A painting that brings together Mahatma Gandhi, pioneering Sri Lankan architect Minnette de Silva, and a little‑known episode from Gandhi’s 1927 visit to Ceylon has been gifted to the High Commission of Sri Lanka in New Delhi.
The work, titled Gandhi and Minnette de Silva (2023), was presented on August 7 by Sri Lankan artist Raja Segar and Namita Swamy, Founder‑Director of Tapobhumi – Oko Centre for the Arts, Bengaluru.
According to accounts by historian and feminist scholar Kumari Jayawardena, a nine‑year‑old Minnette de Silva was tasked with finding goat’s milk for Gandhi during his visit.
Segar reinterpreted this moment through his distinctive “Refractive” style, weaving Gandhi, the young Minnette, and the goat into a vibrant landscape of geometric forms and vivid colors.
The goat, incidental in the original story, assumes symbolic presence in the painting, linking Gandhi’s philosophy of simplicity with Sri Lanka’s rural landscape.
The artist noted a personal connection to the subject, having lived in a house designed by Minnette de Silva, which deepened the resonance of the work.
High Commissioner officials expressed appreciation to Segar and Swamy for their generous gift, noting that the painting will become part of the Mission’s collection and contribute to celebrating the cultural, historical, and people‑to‑people ties between Sri Lanka and India. (Newswire)
