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Barefoot Gallery

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Monday to Saturday | 10am - 6.30pm

11/05/2026

Those Were The Days
Medium: Collage, pen, gold leaf on paper pulp handmade sculptures

This series of handmade sculptures serve as three-dimensional archives of memory where Catharina employs paper pulp to recreate objects from her kitchen that are deeply rooted in personal history. The kitchen was where she spent most of her time during the war; it was a place of shelter, routine, and quiet resilience. It was also where she listened to her grandmother’s stories of Jaffna. She crafts these objects using paper pulp, a medium which is fragile yet enduring, much like memory itself. Rendering these objects in 3D gives weight, scale, and presence to moments that might otherwise be lost forever. Those Were The Days is an invitation for viewers to connect with how life was lived in Jaffna over time, and how those lived experiences can translate into art. Through this sculpture series she preserves what shaped her, honours the stories passed down to her, and offers a tactile way for others to feel the texture of life in Jaffna as she remembers it.
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Memories of Yaalpanam by Catharina Danial will be on view until 23 May 2026 at the Barefoot Gallery Colombo.

Gallery Hours:
Monday to Saturday
10 AM - 6:30 PM

08/05/2026

Padrig Morin (b. 1962) was born in Quimper, France and hails from a small village, Cast, in Breton Cornwall. Having spent his childhood in Germany, Senegal, Eastern and Central France, he went on to work in the United Kingdom, and later spent a year in Calais, Northern France.

In 1986, Padrig travelled to Sri Lanka to study Buddhism and Pali, and acquire a command of Sinhalese, which he studied in London. Sri Lanka became his home, where he married and worked for the next 38 years. His Buddhist studies led him to take a keen interest in Hinduism and its philosophies, earning him a Degree in Tamil and Indian Civilization from the Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations in Paris (INALCO).

Padrig began drawing to better memorize the Hindu gods, their shapes and symbols as well as certain elements of Buddhism. Through his Celtic roots and culture, he began to draw parallels between the symbolism of Hinduism and the ancient Celts, who have much in common with the Vedic gods. This later also led him to explore the symbolism and themes of Celtic culture as well as the Breton saints, inspiring his desire to share the part of his culture that still resists assimilation into mainstream French culture. He titles his paintings in Breton out of respect for the language which should rightfully have been his mother tongue.

Padrig worked for 30 years in Sri Lanka as a Sinhalese and Tamil interpreter as well as a Mission Officer in the detention and protection of the civilian population, and as Head of Office in Vavuniya for the International Committee of the Red Cross (Geneva) covering 3 decades of civil war on the island. He has also worked in Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon on the issue of missing persons during the international conflicts in Iran and Kuwait, and visited Sri Lankan and South Indian migrants in detention in Kuwait. He now shares his time equally between his native Brittany and Sri Lanka.

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Tree of Life by Padrig Morin will be on view at the Barefoot Gallery Loft until 16 May 2026.

07/05/2026

In-between the Homes

This is a series that focuses on the visual language houses abandoned, sometimes forcibly, an outcome of war. Though faded and fractured, these structures retain resilience tied deeply to the identity of Jaffna.

Catharina’s practice documents these buildings while reimagining new life between their walls. Using handmade paper produced herself, she allows the material to embody the faded, weathered quality of these homes. Forms cut into the surface express loss and pain, while transparent sheets feature traditional elements once central to kitchens and domestic life. In-between the Homes invites viewers to interact with the emotional landscape of Jaffna homes - and the life that lingers within them.

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Memories of Yaalpanam by Catharina Danial will be on view until 23 May 2026 at the Barefoot Gallery Colombo.

05/05/2026

Artist talk with Padrig Morin: Cultural and Political Resistance in Art

Join us for an intimate discussion on the artist life of Padrig Morin, currently exhibiting his solo exhibition upstairs at the Barefoot Gallery Loft. Explore with Padrig the Celtic symbols in his work, and learn more about his fascinating life in Sri Lanka over the past 30 years.

Date: Saturday, 9 May 2026
Time: 4 PM
Barefoot Gallery, The Loft

🔗 Register via the link in bio

04/05/2026

Now on view "Memories of Yaalpanam" a solo exhibition by Catharina Danial at the Barefoot Gallery Colombo.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined us on the opening night. Your presence made the evening very special and we thank you for your continued support.

In her first solo show at Barefoot Gallery, Catharina Danial welcomes you to journey back to her beloved Yaalpanam-Jaffna, and reimagine it through lived and inherited experiences. Memories of Yaalpanam encapsulates the interplay between past, present, and future and encourages viewers to transcend Jaffna’s recent history, and appreciate its enduring strength and cultural richness which still defines its identity.

Memories of Yaalpanam by Catharina Danial will be on view until 23 May 2026 at the Barefoot Gallery Colombo.

30/04/2026

Celtic circle as the seed of the Tree of Life I - IV

In Celtic tradition, the seed of the tree of life acts as a bridge between the physical and spiritual realms, embodying the Celtic understanding that all things are connected, and all life is a continuous cycle of sowing, reaping, and rebirth. The seeds are linked to the seasonal Celtic festivals of Samhain and Imbolc. During the dark half of the year (Samhain), the winter hag descends into the underworld to incubate the seeds of new life, ensuring their emergence at Imbolc when they begin to wake, symbolising the slow, intentional emergence of life.

In these paintings, the seed of the tree of life is represented either as a bindu, a knot work, or a combination of both. The surrounding decorative patterns represents the internal metabolic process of germination. The patterns are inspired by a combination of La Tène Celtic style (c. 450 BCE-1st century CE) characterised by highly stylised, flowing curvilinear patterns, including spirals, triskeles, and S-scrolls, and the Insular Celtic style (500-900 AD), an artistic tradition characterised by intricate, dense, and curvilinear knotwork designs.
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Tree of Life by Padrig Morin will be on view until 9 May 2026 at Barefoot Gallery, The Loft.

27/04/2026

Exhibition views from “ஈசல் Mayfly” by Ponnaiyah Peter

ஈசல் Mayfly came to a close last Saturday. In this exhibition, Ponnaiyah Peter draws from his lived experiences of war, displacement, and survival in Sri Lanka’s Vanni region. Through recurring motifs of drifting clouds and fleeting mayflies, his work reflects on impermanence, loss, and the fragile nature of identity shaped by conflict. Grounded in both personal and collective memory, his paintings speak to unresolved trauma, environmental aftermaths, and the quiet persistence of what remains long after the violence has ceased.

Thank you to everyone who has attended and supported the exhibition, both near and far. If you are unable to view the exhibition in person, a virtual viewing is available at barefootgallery.com

25/04/2026

Balance, 2025
Pen & charcoal on black board

Balance attempts to capture the lives of people before and after the war. On one side a group of clouds drawn in a regular and uniform manner. Created with white chalk on black paper - a peaceful atmosphere. However, in contrast, people's lives become more and more unstable after the war and they are forced to live a life of displacement and instability without even realising it. This artwork combines the two states - peaceful life before the war and the chaos and instability which follows after - and is therefore titled “balance”.

Life changes, it’s a journey, and temporary. Even Mayflies live for just a day.

Today is the last day to view ஈசல் Mayfly by Ponnaiyah Peter. The exhibition will be on view until 6:30 PM today.

24/04/2026

Artwork details:
1. Ur c'hi o laerezh gwezenn ar vuhez
A Dog Stealing the Tree of Life, 2025
Acrylic and 22 carat gold leaf on canva
46 x 55 cm

2. Ur C'hi o vriata ouzh gwezenn ar vuhez
A Dog carrying the Tree of Life, 2026
Acrylic and 22 carat gold leaf on canvas
70 x 60 cm

In these two paintings the pairing of dog and the Tree of Life is more contemporary as well as deeply complementary. The Celtic dog (usually a hound) is traditionally viewed as the guardian of the otherworld as well as a healer, and a symbol of unwavering loyalty as it wanders between the physical and the spiritual, the seen and the unseen, heaven and earth.

Artwork details:
3. Chas o Tiwall had gwezenn ar vuhez I
Dogs Protecting the Seed of the Tree of Life I, 2025
Acrylic and 22 carat gold leaf on canvas
53 x 47 cm

This painting represents four dogs protecting the seed of the Tree of Life. The seed represents the future, longevity and wisdom. The four dogs symbolise the protection of this sacred centre representing the four cardinal directions as well as the elements: earth, air, water and fire, and the four seasons: Autumn, Winter Spring and Summer. The colours red, yellow and purple depict what the seed represents - the otherworld as well as the natural word.

Tree of Life by Padrig Morin will be on view until 9 May 2026 at Barefoot Gallery, The Loft.

23/04/2026

Gwezenn ar vuhez gant evned I & II (Tree of Life with Birds I & II), 2026

Birds are key elements that add to the symbolic depth of the Celtic Tree of Life, representing wisdom and the interconnection of all life. When the Tree of Life features two birds they represent a protective role, as well as the balance of nature - the connection between heaven and earth and the union of two souls. Alternatively, they are seen as messengers between the earthly and spiritual realms, an embodiment of freedom and vision.

The Celtic Tree of life with two birds is an emblem that encourages a harmonious, balanced life, spurring observers to look beyond the mundane and recognise their deeper, spiritual connections to the world.

Tree of Life by Padrig Morin will be on view until 9 May 2026 at Barefoot Gallery, The Loft.

22/04/2026

The Barefoot Gallery Colombo is delighted to present Memories of Yaalpanam, a solo exhibition by Catharina Danial.

In her first solo exhibition at Barefoot Gallery, Catharina Danial recollects lived experiences of her beloved Yaalpanam (Jaffna), before and after the war, and how it changed over time.

Memories of Yaalpanam encapsulates the interplay between past, present, and future. It encourages viewers to transcend Jaffna’s recent history and appreciate the enduring strength and cultural richness that has defined its identity. Catharina translates her memories into works, addressing the vividness of childhood recollections - traditional objects, ancient bullock carts, old photographs of Jaffna women, historical buildings, and houses now abandoned or demolished by war. Though faded, they hold significant emotional value.

Her work employs collage and mixed media as a conceptual framework to explore memory and heritage. The pieces integrate earth-toned hues, pencils, pen work, transparent sheets, and handcrafted paper, unified through embossing techniques that lend a tactile, archival quality.

Exhibition Dates:
2 - 23 May 2026

Address

706 Galle Road
Colombo
00300

Opening Hours

Monday	10:00 - 18:00
Tuesday	10:00 - 18:00
Wednesday	10:00 - 18:00
Thursday	10:00 - 18:00
Friday	10:00 - 18:00
Saturday	10:00 - 18:00

Telephone

+94770255470

Website

https://linktr.ee/barefootgallery

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