Virtual event on local arts on Monday July 19

Saskia Fernando Gallery is launching #SupportLocalArt: The Talk Series, a virtual event supported by Nations Trust Private Banking.

The first event of “SupportLocalArt Talk: The Patron” will be held on Monday July 19 with a panel comprising Anojie Amerasinghe, Patron and Social Entrepreneur; Ajit Gunawardene, Founding Committee Chair of the

Museum of Moder n and Contemporary Art Sri Lanka; Nadija Tambiah, Head of John Keells Foundation, Member of the Executive Committee of the Museum of Moder n and Contemporary Art Sri Lanka; and Udayshanth Fernando, Chairman of

Paradise Road Group of Companies and Head of Udayshanth Fernando Foundation.

# SupportLocalArt: The Talk Series is an initiative dedicated to providing a holistic platform for the Sri Lankan art community to share their stories, concerns, and solutions to the chronic underfunding of the local art scene. “We sit down with practitioners of the art community across the board - meeting separately with the patrons, the institutions, and the artists themselves to discuss how we can come out of this COVID-induced lull together as a community, placing uplifting the art community in Sri Lanka as our shared goal. We get into the different shades of patronage, from the individual to the organisation, as well as getting a chance to listen to the artists and institutions discuss the ways in which we can best support them. Join us as we debunk misconceptions about funding in the art community, discuss the leap from simply collecting to becoming a patron of the arts, and mull over the fragmentation of the arts scene in Sri Lanka,” the organisers said in a media release.