Kesara | About
Kesara Ratnavibhushana (b.1983) is a visual artist based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He works predominantly in photography and has a background in painting.
Kesara is a visiting lecturer in Architectural History at the Northumbria University Academy of Design (AOD) and a creative consultant and liaison for the AOD and Colombo Innovation Tower. He is part of the British Council’s Steering Committee for the Creative Economy in Sri Lanka.
He has travelled extensively producing artistic and editorial projects. His work has been presented at the Harold Peiris Gallery, Colomboscope 2017, Lionel Wendt Gallery and La Grand, Hotel, Galle with (the) Different Tendencies of Eternal Summer featuring as cover story within ARTRA magazine. Editorial work has been published in Harper’s Bride, The Evening Standard, Architectural Review, A+U, Vogue India among others.
Influenced by his childhood immersed in the conversations of his architect father, Anura Ratnavibhushana, and his extraordinary friend and mentor, Geoffery Bawa, Kesara moved to London in 2002 to study architecture. He continued his studies in history of art at University of East London a time which was incredibly formative for his practice although photography projects ultimately drew him to leave the course early/ before graduating.
Kesara began his career as a photojournalist, focusing on reportage documentation of events. Between 2006 and 2008 he was the official photographer for SHUNT arts space below the vaults of London Bridge station. In 2009 he worked for the Bawa Trust, photographing Lunuganga and No.11 for the Trust archives. For the last ten years he has been Photographer in Residence for the Chamber Music Society of Colombo.
In 2012 he was Photographer in Residence for the HSBC Galle Literary Festival and Colombo Fashion Week. Following other documentary work with the Sri Lankan government, in 2013, he produced official photography for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
Kesara was also commissioned to contribute the images for Dian Gomes leadership memoir Cornerman. The former boxer and Group Director for MAS Holdings specifically wanted to have Kesara direct his artistic reportage style onto the emotional aspect of the sport.
Current projects include Living with Giants – an audio-visual study of the vanishing large rain-trees of his hometown Colombo and a series of curated workshops for DNS - one of Sri Lanka’s largest telecommunications providers.