{"id":266422,"date":"2025-11-06T22:10:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T22:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/266422\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T22:10:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T22:10:14","slug":"interior-designer-indira-kithsiri-collects-art-that-mirrors-her-dual-heritage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/266422\/","title":{"rendered":"Interior Designer Indira Kithsiri Collects Art That Mirrors Her Dual Heritage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Art Market<\/p>\n

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Portrait of Indira Kithsiri. Courtesy of Indira Kithsiri. <\/p>\n

Installation view of Fabienne Francotte, This Did (Not) Happen 9, 2021. Photo by Studio Seya. Courtesy of Indira Kithsiri. <\/p>\n

Born in the Swiss Alps to a Sri Lankan father and Swiss mother, Indira Kithsiri grew up between two worlds: the Alpine village of Verbier, Switzerland, and the vast tropical beaches of Colombo, Sri Lanka. This cross-continental upbringing set the foundation for an art collection that she describes as \u201ccontemporary works that are often dark, yet charged with emotion and meaning.\u201d Kithsiri owns works by artists including Chamila Gamage<\/a>, Mayantha Perera, and Firi Rahman<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Kithsiri\u2019s art-buying journey began in 2017 with the purchase of Eve (2017) by Priyantha Udagedara<\/a>, which she \u201cbrought from Sri Lanka to a chalet in Verbier.\u201d The painting depicts moth-like silhouettes swarming over a pregnant woman, evocative of how the artist uses natural motifs as a symbolic medium. <\/p>\n

The piece, a mix of harshness and underlying hope, was a personal revelation and set the tone for Kithiri\u2019s art-buying journey, which she weaves into her day job as an interior designer. Kithsiri is the founder of Mountain Heritage, which transforms heritage properties. What began as a passion for preserving barn houses evolved into a vision to create homes that harmonize tradition and modernity. Many of her projects are nestled in Verbier\u2019s old village, where panoramic views stretch across the Alps.<\/p>\n

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Installation view of Priyantha Udagedara, Eve 2017 at Chalet Indama, Verbier, Switzerland. Photo by Yves Garneau. Courtesy of Indira Kithsiri. <\/p>\n

Installation view of Firi Rahman, Across the sea, 2024. Photo by Studio Seya. Courtesy of Indira Kithsiri. <\/p>\n

Kithsiri\u2019s own practice reflects this. The buildings she designs are vibrant, cozy, and never without art. Her identity as a Swiss Sri Lankan informs her aesthetic sensibility through memories of both lands. Gabled roofs of chalets may frame a singular abstract portrait by Brussels-born, Colombo-based artist Fabienne Francotte<\/a>, or monochromatic birds by artist Firi Rahman in Foster 01 (2020), bringing you closer to the art that connects to her second home. <\/p>\n

Kithsiri brings home works like these, allowing them to resonate in new cultural settings, much like her own experience of inhabiting two cultures. \u201cFrom Switzerland, I have absorbed precision, structure, and an appreciation for craftsmanship,\u201d she noted. \u201cFrom Sri Lanka, I have inherited resilience, sensitivity to history, and a love of vibrant expression.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing up, Kithsiri was mostly exposed to art while traveling, but she was the first in her family to collect. \u201cI was fascinated by colors, textures, and the way light could transform a room,\u201d she recalled of her upbringing. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t a single moment but a natural awakening shaped by my interests and creative mindset.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Interio view of Indira\u2019s home in Colombo, Sri Lanka, with artworks by Prageeth Rathnayake. Courtesy of Indira Kithsiri. <\/p>\n

Kithsiri was drawn first into Sri Lanka\u2019s art scene by becoming fascinated by how contemporary artists were responding to the country\u2019s history. \u201cTheir resilience and raw expression inspired me to begin collecting, not simply to own works, but to preserve and celebrate voices I felt needed to be heard,\u201d she said. Her collection brings these stories into sharp focus with works by Arjuna Gunarathne<\/a>, who explores nuances of belonging, loneliness, and life as an immigrant in a foreign land, and Malki Jayakody, whose work challenges colonial perspectives of Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

One of Kithsiri\u2019s most treasured artworks is from Arulraj Ulaganathan\u2019s \u201cPullakambura\u201d series. Ulaganathan, an artist from the Malaiyaga Tamil tea plantation worker community, delves into the profound struggles his family and community endured through works constructed with pen, pencil, acrylic, and tea stains. \u201cDrawing on his childhood in Haputale,\u201d Sri Lanka, \u201cArulraj uses the recurring motif of woven baskets carried by tea pluckers, sometimes cradling infants to contrast maternal comfort with the hardships of plantation life, weaving a powerful narrative of resilience and memory.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Mayantha Perera, Red Saree, 2025. Courtesy of Indira Kithsiri. <\/p>\n

Interior view of Indira\u2019s home in Colombo, Sri Lanka with artwork by Bilaal Raji Saeed. Photo by Studio Seya. Courtesy of Indira Kithsiri. <\/p>\n

Kithsiri\u2019s most recent acquisition, Red Saree (2025), an oil painting by the young Sri Lankan artist Mayantha Perera, continues this thread of confrontation but expands on its themes. \u201cSupporting emerging voices like Perera excites me, as it not only reflects the evolving story of Sri Lankan contemporary art but also brings fresh energy and perspective to my collection,\u201d she noted. Indeed, her involvement in the country is deepened with her non-profit organization, SAHANA Sri Lanka, which aims to improve the living conditions and educational opportunities of underprivileged youth and women in Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n

Kithsiri says one of the most striking pieces in her collection is It Did (Not) Happen (2021), a work by Belgian artist Fabienne Francotte, acquired by Saskia Fernando Gallery in Colombo. It hangs in her dining room. \u201cHer portraits blend realistic detail with expressive brushwork, and the eyes in particular convey emotions that words cannot capture,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

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Interior view of Indira\u2019s home in Colombo, Sri Lanka, with artworks by Chamila Gamage, Prageeth Manohansa, Kasun Geethendra, and Arulraj Ulaganathan. Courtesy of Indira Kithsiri. <\/p>\n

From a wall of white emerges a confronting stare with wild strokes of black hair and red lips. \u201cI am less interested in what is fashionable or \u2018safe\u2019 and more drawn to works that feel honest, even when they are unsettling,\u201d she told Artsy of her approach. <\/p>\n

This enduring sense of wanting the art to be challenging is sustained across Kithsiri\u2019s collection, but works are also united by having a lasting personal impact. \u201cI know I am meant to live with it when that impression doesn\u2019t fade, when, even after leaving the gallery or studio, the work stays with me, echoing in my thoughts as if asking to join my journey,\u201d she said. For her, collecting art is not about accumulating objects, but nurturing stories and voices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Art Market Portrait of Indira Kithsiri. Courtesy of Indira Kithsiri. Installation view of Fabienne Francotte, This Did (Not)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266423,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[76,354,355,49,48,14272,356,75],"class_list":{"0":"post-266422","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-ca","12":"tag-canada","13":"tag-collector-profiles","14":"tag-design","15":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266422\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}