‘An Unbelievable Taste’ A multi-media exhibition

‘An Unbelievable Taste,’ a multi-media exhibition by Prasad Hettiarachchi (now going on at the Red Dot Gallery, Colombo 8), takes a commonplace object as subject matter and turns it into an object of contemplation. The commonplace becomes a work of art as processed by the artist’s imagination.

The artist has chosen the ‘sara vita’ tray as his theme. ‘Sara vita,’ a victual made of betel leaf stuffed with sweetened ingredients, has been the common man’s chewing gum (or popcorn) for ages. No one has thought of it as material for art before (though it has inspired one film by that name). Prasad has managed this difficult feat in a series of gouache and acrylic paintings, on paper and canvas, with one installation, which brings into three dimentional form the tray itself.

The title can suggest several things. The unbelievable taste may literally be what the victual offers. It could be the taste of the public, a question of mind, not palette, a paradox posed by sensory perceptions other than taste and smell. After starting off with the saravita tray installation, which may be interpreted as a literal anchor to the presentation as a whole, we see a series of paintings which are extensions of this main theme.

One painting is titled An Unbelievable Taste and the Fort Railway Station. It shows part of the entrance to the building alongside the sara vita tray. Another shows one of the cannons facing the sea at Galle Face Green in a similar arrangement. Another shows the Hindu goddess Lakshmi. Another shows a huge one hundred rupee note which overshadows the tray.

All t hese motifs are, one realizes, attached to the existence of the victual in both cultural and commercial contexts. I really have no idea of the sara vita history. But, assuming its proliferation as a commercial item which began in the colonial era and the widespread usage of paper money and coins, the juxtaposition of these colonial era images (barring the religion icons, which reflect the sara vita merchant’s inner world and protective mechanisms), along with the colourful sara vita tray, bring to us an entire history of a product and the socio-economic cultural forces which made it possible to survive until the 21st century.

The 100 rupee note overshadows the tray. The victual is still one of the cheapest ‘thrills’ available at public places and events. It has never economically empowered its seller and producer (often the same person).

It’s produced by a poor man for everyone, though the majority of his customers are poor like himself. Artists have long been drawn to the down and out as subject matter. But this artist has taken the product rather than the seller/ producer as his theme. In doing so, he uncannily manages to bring to life an entire culture embodied in this humble but durable product. ‘An Unbelievable Taste,’ a multi-media exhibition by Prasad Hettiarachchi now going on at the Red Dot Gallery, Colombo 8