The One Year Drawing Project: May 2005-October 2007

Commissioned and curated by Sharmini Pereira, Raking Leaves

May 5 - August 1, 2009

UTAC, 15 King's College Circle, University College, University of Toronto

In partnership with the University of Toronto Art Centre and 2009 Tamil Studies Conference

In May 2005, four artists simultaneously created four unique drawings in their respective studios in Sri Lanka. These drawings were exchanged by post, finding their way between Jaffna in the north and the suburbs of the capital Colombo. Upon receipt of the drawings, four more were duly generated in response to the first set of drawings. In structure this chain of events marked the start of The One Year Drawing Project, an experimental drawing exchange involving four of Sri Lanka’s most critically acclaimed contemporary artists – Muhanned Cader, Thamotharampillai Shanaathanan, Chandraguptha Thenuwara and Jagath Weerasinghe.

Commissioned and curated by Sharmini Pereira for Raking Leaves, an independent publishing organization based in London, England, The One Year Drawing Project is an artist’s book project that documents an exchange of viewpoints – both artistic and ideological – over a sustained period of time, bringing commitment and collaboration into dialogue with reaction and consequence.

Related events:

• "Next year who knows where we will be…": Contemporary Art and its dialogues with the Tamil World at the 2009 Tamil Studies Conference. With Bari Kumar, Sharmini Pereira and Chris Chong.
• "Making a House a Home" drawing workshop at the Tamil Studies Conference - an exploration of memory and home through drawing, at UTAC.

Press:

• Fran Schechter, “Going Postal: Potent project gives and takes via mail,” NOW Magazine, June 10-17, 2009 | VOL 28 NO 41. < http://www.nowtoronto.com/art/ story.cfm?content=169822>

• Andrea Carson, "Two Exhibitions Highly Recommended: Toronto, Vancouver." View on Canadian Art. <http://viewoncanadianart.com/2009/05/06/two-exhibitions-highly-recommended-toronto-vancouver/>