ASANGA GODAMUNA THE ALLURE OF SPICES
ASANGA GODAMUNA was born on the 22nd of January 1979 with his schooling at Royal College. He completed his higher studies with a degree in Bachelor of Design (Hons), faculty of Architecture in University of Moratuwa. Asanga is married to Ruwandika Senanayake
(Senior Lecturer, Department of Integrated Design, University of Moratuwa) and has a four year old son.
BACKGROUND
Asanga answered questions about his show at the recently held exhibition at “Rithihi” featuring his handwoven sarees. FASHION EXPERIENCES ? MOTIVE BEHIND THE EXHIBITION AND POP UP SALE
The motive behind my exhibition and pop up sale is to bring up my or take my collection to the clients/customers with an alternate solution to hold up fashion shows.
? WHAT IS YOUR MAIN INSPIRATION AND HOW DOES IT APPLY TO YOUR WORK
The main inspiration for my collection are the “SPICES”. My collection is based on sarees, thus, the challenge in designing the 6 yard fabrics applied with colours and textures through a proportion with a weave of experiment is how my work applies with the inspiration. ? HOW WELL DO YOU WORK WITH OTHER DESIGNERS
Well, I know most of the “Contemporary Designers” in the fashion field right now, thus, so far I haven’t done any collaborative work with them, but I do have a mutual respect and appreciation towards each other’s work.
? TELL ME HOW YOU ORGANISE AND PRIORITISE YOUR WORK
Even though it doesn’t work exactly as planned, I always plan my schedules a week ahead with my priority of managing my health and family duties along with work. ? PROVIDE AN EXAMPLE OF A TIME WHEN YOU SUCCESSFULLY ACHIEVED AN ORGANISED TASK WITH A GROUP OF PEOPLE I am a designer who works with
“WEAVERS” who literally crafts objectives with “HANDLOOMS”.
What I think is that my whole design process is an organised task done with a group of people who are actually interested in taking up my project as their own when creating the hand woven sari or garment. This is what I consider to be a successful task or a group achievement.
An example that I would like to cite is the “Allure of Spices” recent held exhibition on the 27th of October 2018 was a successful collaboration of Design, Production, Marketing and Selling showed the group involvement through every segment with a role of turning this exhibition into a success, with a special thanks to my model Methma Jayawardhana and “Rithihi” for supporting in my retailing process. ? GIVE ME A DESCRIPTION OF WHEN YOU THOUGHT OUTSIDE THE BOX? HOW DID IT HELP WITH YOUR COLLECTION
“Looking at usual things in unusual eyes” inspired me to look into spices which later materialised into new design elements made into my collection.
? ARE YOU A DETAIL ORIENTED PERSON? WHY
I prefer to settle for satisfactory solution rather than perusing an optimal solution, which in a way I can look at the big picture and decide what to detail and what not to detail. ? DESCRIBE YOUR BRAND/ LINE OF PRODUCT Well talking about my brand/ line I own a label in the name “ASANGA” mainly focusing on HANDWOVEN SAREES for clothing lines. Thus, I will be launching a brand sooner when things settle down.
? DESCRIPTION ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL STYLE SIMPLE, CLASSIC AND CASUAL, but it does vary with the occasion. ? HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A PROFESSIONAL DESIGNER? WHAT IS YOUR EARLIEST DESIGN MEMORY
Now it’s been almost 13 years as a professional designer and from that the most memorable design memory is my first participation at Colombo Fashion Week in 2008. ? WHAT ARE YOU FASCINATED BY AT THE MOMENT AND HOW DOES IT FEED IN TO YOUR WORK The things that currently fascinate me the most are sacred geometry, ancient cultures and mythology and anything that is mysterious about Life, Nature and History.