This year the world-famous Coachella Music Festival which was held in the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert had a Sri Lankan connection in the form of Kumkum Fernando’s installations. Considered one of the world's largest, most famous and most profitable music festivals that regularly feature some of the biggest names in music, Coachella is also known for its large art installations.

Marking a first in the history of Coachella, Sri Lankan visual artist Kumkum Fernando who is based in Vietnam created some awe-inspiring sculptures for this year’s Coachella. Visual artist Kumkum Fernando created the visually commanding installation titled The Messengers.

The son of a Sri Lankan antiques and curiosities dealer, Kumkum is also the first South Asian to be given the honour of creating installations for this world-famous festival. From his base in Vietnam where he works as an artist and creative director, Kumkum and his team scour the streets for found materials – patterns, shapes and colours – to reanimate into art objects at his conceptual art studio, Design by Reborn.

His installations were accompanied by thought-provoking poems. Kumkum has exhibited his work in various parts of the world. His inspiration for his creations is gleaned from his travels, especially in Sri Lanka and other South Asian countries. Kumkum is also the co-founder of Kai Saigon, an award-winning advertising agency in Asia.  

Explaining how the opportunity to display his art at Coachella came about, he says “In July 2022, I received an email from Paul Clemente, the Art Director of Coachella, expressing his interest in my work after discovering it on his social media feed. Shortly after, we had a call to discuss the opportunity further. During our conversation, Paul mentioned his vision of scaling up my artwork to approximately 8 metres for its display at Coachella. My usual sculptural pieces are typically 2-3 feet in size.

Paul granted me complete creative freedom for this project. We had multiple meetings where I shared my drawings and ideas, and after careful consideration, Paul made the decision to maximize the scale of my artwork. The size was pushed beyond 8 metres and ended up being 20+ metres, limited only by the capacity of the largest truck that could transport it.”

Kumkum also adds that the fabrication of the artwork was a collaborative effort with the Coachella art team, consisting of over 30 + people. Kumkum worked closely with them throughout the process, investing hundreds of hours to achieve the intricate detailing required for the artwork. The fabrication stage took months to complete.

The sculptures were mainly constructed by wood and metal and the whole process from design to installation took around nine months. 

Explaining the inspiration behind The Messengers, Kumkum said “The artworks displayed at Coachella have multiple layers of story and inspiration, with some of the character backstories holding significant personal meaning to me. The centrepiece, "The Flying Ilo," is actually named after my son, Kai-Ilo. The other two artworks are titled "Lotus One" and "Empress of the Garden."

He also stated that when it comes to the colours and patterns used in these artworks, he drew most of his inspiration from the temples he visited in Asia. Specifically, he found inspiration from places like the Dambulla Cave Temple, Bodnath Nepal, the Coadai temples in Vietnam, and various Mahayana Buddhist temples he has had the opportunity to explore. Additionally, he took cues from the intricate patterns found in ancient Kurdish and Persian rugs, as well as Vietnamese window grills. The decision to incorporate a distinctly Asian theme was fueled by his deep appreciation for and fascination with the South Asian region.