Sri Lankan artist Senaka Senanayake is drawing attention to diminishing rainforests through his exhibition

Over the years, Sri Lankan artist Senaka Senanayake's works have travelled the world over — if a 1965 work hangs at The White House, another is at the UN conference hall. The exhibition is at Saffronart, The Claridges, from January 12 to 24.

3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jan 23, 2018 09:38 AM IST

sri lankan artist, senaka senanayake, sri lankan rainforests, butterflies, new york's asia society gallery, indian express

One of Senaka Senanayake’s works titled Butterflies (2017).

When he was 10 years old, Senaka Senanayake held his first exhibition at New York’s Asia Society Gallery. While he remembers dressing the walls with his works “inspired by life of the people of Sri Lanka”, little did he know that he would turn his passion for art into his profession. Coming from a political family (he is the grand-nephew of Don Stephan Senanayake, Sri Lanka’s first Prime Minister), his parents did not approve of his artistic aspirations, but Senaka was focussed on the world of art, introduced to him by a teacher in primary school.

One of Sri Lanka’s most prolific artists for over a decade now, he has been painting the country’s rainforests. Dominated by bright colours, his depictions capture the details — from wild flowers to chirping birds and butterflies. “I believe the only way you can attract the attention of the young to the need for saving our rainforests is to show them the beauty that is being destroyed,” says Senanayake, 66.

The Colombo-based artist is showing over 20 of his recent works at an exhibition at Delhi’s Saffronart. “When I paint positive images of the forest, people want to see the real thing. When they are told that most of it is gone, they want to do something about it. Nobody really wants to look at dead trees and burnt forests,” says Senanayake, who was first apprised of the fast-disappearing rainforests by a cousin about 15 years ago during a holiday at a tea garden.

Back home, he started researching the issue, understanding the reasons, including going back to the colonial era. “After Independence, many of the forest lands adjoining the plantations were given to local cultivators who did not understand the importance of preserving the forests.They felled the trees and destroyed the remaining rainforest cover. All this has led to our present situation,” says Senanayake.

Over the years, his works have travelled the world over — if a 1965 work hangs at The White House, another is at the UN conference hall.

The exhibition is at Saffronart, The Claridges, from January 12 to 24

Vandana Kalra

Vandana Kalra is an art critic and Deputy Associate Editor with The Indian Express. She has spent more than two decades chronicling arts, culture and everyday life, with modern and contemporary art at the heart of her practice. With a sustained engagement in the arts and a deep understanding of India’s cultural ecosystem, she is regarded as a distinctive and authoritative voice in contemporary art journalism in India. Vandana Kalra's career has unfolded in step with the shifting contours of India’s cultural landscape, from the rise of the Indian art market to the growing prominence of global biennales and fairs. Closely tracking its ebbs and surges, she reports from studios, galleries, museums and exhibition spaces and has covered major Indian and international art fairs, museum exhibitions and biennales, including the Venice Biennale, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Documenta, Islamic Arts Biennale. She has also been invited to cover landmark moments in modern Indian art, including SH Raza’s exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the opening of the MF Husain Museum in Doha, reflecting her long engagement with the legacies of India’s modern masters. Alongside her writing, she applies a keen editorial sensibility, shaping and editing art and cultural coverage into informed, cohesive narratives. Through incisive features, interviews and critical reviews, she brings clarity to complex artistic conversations, foregrounding questions of process, patronage, craft, identity and cultural memory. The Global Art Circuit: She provides extensive coverage of major events like the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Serendipity Arts Festival, and high-profile international auctions. Artist Spotlights: She writes in-depth features on modern masters (like M.F. Husain) and contemporary performance artists (like Marina Abramović). Art and Labor: A recurring theme in her writing is how art reflects the lives of the marginalized, including migrants, farmers, and labourers. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) Her recent portfolio is dominated by the coverage of the 2025 art season in India: 1. Kochi-Muziris Biennale & Serendipity Arts Festival "At Serendipity Arts Festival, a 'Shark Tank' of sorts for art and crafts startups" (Dec 20, 2025): On how a new incubator is helping artisans pitch products to investors. "Artist Birender Yadav's work gives voice to the migrant self" (Dec 17, 2025): A profile of an artist whose decade-long practice focuses on brick kiln workers. "At Kochi-Muziris Biennale, a farmer’s son from Patiala uses his art to draw attention to Delhi’s polluted air" (Dec 16, 2025). "Kochi Biennale showstopper Marina Abramović, a pioneer in performance art" (Dec 7, 2025): An interview with the world-renowned artist on the power of reinvention. 2. M.F. Husain & Modernism "Inside the new MF Husain Museum in Qatar" (Nov 29, 2025): A three-part series on the opening of Lawh Wa Qalam in Doha, exploring how a 2008 sketch became the architectural core of the museum. "Doha opens Lawh Wa Qalam: Celebrating the modernist's global legacy" (Nov 29, 2025). 3. Art Market & Records "Frida Kahlo sets record for the most expensive work by a female artist" (Nov 21, 2025): On Kahlo's canvas The Dream (The Bed) selling for $54.7 million. "All you need to know about Klimt’s canvas that is now the most expensive modern artwork" (Nov 19, 2025). "What’s special about a $12.1 million gold toilet?" (Nov 19, 2025): A quirky look at a flushable 18-karat gold artwork. 4. Art Education & History "Art as play: How process-driven activities are changing the way children learn art in India" (Nov 23, 2025). "A glimpse of Goa's layered history at Serendipity Arts Festival" (Dec 9, 2025): Exploring historical landmarks as venues for contemporary art. Signature Beats Vandana is known for her investigative approach to the art economy, having recently written about "Who funds the Kochi-Muziris Biennale?" (Dec 11, 2025), detailing the role of "Platinum Benefactors." She also explores the spiritual and geometric aspects of art, as seen in her retrospective on artist Akkitham Narayanan and the history of the Cholamandal Artists' Village (Nov 22, 2025). ... Read More

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