Ladies, Wine and Design - Colombo

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ARTRA | Sri Lanka's Art & Design Magazine | VALUE OF TYPE Akuru Collective in Collaboration with Colombo Cooperative

⚡Speaker Profile

Kalpanee Gunawardana is a professional model, business owner and a consultant in the fields of social work, youth entrepreneurship and fashion. Kalpanee became acutely aware very early on that people — especially women — were treated differently by society depending on their skin colour and body type. The beauty narrative in the local media she was exposed to growing up, was skewed towards an aesthetic that was not representative of the population of Sri Lanka and it did not represent her. Entering the field of modelling during her tertiary education in the UK, further highlighted the need for diversity in the industry and brought to her attention the social issues with regards to women’s representation in media which she then actively sought to educate herself on.

Kalpanee is passionate about her work in media in Sri Lanka— beyond thoroughly enjoying the art of it, she believes in advocating for a varied representation and for more women to take part in media creation.

On Saturday, Kalpanee will be discussing the harmful impact of lack of representation, oppressive attitudes and what she thinks we can do as a community, to help further the conversation 💪🏾👏

📷 Photography Credits:

⚡Speaker Profile:

Shanuki De Alwis is multi-disciplinary; by day she is the General Manager of Vision1 - an independent local advertising agency in Sri Lanka – and by night a well-known theatre personality with over 20 leading lady roles to her credit.

She hates being defined and takes her multiple passions to heart by playing different roles in life. In her 17-year old career she has been a teacher, financial marketer, photography assistant, project manager, writer, TV presenter and strategic planner.

In August 2016, Shanuki was the sole female speaker at TEDxColombo, where her talk on using theatre techniques to overcome life’s challenges earned her the only standing ovation of the night. Since then, she has conducted several workshops and delivered keynote addresses to corporates, local universities and schools alike on varied subjects ranging from animal welfare, advertising, public speaking, using theatre techniques to improve life, and women’s empowerment.

Interested in what she has to say on the 'Portrayal of Women in Advertising'? Make your way to the link in bio and register now! 💃

⭐Meet our amazing panelist Sheron Jayasundara!

Beginning her career in advertising over 2 decades ago and a qualified professional in Marketing with a Postgraduate Diploma from CIM UK, Sheron Jayasundara now serves as the Chief Operating Officer at Bates Strategic Alliance. A key member of the agency playing multiple roles, she believes in nurturing and motivating those around her to achieve their true potential.

She is the immediate past president of the Accredited Advertising Agencies Association (4As Sri Lanka). During her tenure she was responsible for bringing the industry together on key initiatives including the Pitch Disbursement Fee, the Sri Lankan Advertising Awards and introduced the Corporate Communications & PR course to attract young talent into the industry. For her dedication and untiring efforts towards the industry she was recognized with the Gold Award for advertising at the Women in Management Awards Sri Lanka in 2017.

She also received the Women in Leadership Awards in 2018.