Dame Shalini Amerasinghe Ganendra DSG is a cultural entrepreneur and scholar recognised for inter-disciplinary exploration that has increased focus on creative practises from under-recognised regions. Such programming, including the landmark,city wide cultural marquee, Gallery Weekend Kuala Lumpur, which she founded in 2016, has given exposure to regional art movements and eco-systems. The marquee has been described as a "pioneering culture-building network."
Through eponymous cultural organisation Shalini Ganendra Advisory, she developed multi- and inter-disciplinary modules to enable and galvanise cultural connections ('culture of encounter'), for over two decades. The centre hosted residencies, exhibitions, talks, workshops at site and externally. The seminal public program, Vision Culture Lectures. was recognised by UNESCO Observatory as distinguished case study through its publication, Arts in Asia 2016.
She commissioned one of the earliest green buildings in Malaysia, in 2011 the award winning Gallery Residence, (also known as the Ganendra Art House). The project was twice nominated for the Aga Khan Architecture Award and continues to be studied as an ideal example of tropical green architectural build exemplifying innovation and economy.
Dame Ganendra was the first Sri Lankan art expert and collector to be appointed to the Tate Gallery (UK) Acquisitions Committee (SAAC) in 2017 and has served on numerous judging and award panels including for the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution and Commonwealth Art Award. She introduced contemporary Sri Lankan and Malaysian artists to international audiences during New York's Asia Week 2006 -2008 and 2015 through a series of exhibitions: Serendipity and My Country.
She has published widely, including on early colonial photography, modern and contemporary art, craft with specific focus on cultural objects as agents of identity narratives.
In recognition of her contributions, she was awarded the Order of St. Gregory the Great by HH Pope Francis and the Holy See, Vatican State (DSG/Dame). The Order of St. Gregory the Great was established as the last of the Papal Knighthoods (1831) and the only one to admit women.
Education
She attended the National Cathedral School, Washington D.C. and Phillips Exeter Academy. The Academy made her a Harkness Fellow in 2007. A fourth generation Cantabrigian, she read law at Trinity Hall, Cambridge University and was featured as one of the THWomen40 prominent women in profile.
Personal life
Shalini Amerasinghe Ganendra is married to Dennis Ganendra, and the couple have three children. She is the grand-daughter of Samson Felix Amarasinghe and grand-niece of Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe and from her maternal side, the grand-niece of Justin Pieris Deraniyagala.
References
- Gallery Weekend Kuala Lumpur, UNESCO Vol.7, Issue 1 https://www.unescoejournal.com/volume-7-issue-1/
- Jacquelyn Lewis. Smaller Space but Steady Sales at Asian Art Fair. Art+Auctionhttp://www.artinfo.com/news/story/27119/smaller-space-but-steady-sales-at-asian-art-fair/
- Cultural Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets, McGill University 2015,https://www.mcgill.ca/channels/news/cultural-entrepreneurship-emerging-markets-shalini-ganendra-fine-art-254197/
- Sri Lanka Foundation, May 2009, "Shalini Ganendra Fine Art | Sri Lanka Foundation News". Archived from the original on 16 October 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
- Sarah Sabaratnam. "A heart for art", New Straits Times.
- Life & Art Mix Outside KL, https://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2012/05/14/life-and-art-mix-outside-kuala-lumpur/
- Vision Culture Lectures SGFA https://www.unescoejournal.com/volume-5-issue-2/
- UNESCO Observatory – Arts in Asia https://www.unescoejournal.com/volume-5-issue-2/
- Green Building Index https://www.greenbuildingindex.org/portfolio/ganendra-art-house/
- Living with Art, Habitus https://www.habitusliving.com/design-hunters/living-within-art
- Archnet https://archnet.org/sites/7026
- Art by Aref Omar NST. "Sunday People * NST Online". Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
- Veins of Influence, Early Photography and Collections from colonial Sri Lanka (Ceylon)https://www.veinsofinfluence.com
- Oxford & Empire Network - View of Ceylon, Narratives of a Collection https://oxfordandempire.web.ox.ac.uk/article/views-ceylon-narratives-collection
- Narratives of Image, SC Annual Review, Oxford University Press https://www.stcatzacademicreview.com/publications.html
- THWomen40 Profiles, Trinity Hall Cambridge University, https://www.trinhall.cam.ac.uk/about/thwomen40/profiles/