2023 has been an extraordinarily busy year for us, and one in which we’ve been able to launch several new projects to engage our community in deeper and more meaningful ways. This year saw us working across wider geographies and new kinds of programmes, and we can’t wait to announce our 2024 programme with you soon. Mark your calendars to join us from 11–14 July for the To Lunuganga closing festival. Stay tuned for more updates, but first let’s take a look at the year that’s gone by…
The Year in numbers
17,100+
visitors to Lunuganga in 2023
5,520+
visitors to Number 11 in 2023
28,000+
visitors to It is Essential to be There in New Delhi (March–May 2023)
5,500+
visitors on the opening weekend of To Lunuganga (21–23 July 2023)
46,000+
engaged online (across websites, and social media platforms)
January 2023
Launch of Geoffrey Bawa: Drawing from the Archives, Colombo
March–May 2023
Geoffrey Bawa: It is Essential to be There opens at the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi, drawing 28,000+ visitors
May 2023
Hélène Binet returns to photograph Lunuganga after 21 years
Hélène’s visit was supported by the Pro-Helvetia–Swiss Arts Council.
June 2023
A Light Through Time–launch of the first exhibition at Number 11
Curated by Geoffrey Bawa Trust's Assistant Curator Aneesha Mustachi.
Geoffrey Bawa Trust's inaugural Youth Advisory Board launched
The Youth Advisory Board is an initiative aimed at connecting with and engaging a younger audience and comprises six 16–23 year olds.
July 2023
Fluid Geographies by Reena Saini Kallat at Lunuganga
Reena Saini Kallat’s exploration of socio-political borders through her site-specific work.
To Lunuganga launched, celebrating 75 years of art, architecture and ecology at Bawa's garden, drawing 5500+ visitors on the opening weekend
Ongoing ecological research projects at Lunuganga with the Universities of Peradeniya and Sri Jayewardenepura
September 2023
‘All Right Angles’, a residential workshop for emerging cultural practitioners at Lunuganga
The workshop was supported by EUNIC Sri Lanka and organised in collaboration with Colomboscope and Kälam.
October 2023
Launch of Geoffrey Bawa: Drawing From the Archives in the UK
The publication was launched at a talk by editor Shayari de Silva, with responses by Albert Brenchat Aguilar, Pushpa Arabindoo, and moderated by Tariq Jazeel at The Bartlett School of Architecture London.
November 2023
Accessibility training for the Lunuganga team
The session was facilitated by the Department of Disability Studies, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya.
Drawing Outside the Lines; a companion guide for younger audiences to Reena Saini Kallat's installation Fluid Geographies at Lunuganga by the Trust's Youth Advisors
December 2023
Symposium: Legacies of Care, Failures, and Emerging Solidarities
The Prince Claus Fund Biennial Symposium in collaboration with the Geoffrey Bawa Trust held in Colombo and at Lunuganga.
In between: the Existence of Firdaus, by Firi Rahman at Lunuganga
Artist Firi Rahman's deeply reflective and personal project at Lunuganga, and his first site-specific installation, explores man's relationship with the natural world.
Launch of The Order of Nature, a curatorial project exploring queerness at Lunuganga
Charting the intersections of architecture and landscape design, this project curated by Geoffrey Bawa Trust's Design and Communications Manager Thilini Perera examines how Lunuganga subverts traditional paradigms of garden design through its representations and ecological aspects which questions the perceptions of what defines “normal” and “natural”.