Cinnamon Colomboscope: Bringing international flavour to Colombo 

The Rio Hotel was buzzing with activity as we dropped by to catch up with the international exhibition participants of Cinnamon Colomboscope. As we climbed the 7 floors, stepping carefully on the rundown stairs, and cruised the corridors of the Rio, we passed many artists who were busy setting up their installations, paintings, sounds and text based works, and film. The atmosphere was charged and we happened to encounter a few local artists - Ruwangi Amarasinghe and Sunara Jayamanne, Pradeep Chandrasiri and Liz Fernando - working on their pieces with gusto. Their works were as diverse as they were interesting, and even the most discerning connoisseur will no doubt appreciate the thought behind each unique exhibition presentation.

The Shadow Scenes exhibition is currently underway at the Rio Cinema and will continue throughout the week upto 30th of August from 10am to 6pm. Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts are the title sponsor of Cinnamon Colomboscope 2015. The festival is conceptualised by EUNIC.

Agnieszka Polska (Based in Warsaw, Poland and Berlin, Germany) 

How do you feel about associating with Colomboscope and about the Rio Hotel?

It’s great. I’ve had a great time in Sri Lanka. I really love the space of Rio hotel - I think it’s a great space to present the work. It’s also a very unique place with a certain charm, especially of the unused rooms. I’ve been told they have been unused for 30 years.

How does your exhibit relate to this year's theme "SHADOW SCENES"?

Well I present two works. One is the video work which I made in collaboration with Witek Orski. It depicts a story of a strike of the students which happened in 1968 in Warsaw. During the strike the authorities ordered the artillery collection of the museum of army in Warsaw to be drilled through. So that they wouldn't work anymore. And this happened because the government was afraid that the students will break into the museum and take all the guns from the museum and use them during the protest. Which was quite an absurd thing because you need to have a certain knowledge of how to use them. It's not as easy as pulling the trigger. Its very complicated. So I really liked this idea of the museum being kind of a storage for weapons. And Natasha decided that this will work well in the context of Sri Lanka and Colombo.

What do you think is the significance of a festival such as Colomboscope?

Well I think that the most important thing is that the local audience is able to see the works of international artists as well as Sri Lankan artists. Also, they can visit the Rio Hotel in a different context than just visiting the cinema for adult films.

Lucy Skaer (Based in Glasgow, Scotland, UK) 

How do you feel about associating with Colomboscope and about the Rio Hotel?

It’s been great. Its nice to be here and it's an interesting building certainly.

How does your work relate to this years theme "SHADOW SCENES"?

I suppose the work is really to do with film. And to do with the context of this building being a cinema more than a hotel. I think that my work is looking at film as a technology that's going out of date. So it has to do with kind of the material presence of films and also the with different histories of different places. So I guess that how it fits to Shadow Scenes.

Alexandra Navratil (Based in Basel and Amsterdam) 

How do you feel about associating with Colomboscope?

I’m very happy to be here and to participate in the exhibition. And I'm happy to meet all these people and artists working here in Colombo. And being a part of this special project.

How does your work relate to this years theme "SHADOW SCENES"?

It’s kind of complicated. It’s about the industrial zone in the former East Germany, where they were producing film and photography materia.. So its a contemplation about this area and about the contamination of the landscape. So the video I'm showing is about a lake called Silver Lake in Germany, which by the 1990s was the most contaminated lake in the whole of Germany.

Interviewed by Rihaab Mowlana