• Shayari de Silva on Geoffrey Bawa’s legacy and the future

It is hard to talk about Lankan architecture without automatically thinking of Geoffrey Bawa. He was one of our nation’s most prolific architects whose work has been recognised all over the world. Bawa’s unique approach combined modernist principles with sensitivity to local context, materials, and traditions and contributed heavily to creating a new, distinctly Sri Lankan architectural identity. 

Bawa’s buildings often featured open floor plans, natural ventilation, and the integration of water elements – all adapted to the tropical climate – and his legacy continues to inspire architects around the world who seek to create sustainable, contextually-appropriate designs for tropical environments. 

The last few years have seen several milestones related to Bawa’s life and work come to pass. His centenary birth anniversary took place in 2019 and the Geoffrey Bawa and Lunuganga Trusts celebrated with ‘Bawa 100’ – a diverse array of projects and events designed to broaden and deepen engagement with Bawa’s architectural legacy, which took place from July 2019 to July 2020. ‘Bawa 100’ also included ‘Geoffrey Bawa: It is Essential to be There’. The exhibition is the first major exhibition on Bawa’s work to draw extensively from his own archives. 

Last year saw Lunuganga, Bawa’s enchanting garden estate in the Bentota area, commemorate its 75th anniversary. Marking this anniversary, which also coincides with Sri Lanka’s independence, the Geoffrey Bawa Trust’s curatorial team launched ‘To Lunuganga,’ an 18-month programme which explored the inseparability of art, architecture, and ecology, using the gardens of Lunuganga as context for this exploration. This programme of public exhibitions, installations, and discussions took place across three seasons starting from May 2023. 

Last week (13) saw the launch of the third and final season of ‘To Lunganga’ and, in the spirit of celebrating the principles of Bawa’s legacy through his work, The Sunday Morning Brunch sat down with Geoffrey Bawa Trust Chief Curator Shayari de Silva for a chat on season 3 of ‘To Lunuganga’ and what the future holds for the Geoffrey Bawa Trust as they move into their first museum and archive space. 

The nuanced beauty of Lunuganga

Lunuganga  – the country estate Bawa purchased in 1948 prior to formally qualifying as an architect – holds a special place in the zeitgeist of Bawa’s life and work. It was his first major project, undertaken before he even qualified as an architect. The estate served as a testing ground for Bawa’s ideas and as a space where he could experiment with the interplay of architecture and nature. 

“Certain pavilions and rooms come after the success of a project – it is a very important space in understanding his work,” Shayari shared, adding that it was possible to see all the different stages of Bawa’s career come through in different elements within the garden.

For Shayari, Lunuganga has a deeply personal significance. She first visited the estate at the age of 18 or 19, shortly after beginning her architectural studies. “At the time, very few people visited. I was there with just one other person the entire time and I think it really felt like I had gone to this other world. It inspired me and had a very lasting effect on me and my studies as an architect,” she recalled.

This ability to inspire others is one of its key qualities, especially in its present context. “It really resonates differently with different people and has a way of making people feel at home within it. Anyone who visits is really struck by it and it resonates because it has many moods and inspirations,” Shayari said, adding that part of why the garden was so nuanced was because Bawa himself worked continuously on it for over 55 years, due to which it displays influences from his expansive career.

“In a way, it was the entire backbone of his practice. The way it brings in nature, art, and architecture is quite incredible, as is how it is woven into the garden itself. I don’t know if I have ever met anyone who has visited the garden and not been moved by it.” 

‘To Lunuganga’ season 3: 18 months in the making

The final season of ‘To Lunuganga,’ which runs until the end of November, showcases a series of installations and exhibitions that celebrate Bawa’s legacy. “The installations are up. The season will continue until the end of November. Everything is on view – the artist’s installations, the batik installations, and so on,” said Shayari.

One of the standout aspects of this season is the diversity of the programming. “One of the major motivations was to use the 75th anniversary programme to think about how we, as a curatorial team, function. Different members had different projects and it was really interesting to see that it wasn’t all divided from one person or a few people but came from across the team,” Shayari explained, stressing that the diversity of the curatorial team had played an integral role in the success of ‘To Lunuganga’. 

The curatorial team includes Aneesha Mustachi, Thilini Perera, Shanika Perera, Sathira Imaduwage, Isa Spoerry, Sareena Hussain, Tharakie Pahathkumbura, Micheal Jathin George, Faazath Uvais, Chandika Gunasekera, and Rohan Chathuranga. 

The season includes a wide range of activities, from podcasts to tours and workshops – all designed to push the boundaries of how art and architecture can be experienced. Some highlights include: 

• ‘Botany and Batik: The Living Archives of Ena de Silva’ – the installation is located in No. 05 at Lunuganga, formerly the Ena de Silva House, which was designed by Geoffrey Bawa and moved to Bentota in 2017 in a landmark conservation effort by the trust. ‘Botany and Batik’ draws from de Silva’s meticulous documentation of the natural world and its influence on her textile practice while also featuring drawings by her son, artist Anil Gamini Jayasuriya. The installation honours Jayasuriya’s memory through artistic renderings of his ecological interests by metalwork artist Salome Nanayakkara.
• Artist Chathuri Nissansala’s ‘Saudade: The Haunting Presence of Prince Dorovana,’ made from natural materials found throughout the garden, including coconut beads, fungus-grown jackfruit, and beads of the anthurium flower. Her installation is the latest addition to the ongoing collaborative project, ‘The Order of Nature’ at Lunuganga, curated by Geoffrey Bawa Trust Senior Design and Communications Manager Thilini Perera. An exploration of ‘the other,’ it examines the garden as a site of creative incubation and unconventional design choices. The curatorial project directly challenges Article 365 of the discriminatory colonial Penal Code – first enacted in 1883 and which remains an impediment to the LGBTQIA+ community in Sri Lanka – by interrogating what is considered ‘normal’ or ‘natural’.
• Shenuka Corea featured a zine and double-sided triptych painted on folding timber panels. 
• Artist Firi Rahman’s installation, ‘In between: the existence of Firdaus,’ which has been on view at Lunuganga since December 2023 and was officially launched in February this year.

The season 3 launch of ‘To Lunuganga’ emphasises local connections and collaborators, including Aquila Peris, Chathuri Nissansala, Dr. Danister Perera, the Ena de Silva Foundation, Firi Rahman, Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne, Gini Outdoor Kitchen, Salome Nanayakkara, Sanjeewa Wijesundara, Shenuka Corea, and Ravibandu Vidyapathi, drawing visitors both on and off the island, including a patron cohort from Hong Kong-based art museum M+.

“Season 3 allowed for very different and vibrant programmes – from podcasts to installations to a lot more tours as well as different kinds of tours and workshops,” Shayari said of what to expect, adding that these different formats of interacting with art, architecture, and ecology within the context of the Lunuganga garden allowed the trust to continually push the ways in which they practise as a trust as well as how other artists and the public can engage with these larger themes and with Bawa’s work. 

“It’s quite unusual to have an 18-month programme; most tend to be over a week or six months, but I’ve been doing these deep dives and found it to be really rewarding to approach a project like that, building layers of engagement and creating  meaningful connections with the public,” Shayari said.

Bawa’s legacy and the work of the Geoffrey Bawa Trust

Bawa’s legacy extends far beyond Lunuganga. The Geoffrey Bawa Trust, established in 1982 with a mandate written by Bawa himself, focuses on fostering art, architecture, and ecology. Interestingly, this mandate does not explicitly mention preserving Bawa’s legacy, but his influence is undeniable in the trust’s activities.

“We often look at his legacy because there is so much to learn, but we try not to be weighted by the idea of legacy, instead looking at him as inspiration and for what we can draw from the past,” Shayari said of the trust’s mandate, noting that this approach was particularly relevant in addressing contemporary issues like climate change, as Bawa’s intuitive way of building offered valuable lessons in sustainability and working with local materials.

The trust is also committed to deepening knowledge about Bawa’s lesser-known works. “People know about the houses and hotels he designed and this can lead them to think of his work as being elitist projects, but around half of his projects were public – tons of schools and institutional projects that were less publicised,” Shayari pointed out. The team’s efforts to uncover more about these works are crucial in broadening the understanding of Bawa’s impact.

Last week also saw an exciting milestone for the trust with the unveiling of what is going to become the trust’s new home for the foreseeable future – what is known as the Kannangara House. Located on Horton Place and built circa 1958, this early project of Bawa’s (it was one of his first projects after qualifying as an architect) features a large gallery-esque space made possible by technological advancements that Bawa would come to become known for experimenting with. This new space will house the trust’s library and archive, making them more accessible to the public. 

Shayari explained that she hoped the location of the Kannangara House – close to several universities, city hotspots, and other museums – would serve to make this new home, which will be called the Geoffrey Bawa Space for Art, Architecture, and Ecology, a hub for recurring projects and collaborations with the creative and academic community.  

The new Geoffrey Bawa Space will play host to rotating exhibitions, touring exhibitions, and a variety of programmes. “Our vision is to become a pioneer for cultural practice around art, architecture, design, ecology, and share our resources,” Shayari said of the trust’s vision as they move into the Geoffrey Bawa Space. “We have an important role to play, not just in the properties the trust manages, but in his overall body of work.”

Through their efforts, the curatorial team of the Geoffrey Bawa Trust hopes to ensure that Bawa’s legacy will continue to inspire and educate, keeping the spirit of his work alive for future generations to experience and enjoy.