The Glasgow School of Art

Chandraguptha Thenuwara
'Spaces Giving Shade: Art as shelter from political turmoil & the function of alternative arts education in Sri Lanka' listen to audio recording

Sri Lankan artist and activist Chandraguptha Thenuwara (Thenu) will discuss the history of the Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts (VAFA), the pre-eminent but unaccredited arts academy in Columbo, Sri Lanka, which he founded in 1993. Thenu will discuss his reasons for founding VAFA, the political and artistic climate in Sri Lanka, and why art education is important in times of political turmoil. He will also discuss his own artistic practise and his public art installation as part of BIG IN FALKIRK, the arts festival taking place May 3-4 in Callendar Park, Falkirk.

The Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts (pronounced 'WAH-FA') is the only alternative art school in Sri Lanka. It began in 1993 with a single studio, and started a formal school structure in 1996 with a grant from HIVOS, a Dutch NGO.

Chandraguptha Thenuwara, Artist and Director/Founder of VAFA, is also a Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Visual Art, University of Visual and Performing Arts, Columbo, Sri Lanka. He studied painting at the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, receiving his BFA in 1981, and studied at the Moscow State Art Institute, Academy of Arts, Russia, receiving an MFA in Painting in 1992. He lives and works in Columbo, Sri Lanka.

The Wednesday Event at the Glasgow School of Art is a series of informal lectures, screenings, panel discussions and pecha kuchas, organised primarily by Cultural Engagement and Exhibitions, with input from the rest of the school.  Designed to be cross-school, cross-platform and cross-disciplinary, some of them might even make you cross!