Galle Literary Festival’s Art Trail features exhibitions, open houses and artists’ tours and turns Sri Lanka’s Galle Fort into ‘living canvas’
- Staged alongside the Galle Literary Festival in Sri Lanka, the Art Trail has art shows, open houses and artists’ tours and makes a ‘living canvas’ of Galle Fort
- Galle is a gateway to explore the island’s south coast, with its lavishly decorated homes, resorts and hotels designed by eminent Sri Lankan architects
“No other place in the whole island represents the trouser-wearing, cricket-watching modern Sri Lankan like Galle Fort,” says tour guide Shanjei Perumal, founder of Galle Fort Walks.
Perumal leads his guests along the ramparts of the 17th-century Unesco Heritage site, which overlooks the Indian Ocean in southern Sri Lanka, and through its narrow, cobblestone streets, past sun-dappled, bougainvillea-draped walls and serendipitously placed bicycles that make for irresistible photo opportunities.
Perumal says that the fort, with its art deco spaces and mix of European and Moorish architecture, continues to inspire the art and design of contemporary Sri Lanka.
That influence will be in focus this month along the Art Trail, which is being hosted alongside the Galle Literary Festival (January 25 to 28) and turns Galle Fort into a “living canvas”.
The trail will take in hotels, Dutch-era mansions and residential homes hosting exhibitions by local and international artists, workshops and meet-and-greet events.
The trail shows how art creates an “alternative experience for tourists to explore the country in a more exciting manner”, says Azara Jaleel, editor-in-chief of Sri Lanka’s Artra Magazine, which is a co-host of the event.
