Early phases of Ena’s career, an exhibition at Barefoot

Imagining New Natures: Collaborations with Ena will be on at the Barefoot Loft Gallery from October 27November 9. The exhibition presented by the Ena De Silva Foundation and supported by the Geoffrey Bawa Trust and the Aluwihare Heritage Centre marks the conclusion of the centenary celebrations of Ena de Silva, exploring the trajectories of textile and batik design innovated in Ena de Silva Fabrics’ workshops and commissioned projects.

While examining the early phases of Ena’s career, the exhibition brings together never-before seen designs and projects produced in close collaboration with prominent artists Anil Gamini Jayasuriya, Laki Senanayake, Ismeth Raheem, Hema Dharmasena and Padmini Jayasinghe. Seen together for the first time, the works in this exhibition amplify how experimentation with form and technique led to the emergence of a new textile art that challenged the use, representation and value of batik and its narratives as a “traditional” craft.

The concluding events of the Ena 100 celebrations also include the establishment of the Ena De Silva Foundation, set up earlier this year, that aims to preserve, maintain, collect, and archive the works of the late artist to continue the craft legacy and support the livelihoods of the crafts people at the Aluwihare Heritage Centre. This exhibition with its accompanying short essays is the first of many activities that the Foundation intends to undertake to preserve Ena’s legacy for the future.

The exhibition, ‘Imagining New Natures – Collaborations with Ena’, will be open to public from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. all week.