APPRECIATION: Left, John Barber, Managing Director IRM Offshore Services, discusses one of Nanayakkara's works with him. Photo by Shaji
Ananda Nanayakkara landed in Qatar 21 years ago to see a mostly barren Doha. The city
has transformed since then and so has the palette he paints with, writes Umer Nangiana
The evolution took place right in front of him. He landed in Qatar to see mainly a barren Doha with few attractions to offer 21 years ago. Over the past few years, however, so much has changed —skyscrapers have sprouted to form the Doha Skyline, complemented with places that are fast developing into major tourist attractions in the region.
The pace of the transition and its results, both left Ananda Nanayakkara fascinated. The artist inside him provoked him to capture and transfer this changing new face of Doha on canvas. Taking up his painting brush, he drew all that charmed him, observing it from his own angle and creating it in his own style.
Roaming around buildings and boulevards, strolling along beaches and sailing on Doha waters, Ananda has coloured every scene that caught his eye. Coming from Sri Lanka, a beautiful island country dubbed as the “pearl of Indian Ocean”, the artist has a keen eye for beauty. And he has managed to capture the essence of Doha’s beauty in his paintings.
“I have been in Doha for 21 years. Initially, there was only this Toyota building standing tall. Now, a lot has changed. So many different locations and attractive buildings have come up and I loved the development,” the artist told Community.
He was speaking at the exhibition of some of his work titled as ‘Summer Art Festival-Sceneries of Doha’ at Mercure Grand Hotel Doha on Saturday. The Sri Lankan artist’s work has shown Qatar’s both traditional cultural heritage and its contemporary development in its true colours.
Whether it is a camel caravan out in the desert, a dhow (boat) sailing through the gulf waters or the illuminated Doha skyline as seen from the Corniche, Ananda has masterfully captured the heart of every subject.
Completing some 20 pieces in one month, the artist has done almost all his work in acrylic. “It dries very quickly. But, I do work with oil paint, charcoal, pastel and wash drawing. In fact my next exhibition is all wash drawings,” said Ananda. As a design artist staying in Doha for a long time, he said he easily finds his materials here, even if they are a little expensive.
For his Doha landscape project, he mostly took pictures of the scenes that attracted him the most, before using them as models for his paintings. “I take my camera and go to these sites taking photographs. Then, I Photoshop the images to remove any scaffoldings or iron bars in there before starting to paint them,” the artist said.
In almost all his paintings, Ananda has used lighter colours, killing the shock in them. Water can be seen in most of them. “Water is life. Nothing feels better than going out in the sea on one of these boats,” he explained.
Studying fine arts at college level, Ananda said he actually found his flair for painting from his uncle who was an art teacher. In 1993, he arrived in Doha to work for Al Muftah as a display artist besides doing advertising work and graphic designing.
All his paintings on display in Mercure Grand Hotel have already been purchased by the hotel itself. Kumudu Fonseka, Executive Assistant Manager of the hotel, said the work is fabulous. “We were fascinated when we saw the ability and the talent of the artist. At the same time, we were in need of some paintings. So when he presented his work, we decided to host an exhibition for him,” Fonseka told Community.
He said the move was also meant to encourage artists like Ananda and promote their work. “In fact, we have placed an order for 60 more pieces with him,” Fonseka added.
Commenting on the artist’s work, Fonseka said he liked his style and his ideas. “I really like Ananda’s work. I knew him for a very long time but I never before had the opportunity to promote him in this way,” said the hotel’s executive assistant manager.
Being himself a “little bit of a painter”, Fonseka said he knows how important it is for artists to be promoted and supported. Taking the opportunity, he had put on display some of his own work besides that of his wife, Mano Fonseka. She was his teacher in art, he added.
“The ideal way to unwind for people like me is to do art work. You pick up a brush, start painting and you forget everything else and put all your energy to it,” Fonseka explained how he started painting.
He said some of the Asian artists, if supported, had great potential to become great names in the world.
