Spotlighting furniture from the Geoffrey Bawa Collection

Spotlighting furniture from the Geoffrey Bawa Collection

An exhibition focusing on furniture and its role in the wider context of Bawa’s practice is now open in Colombo. Design in the Moment: Furniture by the Geoffrey Bawa Practice closely examines the histories and context of Bawa’s furniture designs and considers how they can be meaningful for contemporary use. This exhibition is a collaborative effort by the Geoffrey Bawa Trust and India-based furniture company Phantom Hands.

Kandalama Lounge Chair, c.1990
Bawa received the original corrugated iron version of this chair, made by Australian architect and designer Russell Hall, in Australia and placed it in his garden at Lunuganga in the early 1990s. It was the kind of work that amused and interested Bawa most of his life, work that broke convention. The idea for this version—a companion chair for the original at his garden in Lunuganga—came to him in the mid-1990s, and he later went on to use it at the Kandalama Hotel (now Heritance Kandalama) in 1994. In 1997, Hall was invited to speak at the opening of an exhibition showcasing Bawa’s work in Brisbane, where he acknowledged feeling honoured that Bawa copied his form.

De Saram Log Bench, c.1980
An elegant slice of calamander wood, polished on one surface and placed on two stone supports, became a bench in a corridor of the De Saram house in Colombo. This version is a slice of local hardwood log acted on in the same way. No two benches can ever be alike.

‘Next-door Café’ Chair, c.1965
This experimental chair seems to have been inspired by another dining chair designed for the Bentota Beach Hotel (now Cinnamon Bentota Beach) and the Safari Chair adapted by Danish architect Kaare Klint from traditional British army models. First used at a café “next door” to the Edwards, Reid and Begg office designed by Bawa and his studio, it was also used in the all-day dining coffee shop at the Bentota Beach Hotel in 1967.
These chairs, along with other objects, will be on display at Design in the Moment: Furniture by the Geoffrey Bawa Practice, an exhibition held at the newly opened Geoffrey Bawa Space, located at 42/1 Horton Place, Colombo 07. The exhibition is open Wednesday through Sunday between 12 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. except for major holidays. A series of curatorial tours and public programming will take place throughout the duration of the exhibition. More information is available on geoffreybawa.com and phantomhands.in.