Jagath Weerasinghe

Jagath Weerasinghe
Born 1954
Moratuwa, Sri Lanka
Nationality Sri Lankan

Jagath Weerasinghe (1954) is a Sri Lankan contemporary artist and archeologist.

Weerasinghe has been a significant driving force in the development of Sri Lankan art since the early 1990s. He is Director of the Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology at the University of Kelaniya.[1][2]

He obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours in Painting at the Institute of Aesthetic Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka in 1981.[3] In 1985 he received a Conservation of Wall Paintings, International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) in Rome, which was followed in 1988 by a Conservation of Rock Art from the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles.

In 1991 Weerasinghe obtained a Master of Fine Arts in Painting at the American University, Washington, D.C.[3]

Weerasinghe coined the phrase ‘90s Art Trend’, recognising at the time the need for a cohesive framework to describe the activity of his peer group.[1]

He was commissioned by the Sri Lankan government to design the monument ‘Shrine for the Innocent’ as a remembrance for the innocent victims of the violence that the southern part of the country experienced in the late 1980s and early 1990s with the work completed in 1999.[4]

He co-founded the Theertha International Artists Collective in 2000, which continues to foster new artists and initiatives.[1][5] He describes current Sri Lankan artists as living in an era of ‘para-modernism’.

Weerasinghe's works have been exhibited in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, India, Netherlands, Germany and Japan.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Jagath Weerasinghe". Breese Little. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  2. "Postgraduate Studies and Research". University Grants Commission - Sri Lanka. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Jagath Weerasinghe". Framer Framed. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  4. Hattotuwa, Sanjana (13 June 2009). "Art, War and Politics in Sri Lanka - An Interview with Jagath Weerasinghe". Groundviews. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  5. Dhar, Jyoti (25 January 2015). "Respite and Revival". Sunday Times. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  6. "Jagath Weerasinghe 1954, LK". ArtFacts.net. Retrieved 19 May 2015.


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