Founded in 1993 as The Rehabilitation Centre for the Communication Impaired (RCCI), the organization now known as The Shiranee Joseph de Saram Foundation (SJDSF) enriches the lives of people with intellectual disabilities in Sri Lanka. It creates sustainable pathways to independence and competitive employment, regardless of a family's ability to pay. SJDSF builds awareness of the meaningful contributions people with intellectual disabilities can make to society. It educates employers on best practices for hiring individuals with intellectual disabilities and provides ongoing support for both employers and employees as they develop their working relationships. The organisation recently held a silent auction featuring paintings and artwork by some of Sri Lanka's leading artists, which were gifted to the foundation. This event aimed to raise funds to support the organisation's ongoing work.

Q WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO ORGANIZE AN ART AUCTION FOR THE FOUNDATION? The first art auction was held in 2019. My mother wanted to have an exhibition to showcase the work of our students. Our board members Kaushalya Bandara and Nilusha Kapugama grew the event from there into an auction of work donated by well wishers as well and it ended up being one of our most successful fundraisers.

Q CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT SOME OF THE ARTISTS AND ARTWORKS THAT WILL BE FEATURED? We have over 100 artworks from both established artists and new comers. It’s a very eclectic collection with a lot of talent on display. We have works by Dominic Sansoni, Tilak Samarawickrema, Muhanned Cader, Prageeth Manohansa, Nuwan Shilpa (aka Vikara Sanni), Siva Kajendran, Susiman Nirmalavasan, Janaki Perera, Kesara Ratnavibhushana and many others.

Q HOW DID YOU SELECT THE ARTISTS AND PIECES FOR THE AUCTION? We reach out to artists directly and request donations. We are also supported in this endeavor by art collector Lahiru Pathmalal, who also helped us with this event in 2023. Janaki Perera is a long term supporter of our organization - she conducts art therapy sessions. We have also been assisted this year by Prasanna Jayatilaka, who was instrumental in getting many donations. We are very grateful to Dominic Sansoni both for donating his work two years running and for providing us with this wonderful venue for the event.

Q WHAT HAS BEEN THE MOST CHALLENGING PART OF ORGANIZING THIS EVENT? Collecting the artwork in time and publishing the catalog has been the most challenging. We also organized a children’s art exhibition to encourage families to have conversations about diversity and inclusion with their kids from a young age. This was a first for us - we hope to repeat it next year in a bigger way with age appropriate talking points to help guide conversations regarding valuing diversity and being inclusive.

Q HOW HAS ORGANIZING THIS AUCTION HELPED YOU FEEL CONNECTED TO YOUR MOTHER’S LEGACY? My mother was an artist herself and loved to be surrounded by colour. We feel this event is something that she would feel very connected to. Her lasting legacy is the creation of opportunities for people with disability so anything that furthers that work drives her legacy forward.

Q WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR THE AUCTION, BOTH IN TERMS OF FUNDRAISING AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT? We hope to raise over Rs. 2 million through this event. This will support our operations for about 3 months. We don’t charge our trainees and currently we don’t charge the employers for our services either as Supported Employment is a very new concept in Sri Lanka. We pay a stipend to the trainees in our workshop and sometimes support those in the Supported Employment through travel bursaries during the training period. The funds raised will go towards supporting this work. Events such as this engage people who don’t ordinarily come across our work so it goes a long way towards raising awareness about our work. We hope people leave the event not just with a beautiful piece of art but also with the beautiful idea that people with Intellectual Disability are valuable members of society.

Q HOW HAVE PEOPLE RESPONDED TO THE IDEA OF THE AUCTION? Very well! This is the 3rd art event we are organizing and they have always been received well. A lot of people who don’t ordinarily engage with our work attend and that helps increase awareness regarding people with Intellectual Disabilities.

Q ARE THERE ANY FUTURE EVENTS OR PROJECTS YOU’RE PLANNING FOR THE FOUNDATION? We would love to host a talent show with our students. They have a variety of interests such as dancing and modelling and we look forward to giving them an opportunity to shine.

Q WHAT ROLE IF ANY DID ART PLAY IN YOUR MOTHER’S LIFE, AND HOW DOES THIS AUCTION REFLECT THAT? She was incredibly talented as an artist and designer. She sketched throughout her life and encouraged all of us to be creative. She was a hobby florist and loved to arrange the flowers at family weddings.

Pix courtesy SJDSF