Parilojithan Ramanathan Seed Awards recipient

Parilojithan Ramanathan is a multidisciplinary artist and lens-based medium practitioner based in Sri Lanka. Parilojithan holds a BFA degree with a specialisation in painting from the Ramanathan Academy of Fine Arts at the University of Jaffna. In his artistic practice, he is interested in capturing fleeting moments that often relate to themes such as displacement, impermanence, and despair. As an archivist and documentarian, Parilojithan’s photographic material juxtaposes multitudes of lived experiences with intersections of socio-political phenomena. His collage work is based on personal narratives of migration, dislocation, and a nomadic lifestyle.

He is the co-founder of “We Are From Here”, a community-based art project on Slave Island in the Colombo suburb of Sri Lanka that aims to show a different side of the local community. Parilojithan is also the founder of "Batticaloa Photo-History Archives", reading and making history through vintage photographs from personal archives. He has been photo-documenting the destruction of lagoons in the Batticaloa district of Sri Lanka, and he documented the economic crisis in Sri Lanka in 2022, the results of which were showcased as part of “Capturing the Current” at the Chennai Photo Biennale, Alliance Française de Madras. He also has work exhibited at the 3rd and 5th Kochi Muziris Biennale, Colomboscope, Saskia Fernando Gallery Colombo, and more.