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Barbara Sansoni

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Revision as of 05:39, 25 April 2022 by InedibleHulk (talk | contribs) (→Career: That's what fellows are for.)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) Sri Lankan artist, designer and writer
Barbara Sansoni Lewcock
Born(1928-04-22)22 April 1928
Kandy, Central Province, Sri Lanka
Died23 April 2022(2022-04-23) (aged 94)
NationalitySri Lankan
Occupation(s)artist, designer and writer
Known forempowerment of women weavers in Sri Lanka
Spouse(s)Miliani Sansoni (1952 – 1979)
Ronald Lewcock (1981 –??)
Children2 (Dominic, Simon)

Kala Suri Barbara Sansoni-Lewcock also known as Barbara Sansoni (22 April 1928 – 23 April 2022) was a Sri Lankan veteran designer, artist, colourist, entrepreneur and writer. She was known for her works in architecture, textile designs and handwoven panels. She founded the Barefoot textile company, a company which is highly acclaimed for its handloom fabric. She also served as the chairperson and chief designer of Barefoot Pvt. Ltd for several years.

Sansoni was said to have "redefined the concept of colour in Sri Lanka". She empowered women weavers and transformed the national cottage industry.

Personal life

She married Ceylonese judge Miliani Sansoni, the 32nd Chief Justice of Ceylon, in 1952. The couple gave birth to two sons; Dominic and Simon.

Her first spouse Miliani died in 1979 and two years later, she engaged in her second marriage in 1981 to her longtime friend Ronald Lewcock. Ronald befriended Barbara when Ronald first met her during his sabbatical from 1968 to 1969 to explore the European Colonial Architecture in Asia. Ronald had contacted Barbara for his research work and exploration regarding the European Colonial Architecture in Asia after getting to know about Barbara's drawings being featured in the Architectural Review. Barbara and Robert both together in collaboration bought a house in Cambridge in 1972 for Robert himself and for Barbara's two sons to stay as both sons who were in their early seventeens had been sent to England for their educational purposes. Robert was asked to be the guardian for Barbara's sons until they had completed their education in England.

Education

She pursued her interest in buildings from childhood after witnessing the highly ceilinged, wide verandahs which were occupied by her father during his tenure as government agent in Batticaloa, Matale and Kurunegala.

She pursued her primary and secondary education in Ceylon and in Southern India. She studied at a boarding school in Kodaikanal and studied for a year at the St. Bridget's Convent in Colombo for her Higher School Certificate. She later moved to England and studied for five years at the Regent Street Polytechnic (now known as the University of Westminster). She obtained her degree in Fine Arts from the Chelsea School of Art.

Career

In the 1950s, she returned to Sri Lanka from the United Kingdom and she was requested by Mother Good Counsel, Provincial of the Good Shepherd nuns to promote and enhance the handloom weaving by young women under the nun's care. She unanimously accepted the suggestion of an Irish nun, Sister Good Counsel of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, to become involved in a programme established by the convent in Wattala that taught young impoverished Sri Lanka women how to weave. Sansoni with her then husband, Hildon, established and financed four village weaving centres. Sansoni's initial involvement mainly related to the design aesthetics of the material being produced. She opened her first retail store House in Fort.

She founded the Barefoot in 1958 in an attempt to empower and guide women weavers in rural parts of Sri Lanka. She laid the foundation by establishing Barefoot to provide employment for the young women who were under the nun's care on the request made by Mother Good Counsel, Provincial of the Good Shepherd nuns. During late 1960s, she opened the first Barefoot shop in Colombo. The first exports of Barefoot retailer were sent to the Scandinavian nations.

She also worked as a journalist and essayist at the now defunct English newspapers Ceylon Daily Mirror and Times of Ceylon during the early 1960s. Her sketch drawings on the ancient buildings were published in a weekly series titled Collecting Old Buildings in 1962 and 1963 in Ceylon Daily Mirror. Few of her drawings which featured in the Ceylon Daily Mirror were used by Geoffrey Bawa and Ulrik Plesner for their joint work in an article in the Architectural Review of February 1966. Her friends and contemporaries included Geoffrey Bawa, Laki Senanayake, Ismeth Raheem, Ulrik Plesner and Anura Ratnavibhushana.

She had also conducted many exhibitions in Asia, Europe and North America by showcasing her textile designs, drawings, paintings and handwoven panels. She conducted her first one-woman exhibition in London in 1966.

She has made several publications including Viharas and Verandahs (1978). She also co-authored another book titled The Architecture of an Island in 1998. She published her first book on children's genre titled Miss Fu and Tikkiri Banda in 2002. She published a book titled A Passion for Faces in 2014 which recounts the collection of memories from her personal experiences at Barefoot.

Honours

In 1970, she won the J. D. Rockefeller Travel Award for her two years of travel experience across 14 countries during which she studied textiles and architecture.

She received the Zonta Woman of Achievement from the Zonta Club of Colombo in 1987. She also won the Woman Entrepreneur of the Year in gold category in 1997 from the Women's Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

She was conferred with a Kala Suri from the Government of Sri Lanka in 2005 during the 2005 Sri Lankan national honours in recognition for her special contributions to the development of the arts. She received a Geoffrey Bawa Special Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011 for her contributions to art and architecture.

In 2016, she was conferred with an Honarary Doctor of Philosophy degree by the University of the Visual and Performing Arts of Sri Lanka.

Death

Sansoni died at 1:10 am on 23 April 2022, about an hour after her 94th birthday.

The Barefoot stores are scheduled to be closed in mourning on 24 and 25 April.

References

  1. ^ "Icon Barbara Sansoni no more". Sri Lanka News - Newsfirst. 2022-04-23. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  2. "BUSINESS TODAY -Barbara Sansoni Lewcock Founder/Chairperson, Barefoot (1958)". www.businesstoday.lk. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  3. "GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILY OF SANSONI OF CEYLON" (PDF). Dutch Burger Union of Ceylon. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  4. ^ "ARTRA | Sri Lanka's Art & Design Magazine | BARBARA SANSONI EDITION - COMPOSING ARCHITECTURE". www.artra.lk. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  5. ^ "ARTRA | Sri Lanka's Art & Design Magazine | BARBARA SANSONI EDITION - A PORTRAIT OF BARBARA SANSONI". www.artra.lk. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  6. ^ "BUSINESS TODAY -Barbara Sansoni Lewcock". businesstoday.lk. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  7. Smriti, Daniel (14 July 2014). "The numbers didn't add up but sketches did". Sunday Times. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  8. "Barefoot celebrates fifty years". The Island. 20 December 2014. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  9. Illankoon, Duvindi (23 September 2012). "Cube and colour: Barefoot team's passion on show". Sunday Times. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  10. "About Us | Barefoot Ceylon". barefootceylon.com. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  11. "The Barefoot Sarong Wearer's Club | Daily FT". www.ft.lk. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  12. "Barbara Sansoni | Barefoot Ceylon". barefootceylon.com. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  13. "It all started with a love for old buildings". The Sunday Times Sri Lanka. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  14. "BUSINESS TODAY -Amazing Energy". www.businesstoday.lk. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  15. "Iconic designer Barbara Sansoni passes away". www.adaderana.lk. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  16. "VIHARES & VERANDAS by BARBARA SANSONI". archives.sundayobserver.lk. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  17. "ARTRA | Sri Lanka's Art & Design Magazine | BARBARA SANSONI EDITION - EDITORIAL". www.artra.lk. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  18. "'A Passion for Faces' | The Sundaytimes Sri Lanka". Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  19. "A Passion for Faces by Barbara Sansoni". BAREFOOT. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  20. "Barefoot founder passes away". Sunday Observer. 2022-04-23. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  21. Perera, Tharindu. "ADVOCATE". LMD. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  22. "National Honours Part 2" (PDF). Government Press. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 December 2014. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  23. "Wayback Machine" (PDF). web.archive.org. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  24. "Archt. Thisara Thanapathy wins Geoffrey Bawa Architectural Excellence 2010/2011 award". archives.dailynews.lk. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  25. "Barbara Sansoni honoured with Doctorate". Thuppahi's Blog. 2016-12-14. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  26. "Barbara, way ahead of her time". Print Edition - The Sunday Times, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  27. "Barefoot founder, Iconic designer Barbara Sansoni passed away". NewsWire. 2022-04-23. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
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