Plucking the Stars: A Journey Through Memory and Heritage – A Solo Contemporary Art Exhibition by Arulraj Ulaganathan in Collaboration with Colomboscope at Curado Art Space, Colombo, Sri Lanka | Paying Tribute to Malaiyaha Tamil (Hill Country) Tea Plantation Worker Community
– journey into the soul of sri lanka’s hill country through contemporary art
| CasualWalker’s Rating for Plucking the Stars – A Solo Contemporary Art Exhibition : | |
9.9 – Extraordinarily Powerful |
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Plucking the Stars (நட்சத்திரங்களைப் பற்றல்) – A Solo Contemporary Art Exhibition by artist Arulraj Ulaganathan is currently showing at Curado Art Space, 302 Park Road, Colombo 05, from 14th to 31st January 2026, open daily from 10 am to 5 pm. This collaboration between Curado Art Space and Colomboscope feels like a meeting of kindred spirits—two platforms deeply committed to nurturing Sri Lankan contemporary art, creating space for experimentation, and amplifying voices that deserve to be heard. 
I’ve been following Colomboscope’s journey over the years, and what impresses me most is their unwavering commitment to making contemporary art accessible and meaningful. As a non-profit, non-commercial organization, they’ve created a long-term platform that truly nurtures artists beyond just a single exhibition—fostering dialogue, encouraging creative risks, and building bridges between local and international art communities.
Colomboscope: Sri Lanka’s Premier Contemporary Arts Platform
Colomboscope has been Sri Lanka’s leading contemporary arts festival and creative platform for interdisciplinary dialogue since 2013, steadily growing into an integral part of Colombo’s cultural landscape. What makes Colomboscope truly special is its commitment to working with intergenerational artists, writers, musicians, filmmakers, social theorists, and scientific researchers from Sri Lanka and internationally, creating a vibrant exchange of ideas and creative expression.
The festival has become known for its innovative use of the city’s significant historical spaces, transforming forgotten buildings, old cinemas, and heritage sites into immersive art venues. What I truly admire about Colomboscope is that it’s not just a one-time event—it’s a long-term platform that nurtures artists beyond a single festival, fostering sustainable and context-responsive artistic practices while opening spaces for collaborative and genre-defying creative processes.
Discovering Curado Art Space
Curado Art Space established in May 2023, this gallery was born from a quiet but powerful desire to champion Sri Lankan artists from every corner of the island. Walking through its doors feels like entering a sanctuary where creativity breathes freely.
The space houses works by over 40 artists—established masters, emerging talents, and new voices just finding their way. Paintings, sculptures, digital art, and photography coexist here, each piece reflecting the incredible richness and diversity of Sri Lanka’s creative spirit. What I love most about Curado is that it’s more than just a gallery—it’s a platform dedicated to nurturing artists, amplifying their stories, and creating pathways for their work to be celebrated at its fullest potential.
Meet the Artist: Arulraj Ulaganathan
Arulraj Ulaganathan’s journey as an artist is as textured as his canvases. Raised in the mist-covered tea plantation region of Haputale, his work carries the weight and beauty of his homeland in every brushstroke. A visual artist working primarily in painting, drawing, and printmaking, Arulraj holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts (First Class) from Pondicherry University, India, and a Master of Fine Arts in Painting (First Class with Distinction) from the Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai.
What I deeply admire about Arulraj is his courage to tell stories that often go unheard. His work doesn’t just document—it honours, celebrates, and gives dignity to the lives and experiences of the Malaiyaha Tamil community. There’s an authenticity and emotional honesty in his art that’s rare to find. He doesn’t paint from a distance; he paints from within, from lived experience, from memory that runs deep.
What sets his work apart is how deeply personal and culturally rooted it is. His practice draws from the lived experiences of the Malaiyaha Tamil community—the people of the hills—exploring themes of labour, heritage, and the enduring connection between people and the land they’ve worked for generations.
His paintings often feature portraits of tea plantation workers, especially women, rendered in a restrained, earthy palette inspired by the colours of tea, soil, and the passage of time. Here’s where it gets truly fascinating: Arulraj incorporates actual tea powder and natural dyes into his surfaces, allowing the material itself to become part of the story he’s telling. This innovative technique is nothing short of brilliant—it transforms the very substance of labour into artistic medium, creating a powerful connection between subject and material.
His previous exhibitions have taken him across the world—from Drawing Room London (2025) to the 421 Arts Campus in Abu Dhabi for Colomboscope’s 8th edition (2024), and his deeply personal solo show “A Life in Tea: The Untold Stories of the Malaiyaga Tamil Hill Country Tea Plantation Worker Community” (2024).
This earlier exhibition was a powerful exploration of the lives, labour, and cultural identity of the tea plantation worker community in Sri Lanka’s hill country, establishing Arulraj as an important voice in documenting and honouring the heritage of the Malaiyaha Tamil people. Each exhibition peels back another layer of the complex, beautiful narrative of this community.
Plucking the Stars: A Window into Memory and Spirituality
Walking through “Plucking the Stars” feels like stepping into a dream woven from memory, spirituality, and the everyday life of the hill country. This is Arulraj’s second solo exhibition, and it brings together new and ongoing series that engage with his personal memories from childhood and the spiritual cosmologies that pulse through the daily life of Malaiyaha Tamils.
The exhibition unfolds stories of labour across tea plantations and the distinct narratives that emerge from the hills of Haputale. Through dense, layered imagery, Arulraj reveals the intimate spaces of domestic life in what’s known as the Lineroom (Layan Kampura) series—the housing structures that have shaped generations of plantation communities.
As Arulraj himself notes: “The backdrop, an imagined yet memory-laden landscape of Haputale, merges past and present while revealing the cultural and spiritual impact of the tea economy. This land becomes the stage where divinity and daily life intersect, giving voice through my art to the histories of the Malaiyaha.”
Art That Speaks
One of the standout pieces, “Lord of the Hills,” captures the circular rhythm of time in the estates—the daily rituals, devotional practices, and the ways communities preserve their culture and identity through generations. The tea shoots, leaves, and bushes aren’t just botanical subjects here; they’re symbolic threads connecting generational experience, movement, and cultural memory.
What strikes me most is how Arulraj expands on his earlier series from Colomboscope’s eighth edition, “Way of the Forest,” creating what he calls an “emotional cartography”—a map drawn not with geographical precision but with feeling, memory, and ancestral knowledge.
Celebrating the Heart of the Community
Throughout the exhibition, there’s a beautiful centering of Malaiyaha Tamil women—as workers, mothers, divine mediums, and the backbone of their communities. Arulraj visualizes their strength, their connection to the land, their role in preserving seasonal rituals surrounding the tea estates, and their position as custodians of cultural heritage.
These aren’t distant, romanticized portraits. They’re intimate, honest, and deeply respectful—portraits that honour the dignity, resilience, and enduring prowess of matriarchs who have shaped the cultural landscape of Sri Lanka’s hill country.
It’s a reminder that the most beautiful landscapes hold stories far deeper than what meets the eye. The misty tea plantations we photograph, the Ceylon tea we sip with appreciation—these are connected to real people, real histories, real communities that have cultivated not just the land but an entire cultural identity rooted in the hills.
Plucking the Stars (நட்சத்திரங்களைப் பற்றல்) – A Solo Contemporary Art Exhibition Event Details
Exhibition: Plucking the Stars
Artist: Arulraj Ulaganathan
Dates: 14th – 31st January 2026
Timing: 10 am – 5 pm (daily)
Address: Curado Art Space, 302 Park Road, Colombo 05,Sri Lanka.
Phone: +94 (11) 419-4533
“Plucking the Stars” reminded me why art matters. It bridges past and present, personal and collective, the seen and unseen. Arulraj Ulaganathan is an artist of rare sensitivity and vision. What he’s doing goes beyond creating beautiful paintings—he’s preserving memory, honouring heritage, and giving voice to a community’s story with such grace and dignity that it stays with you long after you leave the gallery.
His ability to weave together personal narrative, cultural documentation, and stunning visual artistry is truly exceptional. We need more artists like him who aren’t afraid to dig deep, to tell difficult stories with compassion, and to use their talent as a bridge between communities and understanding.
Arulraj doesn’t just paint the tea country—he paints its soul, its memory, its spiritual essence, and the people who have made it what it is today. Through his use of tea powder and natural dyes, through his earthy palette that mirrors the land itself, he creates works that are both deeply personal and universally resonant. Watching his artistic evolution from “A Life in Tea” to “Plucking the Stars” has been a privilege—each exhibition deepens the conversation and reveals new layers of this rich cultural tapestry.
