Matara Festival for the Arts (MFA), a celebration of Contemporary Art and Music from Sri Lanka and beyond, will kick off its 1st Edition on Independence Weekend, February 2- 4 2024.
It follows the weekend after the Galle Literary Festival, providing tourists and Lankans alike with further reason to spend the start of the year out along the south coast.
The festival is banking on the distinctive power of an arts-led economic and social restart for the UNESCO-listed Matara Fort, Matara town, and the district. It also seeks to build bridges of vibrant and educative exchange via the arts with those from other parts of the country and diasporic and international collaborators.
The primary programme is curated by esteemed contemporary artist and archaeologist Prof. Jagath Weerasinghe, and musician and educator Dr. Sumudi Suraweera of Music Matters, and will see the unveiling of a feature exhibition and a concert – with artist and performer details to be announced ahead.
The festival will be centred on the pillars of #CultureCommunityCollaboration presented in focused and intersectional modes. One example of this is the ‘Art for Community and Collaboration’ project which started October 14th and sees leading contemporary artists and performance artists mentoring aspiring ones on contemporary art as they work towards producing a collaborative artwork to be presented at the festival.
Other core values of the programme include diversity as a strength, economic inclusivity, and environmental sustainability, as they align with the future resilience and progress of our communities.
Along these lines, additional festival programming will see innovation catalyst Randhula de Silva lead a workshop and conversations component, while the Good Market will be a capacity-building partner in the set up of a community market in collaboration with the Matara District Secretariat and other partners.
The government at multiple levels has also been a crucial partner in preparing the spaces for the festival that will continue in the longer term to benefit the community – particularly its youth.
The festival is co-founded by Jayanthi Samaraweera Gunewardena & Chanchala Gunewardena, who carry on the work of their family member the late Mangala Samaraweera via the Freedom Hub in Matara, and Prof. Weerasinghe who was a collaborator of Samaraweera’s in efforts of art for peacebuilding.
John Keells Foundation (JKF), a Patron sponsor of the Festival, is the CSR entity of John Keells Holdings PLC (JKH), which is the largest conglomerate listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange, operating with over 70 companies in 7 diverse industry sectors. With a history of over 150 years, John Keells Group employs over 14,000 persons and has been ranked as Sri Lanka’s ‘Most Respected Entity’ for the last 18 Years by LMD magazine. JKF operates within six focus areas in keeping with its CSR Vision of ‘Empowering the Nation for Tomorrow’. One of these areas is Arts and Culture.
JKF provides funding support for the festival’s Art component on 3 fronts, supporting all 12 artists for the Contemporary Art exhibition; funding the complete Art for Community & Collaboration programme featuring 8 aspiring artists; and sponsoring 6 speakers for the workshop and discussions component.
Additionally, Geraldine Coates and Robert McDowell of arts venue Summerhall in Edinburgh, Scotland; Simon Bell, Founder of Amba Estate and impact investment advisor; and Malaka Talwatte, Chairman of the George Keyt Foundation are serving as festival advisors.
The festival welcomes more like-minded companies and individuals to join them as patrons and sponsors in the other aspects of the larger programme.
The festival is also in coordination with business owners in Matara who are leading their own ‘Safe & Green’ city clean-up initiative in the run-up to the festival.
Follow along for artist and performance details, and insight into youth and community programming at @MataraForArts on Instagram & Facebook. Our website & concert info will follow ahead.