Following a successful first edition in 2013 focusing on the theme “Identities”, followed by “Making History” in 2014, Colombo’s biggest multidisciplinary arts festival “Cinnamon Colomboscope 2015” will kick off its third edition this August.

Cinnamon Colomboscope 2015 will consist of two segments: The Talks & Literature programme “The City. Identity. Urbanity.” will span the 22-23 of August. The segment will commence with an introductory reading and a book signing. Over the course of the segment, festival participants will feature in talks including but not limited to urban development, social media, identity and belonging, gender, sex and sexuality as well as spirituality and religion. The two day programme will also include guided walks and curated dinners.

Menika van der Poorten (left) and Natasha Ginwala (right)

“Shadow Scenes” a group exhibition, will be curated by Natasha Ginwala and Menika van der Poorten. The regional and international artists participating have been allotted rooms at the sprawling Rio Hotel and Cinema in Slave Island, where they will present their works in an array of mediums from painting, installation, sound and text-based works, photography, film and performance. The exhibition looks to engage “the city through aspects of urbanization, displacement, gender, ethnicity, and sexuality while undertaking a cinematic reading of modernity as a resonant field of violence”. Shadow Scenes will go on from the 21-30 of August.

With an impressive number of participants scheduled to contribute at the event from a potpourri of disciplines including authors, architects, artists, journalists, actors, directors, musicians, economists, corporate and business leaders, innovators, gourmands, political commentators, city planners and citizen historians, Cinnamon Colomboscope promises to be an enlightening experience for even the most discerning connoisseur.

The locations that will play host to the festival includes the Rio Hotel and Cinema complex, Slave Island; 8 Degrees, Cinnamon Lakeside; Victoria Masonic Hall, Galle Face; and Castle Hotel, Slave Island.

Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts are the title sponsor of Cinnamon Colomboscope 2015, and the festival is conceptualized and implemented by EUNIC.

By Rihaab Mowlana