2011-2016 BFA (visual art), Ramanadhan Fine Arts Academy University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka
2019-2020 MA (visual art), Beacon House National University in Lahore, Pakistan.
Solo Exhibitions
2024
“Families ‘not’ in the List,” Saskia Fernando Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka
2021
“Rented Shadow and Neighbors,” Saskia Fernando Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Group Exhibitions
2024
The 11th Art Asia Pacific Triennial], the Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery Of Modern Art, Australia (Upcoming)
Delhi Contemporary Art Week, Bikaner House, New Delhi
“PAST of the Present”, curated by Jagath Weerasinghe, Old High Court Matara, Sri Lanka.
2023
“Small World” curated by Freya Chou and Brian Kuan Wood and Reem Shahid, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan
India Art Fair, Shrine Empire, New Delhi, India
“The Foreigners” curated by Sandev Handy and Sharmini Pereira, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Sri Lanka
“WITH MY BACK TO THE WORLD” curated by Mariyam Begum and Ashini Nanayakkara, Saskia Fernando Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
2022
“Critical Zones” curated by Bruno Latour, Peter Weilbel, Martin Guinard and Bettina Korintenberg, Colombo, Sri Lanka and Pune, Mumbai, India
7th edition of COLOMBOSCOPE, ‘Language is Migrant’ curated by Anushka Rajendran with artistic director Natasha Ginwala, Barefoot Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
2021
“House of Kal” curated by Sandev Handy at COCA-Collective of Contemporary Artists, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
2019
6th edition of COLOMBOSCOPE, curated by Natasha Ginwala, Rio Complex, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
2018
“True Being” curated by T Sanathanan, Art circle, Fine Art Department, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.
“Being and becoming” curated by T Sanathanan, Saskia Fernando Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
2017
Theertha Performance Workshop, Theertha Artist Collective, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
2013
Open Edit: Mobile Library – from AAA to Raking Leaves, curated by Sharmini Perera, ParkStreet Mews Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Workshops
2024
“Community Art Project”, Matara Art Festival, Curated by Jagath Weerasinghe, Sri Lanka
“SupportLocalArt Talk: Artists Edition 3, Organized by ARTRA in association with Saskia Fernando Gallery
“New Perspectives: Women Artist in Sri Lanka, Organized by KALĀ x ASAP (Art South Asia Project)
2023
“Let’s Bundle your Joy” Textiles and embroidery to create a personal heirloom at Saskia Fernando Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka
“Swing and Embroidery” with Hema Shironi, Sabeen Omar and Shahdia Jamaldeen to explore ways of Storytelling in relation to display 5 and 6 of ‘Encounters’ rotation 3 at Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Sri Lanka
2022
“Swing and Embroidery” with Hema Shironi and Shahdia Jamaldeen to explore ways of storytelling In relation to display 2 of ‘Encounters’ rotation 2 at Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Sri Lanka.
“Stitching Architecture”- programming around the exhibition, Geoffrey Bawa: It is Essential to be there- Stitching workshop
We Are Present: Women’s Histories of Conflict, Courage and Survival- Collecting women experience in Sri Lanka
2021
“Talking hands” – House of Kal Colombo, at CoCA Artist Talks
Residency
2021
House of Kal Colombo
Publication covers
2024
“International Conflict Feminism”, By Vasuki Nesiah, University of Pennsylvania Press
2023
“Untethered “, By Ayesha Inoon, Harper Collins Publishers Australia.
2022
“We are Present: Women’s Histories of Conflict, Courage and Survival is a collection of women’s lived experiences of Conflict in Sri Lanka”, Edited by Radhika Hettiarachchi.
Hema Shironi (b. 1991, Sri Lanka) is a multidisciplinary artist who lives in Colombo. She completed her BFA (2014) from the Ramanathan Fine Arts Academy, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka and MFA (2019) at Beaconhouse National University, Lahore. Her wide-ranging artistic practice combines embroidery, mythological imagery, bricolage, and installation to inquire concepts of cultural identity. Her work is deeply rooted in observance of the history of colonisation, civil war, displacement and migration, which she highlights through personal stories and experiences of living in Sri Lanka. As a child, her family often moved from one place to another and she eventually found herself questioning the bonds that communities and individuals make. Her work is driven by the nostalgia of the numerous places she has called home and how each community belonging to those places grapples with concerns of language, culture, memory, myth, gender and equality.
Shironi held her solo show “Rented Shadow and Neighbors”, at Saskia Fernando Gallery, Colombo, Sri Lanka (2021). Some of her selected group exhibitions include “small world” curated by Freya Chou, Brian Kuan Wood and Reem Shahid, Taipei Fine Arts Museum. Taiwan (2023); “The Foreigners” curated by Sandev Handy and Sharmini Pereira, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Sri Lanka, (2023); “Critical Zones, curated by Bruno Latour, Peter Weilbel, Martin Guinard and Bettina Korintenberg, ZKM, Centre for Art and Media Karlsruhe, Sri Lanka (2022) and at Colomboscope, Sri Lanka (2019 and 2022).