Pradeep Chandrasiri

Pradeep Chandrasiri is a visual artist who works in the field of art scenography as a production designer for two and half decades. He came to prominence within this discourse during the 1990s and has exhibited locally and internationally. His works are profoundly influenced by autobiographical memories of his experiences with political violence in Sri Lanka in the 1980s. Chandrasiri completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in the University of Kelaniya in 1997 and the Masters of Arts History at the Post Graduate Institute of Archaeology , University of Kelaniya in 2011. At present, he is a visiting lecturer on theatre set design and production design at University of Kelaniya, University of Colombo (Sri Palee Campus) and University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.

Chandrasiri has participated in many local and international art programmes since 1998, including the second Fukuoka Asian Art Triennial, at the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan in 2002 and Colombo Art Biennale 2009. He received the Commonwealth Art and Craft Award for his work in the visual arts in 2003, which allowed him to participate in a visiting artist programme at the University of Wollongong, Australia. He also has designed award-winning theatre sets as the art director for many theatre productions participating in the National Theatre Festival of Sri Lanka. Chandrasiri was part of the group of artists first identified with the ‘90s Trend,’ a Sri Lankan art movement that professed a new ideological position in art production influenced by contemporary art practices and social context.

In addition, Chandrasiri is a founding member and executive committee member of the Theertha International Artists Collective, a progressive artist collective in Colombo.

Chandrasiri is currently based in Colombo, Sri Lanka.