Important Notice

Born in 1972, Pala Pothupitiye received his art education at the Visual and Performance Art University in Colombo, and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, majoring in Sculpture. Pothupitiye’s art is informed by his background of traditional craft artistes and ritual specialists. His work spans several media including sculpture, painting and drawing, with a special focus on the practice of ethnographic mapmaking. Addressing... Born in 1972, Pala Pothupitiye received his art education at the Visual and Performance Art University in Colombo, and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, majoring in Sculpture. Pothupitiye’s art is informed by his background of traditional craft artistes and ritual specialists. His work spans several media including sculpture, painting and drawing, with a special focus on the practice of ethnographic mapmaking. Addressing colonialism, nationalism, religious extremism and militarism through his work, he extends his thematic concerns to questions of caste, the distinction between art and craft, tradition and modernity, and Eurocentrism. Pothupitiye uses his art to confront and raise questions on the political issues that stemmed from the civil war in Sri Lanka.

Pothupitiye’s shows include ‘Sri Sri Lanka: Mapping post-colonial Ceylon’ at TARQ, Mumbai in 2016; ‘This is Tomorrow’ at the START Art Fair in Saatchi Gallery, London, in 2015; ‘Pride and Power’ at Hempel Galleries, Sri Lanka in 2014; ‘Costume’ at Jaffna University Gallery in 2010; and ‘Ancestral Dress + My ID’ at Theertha Red Dot Gallery, Colombo, in 2008. Pothupitiye was the winner of the Sovereign Asian Art Prize in Hong Kong in 2010.

The artist lives and works in Colombo.

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