Kumkum Fernando

Kumkum Fernando is a Sri Lankan artist whose work bridges ancient mythology and imagined futures. Born in Sri Lanka to a father who collected antiques and curiosities, he grew up surrounded by objects, stories and traditions that continue to feed his artistic universe. Drawing on Sri Lankan heritage, South Asian mythology and the rich, teeming visual cultures of Asia, he reinvents traditional forms through vivid colors, geometric shapes and a futuristic aesthetic. Part ancient idol, part science-fiction character, his sculptures inhabit a world where the sacred and the fantastical coexist.

Kumkum Fernando co-creates the poster for the 61st edition with Malika Favre. Blending retro-futurist aesthetics with a flower power spirit, their creation celebrates music as an experience that is at once spiritual, sensual and universal. Floral, folk and sensual motifs adorn an enigmatic figure that sits somewhere between a jukebox and a retro-futurist robot. Following the iconic 1986 work by Keith Haring and Andy Warhol, it is only the second poster in the Festival’s history to be created by two artists.

“The lightbulb moment came when we noticed the similarity between the shape of certain religious altars and that of a jukebox: both share the same sense of symmetry. We then imagined a kind of gateway to a sacred universe of music: a timeless entity, part retro-futurist robot and part mythological being, symbolizing music as a joyful and universal experience.”
– Kumkum Fernando