Shanika Perera

Biography

I am a curator and programme manager working at the intersection of architecture, heritage, and contemporary cultural practice. I currently serve as Curator of Public Programmes at the Geoffrey Bawa Trust, where I develop and deliver multidisciplinary initiatives that engage diverse audiences with architecture, art, design, and ecology.

In 2025, I completed an MA in Applied Museum and Heritage Studies at the Reinwardt Academy, Amsterdam University of the Arts, supported by the NUFFIC Cultural Heritage Scholarship. My research focused on contested histories, restitution, and the role of museums in addressing colonial legacies, and I served as Programme Committee Chair during my studies. I also hold a BA (Hons) in Graphic Design from Northumbria University (2012) and a Foundation Diploma in Art and Design from Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London (2008).

From 2019 to 2024, I served as Programme Manager at the Geoffrey Bawa Trust, leading major public initiatives, including To Lunuganga, a multi-year programme marking 75 years of Bawa's garden, and Geoffrey Bawa: It is Essential to Be There, the Trust's first major archival exhibition. I also contributed to several editions of the interdisciplinary contemporary art festival Colomboscope (2016–2022), collaborating with local and international artists under the artistic direction of Susanne Jaschko (2016), Menika van der Poorten (2017), and Natasha Ginwala (2019, 2022).

As Curator of Open House Colombo, the only South Asian city in the Open House Worldwide network. I develop talks, tours, and workshops that connect audiences with Sri Lanka's architecture and creative landscapes. My recent research and public presentation with the Collective of Historical Dialogue and Memory explored how absence and memory shape public understandings of empire, using the 2023 return of Sri Lankan cultural objects from the Rijksmuseum as a case study.

Shanika Perera, Curator of Public Programmes at The Geoffrey Bawa Trust, Colombo, Sri Lanka, has been awarded by Eloisa Haudenschild (La Jolla, California, USA).