The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Sri Lanka (MMCA Sri Lanka) is an education-led initiative that aims to establish a public museum dedicated to the display, research, collection, and conservation of Sri Lankan modern and contemporary art for the benefit and enjoyment of the public, schools, and tourists.
During a time when most other museums around the world were downsising, a dynamic group of young professionals has been driving this much-needed initiative forward. Since its launch in 2019, the team behind MMCA Sri Lanka has grown from a four to a 12-person full-time team.
The growing team of professionals includes Pramodha Weerasekara, Assistant Curator, Education and Public Programming, Sanuja Goonetilleke, Curator, Learning and Training, and Thinal Sajeewa, Research Assistant.
Assistant Curator Pramodha said that since joining in 2019 as part of the founding team at the MMCA Sri Lanka, the main highlight for her was their first exhibition ‘one hundred thousand small tales’. “I enjoyed supporting the curatorial process behind all the public programs and the school/university visits we organised. A school visit I will always remember was a special field visit we organised for 60 preschool children on Valentine’s Day, 2020, she said.
In the first year, her work had been involved in researching the educational landscape of Sri Lanka and greater Colombo, and curating the museum’s Outreach program. Pramodha said, “As our second exhibition ‘Encounters’ came into being, my work evolved with the growing approach to public programs. I was soon working with a significant number of resource persons to curate and execute public programs for target audiences.”
She said her values related to art align closely with the museum’s approach. “I have always believed in the museum’s larger mission of establishing a museum of modern and contemporary art in Sri Lanka, and especially the driver of the core team and its founders to face this challenge. I am also driven by my passion to give back to the communities of students, art educators, children, intellectuals, and artists through knowledge-sharing and learning experiences,” Pramodha added.
Curator Sanuja said that seeing their Visitor Educators receive positive feedback from visitors, and hearing an intern indicate an interest in a long-term career path in this field were moments of highlight for her. “A highlight from just last year has to be the completion of the Museum Intensive, our first collaborative international training program, after a year of online research and planning,” she said.
“I applied to and joined the MMCA Sri Lanka in mid-2021 as its first Assistant Curator of Learning and Training. I was promoted to Curator of Learning and Training in early 2022.
My role entails research, management, and evaluation of all our training activities. I’ve also increasingly begun to ideate new, longer-term programs,” Sanuja said.
She said that museum-based learning and creative placemaking are tangible phenomena which she likes, in an increasingly digital-obsessed world. “My current role in Learning and Training often looks to the future. Therefore, I value contributing to the MMCA Sri Lanka’s journey to being such a culturally and economically symbolic organisation in time,” Sanuja opined.
Research Assistant Thinal said one of the highlights was the opportunity to intern with the museum, which led to his full-time position. “I am grateful for the open-minded and supportive work environment, as well as the guidance and mentorship provided by my line managers. These factors have contributed significantly to my personal and professional growth since joining MMCA Sri Lanka,” he said.
Thinal said his initial responsibilities included facilitating interactions with visitors and assisting public programs. “During my internship, I had the opportunity to engage further with the artworks during production. In my current full-time position, I am responsible for conducting research and cataloguing a collection, which I think reflects the evolution and increasing seriousness of my responsibilities at the museum,” he said.
“I was not initially interested in art, but upon receiving an opportunity to work at the museum, I realised the potential for personal growth in this field. As such, I am motivated to develop my skills and eventually become a curator at the museum,” Thinal added.