Chandraguptha Thenuwara presents Covert at the Venice Biennale 2022, Italy. For the installation Covert, Chandraguptha Thenuwara creates a vortex of these interlocking motifs, deliberately playing on each of their ambiguities. These are not static images; instead, their meanings are fluid and multifarious. To Buddhism, the lotus is a symbol of the purity of the body, mind, and speech; to Sri Lanka’s current government, the symbol is co-opted and corrupted as a political tool that evokes the end of a lion’s tale, the grandiose nationalist symbol of Sri Lanka. Covert functions as a critique of the incendiary role of religion in politics that is relevant locally in Sri Lanka, but also reflects realities globally.
Personal Structures is a collateral event of the 59th International Biennale Arte 2022 and hosted by European Cultural Centre in Venice, Italy. Since 2011 the ECC aims to feature and combine in the same space different expressions from artists that break away from any ideological, political and geographical barriers. The 2022 edition revolves around the idea of reflections, which embodies the dual meaning of a visible episode perceived by the eyes and a mental deed stemming from the action of thinking and pondering with the mind. As envisioned by the ECC Italy curatorial team, the act of reflecting carries the potential to foresee possibilities and the responsibility of imagining a better future.
European Cultural Centre (ECC) - Palazzo Mora
Strada Nova, 3659, 30121 Venezia VE, Italy
