International Women Artists' Residency 2006

International Women Artists' Residency is part of the international art exchange programs of Theertha International Artists Collective . The primary objective of the International Women Artists' Residency is to support and sustain the diverse art activities among women artists in Sri Lanka and to give them opportunities to connect with women artists working in other geographical and cultural backgrounds. The Residency provides an environment for artists to experiment, dialogue and exchange artistic knowledge and experiences.

The Residency period was from July 29th to August 28th 2006. The Residency exhibition was held from August 23rd to August 27th August 2006 at the Goethe Institut, in Colombo.

Fathima Zuhura – Maldives, Kaif Ghanavi- Pakistan, Lakeesha Fernando- Sri Lanka, Noeline Fernando- Sri Lanka, Sabrina- India, and Shakunthala Galnage- Sri Lanka participated in the residency

The Residency focuses on collaborative/ solo art projects where artists would be working in response to the local environment/ context using locally available material.

"Love song" by Shakunthala Galange

"My culture, your culture" by Kaif Ghanavi from Pakistan. A large scale scissor, wrapped in white yarn, stands on narrow platform. She likes to remake and reshape the society, where choices are limited and restricted for women in Pakistan. She says that, from clothes to career they have limited choices.

"Lost in translation" by Sabrina from India. Her work is meant to deal with individual's search for identity

"All human beings have feelings. We are born to live our lives to the fullest. Love is a sweet feeling. Man and woman fall in love with each other. We should not misinterpret the meaning for love" says Shakunthala Galange of Sri Lanka

"Reaching on my own" by Lakeesha Fernando from Sri Lanka. She used mixed media to make this painting.

Fathima Zuhura from Maldives used dresses, hangers, and roses to make her creation "Wardrobe"

"MY comfort drink" by Noeline Fernado. She has used different beer bottle labels, beer bottle caps to create the structure