Climate Positive is now open at the Barefoot Gallery, bringing together the work of 10 Sri Lankan creators who use art to spark conversations about climate change.
Their practices stretch across sculpture, sound, photography, drawing and interactive storytelling, each probing themes such as biodiversity, cultural memory, regenerative design and community resilience.
The exhibition is the outcome of the Creative Catalyst Fellowship by Good Life X, a yearlong programme launched in 2024. The fellows first gathered for a two week residency where scientists, conservationists and innovators shared ideas that planted the seeds of their projects.
Over the following months, the artists refined their works with inputs from mentors including ethnographers, ethnobotanists and writers. Chosen from more than 120 applicants across Sri Lanka, the final 10 represent a diverse spread of regions and perspectives – from Colombo to Batticaloa and Polonnaruwa to Jaffna.
Despite setbacks, including funding disruptions, the fellows and organisers pressed ahead by scaling back but determined to showcase the results. Their works highlight issues from plastic pollution and human elephant conflict, to aquatic conservation and the deep interconnection between human and ecological wellbeing.
At its core, Climate Positive is a reminder that creativity can be a catalyst for rethinking how development and progress might coexist with – rather than against – the natural world.
