Serendipity: A photographic journey through Sri Lanka
Aphotography exhibition organised by the Permanent Mission of Sri was held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York last week.
The exhibition, titled “Serendipity: a Photographic Journey through Sri Lanka”, coincided with the Sinhala and Hindu New Year in Sri Lanka, and featured photographs depicting Sri Lanka’s unparalleled natural beauty, its multi-ethnic, multi-religious identity, the rich cultural heritage and its ways of life.
The photographs were on display at the Delegates’ Entrance of the United Nations General Assembly Hall.
A large number of Permanent Representatives, senior diplomats, senior UN officials and delegates attended the opening of the exhibition.
Delivering welcome remarks at the opening, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative Rohan Perera expounded on the etymological background of ‘Serendipity’, a word derived from ‘Serendib’, the name which the ancient Arab traders used to call Sri Lanka.
Ambassador Perera said that, true to the very meaning of its name, Sri Lanka, lying in the middle of the Indian Ocean on the ancient sea routes connecting the orient and the occident, with its exotic beauty and charm, was indeed an unexpected happy occurrence for many travelers and writers, both ancient and modern.
Quoting the American author Mark Twain and renowned Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, Ambassador Perera remarked that in Sri Lanka, one could always make pleasant discoveries, by accident and sagacity, of things one was not in quest of.
Acting UN Under-SecretaryGeneral for Global Communications Maher Nasser, who spoke at the opening ceremony, stated that appreciating one’s rich cultural heritage and natural beauty inevitably made one concentrate on Sustainable Development Goals and protecting the planet. Liaison Officer of UNESCO New York Office Ricardo De-Guimaraes spoke on the UNESCO world heritage sites in Sri Lanka.
The exhibition featured photographs by Madhuka Wickramarachchi and Niluka Kadurugamuwa, two serving diplomats at the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, and Tharanatha Palliyaguruge, a lawyer and a professional wildlife photographer from Sri Lanka.