charcoal, and lots of sketches. What is it that you like the most about his paintings?

I like the line drawings and I love the portrait that he did of my mother, but, all the other paintings are also to be admired. Since I have been immersed in these paintings, it’s a bit difficult for me to describe what feeling it must be for others to see them. Art is subjective, so I let people decide on what emotion it creates in them while seeing the paintings.

Did he paint any famous people?

Yes, he has. There are quite a lot of paintings – for example mosaics in the ’60s and the ’70s. I know for a fact that he did a portrait of Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin and offered the painting to Gagarin himself. I discovered from the Russian Cultural Centre that he has five of his paintings at the State Museum in Russia because he studied in Russia. From the collection that he did in the ’60s, some of his paintings are in the State Museum.

If you were to introduce his art to younger generations, how would you do it?

The younger generation will have a different opinion about his art because everything is now digitalised, whereas his art is traditional art. It’s handmade. It’s all to do with artistry and there’s a lot for the young generation to discover. That’s why we approached the Colombo University’s, The Visual Arts Faculty, where we have worked with students to find out what they think about his art. 

We’ve recently published a book that was also a study done by the Faculty’s Visual Arts Painting Department. There’s quite a lot of interest from the young generation looking at his art because nowadays, art is different. I’m not underestimating digital art but I think that you can’t compare digital art and manually done art by an artist.

How will his themes of compassion, freedom, and independence resonate with the audiences of today?

All these themes are relevant today as well, even though he did these in the ‘60s, ’70s, and ’80s before he passed away at the age of 53 in 1988. These aspects of compassion, love, struggle, people, freedom, liberty, and peace, and all are quite prominent now as well.

The writer is the host, director, and co-producer of the weekly digital programme ‘Kaleidoscope with Savithri Rodrigo’ which can be viewed on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. She has over three decades of experience in print, electronic, and social media

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The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the interviewee, and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication