ABSTRACT
Paradise (Figure 9.1) is an installation by Sri Lankan artist Thamotharampillai Shanaathanan. It was produced during a 2003 artists’ retreat to the sprawling estate of Lunuganga, the home and garden of the late Geoffrey Bawa, perhaps Sri Lanka's most famous ‘tropical modern’ architect. The installation comprises an oversized, visually seductive bed placed in the middle of Cinnamon Hill in Geoffrey Bawa's just-as-seductive estate. Of the landscapes, buildings and pavilions that Bawa built and rebuilt over the years at his beloved Lunuganga, the view south across Cinnamon Hill from the entrance area of the main house stood out as the architect's favourite. Standing at the house, looking across the thick lawn and up the gentle hill slope, the view is framed by trees on either side, and in the middle distance, on the crest of Cinnamon Hill, a lone moonamal tree looms over a large pot. The moonamal tree points to the gleaming white dome of the Katukuliya temple, a Buddhist dagoba nestled in the verdant vegetation of a hill separated from the estate by a thin sliver of lake. Each day, the temple is clearly visible with the naked eye from the estate. Of this landscaped vista, Bawa once wrote: ‘Over the years moving through the garden as it grew, one saw the potential of various areas which had inherently different atmospheres. For instance, the long view to the south ended with the temple, but in the middle distance was a ridge with a splendid ancient moonamal tree and when I placed a large Chinese jar under it, the hand of man was established in this middle distance.’ 1 Paradise, by Thamotharampillai Shanaathanan (Site-specific installation at Lunuganga, 2003). Photograph reproduced with permission from Anoli Perera and the Theertha Artist's Collective, Colombo. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203111048/17fbf1ba-413b-43de-838e-12d586e747af/content/fig9_1_B.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
