Selyn, Sri Lanka’s only fair-trade handloom company proudly hosted their second Shilpa Kathaa exhibition to showcase the art of Sri Lankan traditional jewelry. The series focused on featuring Sri Lanka’s most vulnerable crafts, in order to educate the public on the rich heritage of crafts in the country and to bring its rightful value back to the craft and its artisans. The exhibition was held at the Selyn flagship store.
Speaking on this initiative, Selyna Peiris, Director Business Development said, “For the last 30 years, Selyn has been committed to protect Sri Lanka’s handloom sector and now we want to do our part in uplifting the entire craft sector. We were overwhelmed by the positive feedback from the first Shilpa Kathaa exhibition and were excited to be able to continue the series. Each piece has been lovingly handcrafted by traditional artisans from Kandy, Matale as well as Ratnapura. There are many more artisans around the country that we hope to connect to as soon as the health and safety concerns have reduced. During our visits, we were worried to note that some of the older artisans were declining without being able to share their knowledge. It is really sad for a nation to lose such wealth and to realize that very few people care about this loss. We strongly feel that a nation’s culture is the fabric of its society and we believe that we must protect it and pass it down so that our future can be inspired by who we were.”
