It is Essential to Be There: Geoffrey Bawa Archival Exhibition Opens at Yale University

Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa (1919–2003) once described his modus operandi as follows: “The site gives the most powerful push to a design along with the brief. Without seeing the site I cannot work. It is essential to be there.” That same quote acted as the guiding principle and eponym for the Geoffrey Bawa Trust’s major exhibition—Geoffrey Bawa: It is Essential to be There —which will open at Yale Architecture Gallery in the United States on 29th August, 2024.

The first exhibition to examine Bawa’s practice through his extensive archives, it initially opened at Park Street Mews in Colombo Sri Lanka, between 1st February and 5th April, 2022. Over 120 original documents were displayed and organised across four thematic sections: “Situating a Practice,” “Searching for a Way of Building,” “Defining New Directions,” and “Places Unbuilt.” Each section featured a curated selection of his projects alongside drawings, photographs, and documents from Bawa’s personal collection that painted a fuller picture of the architect who was widely known yet notoriously private.

A series of programming featuring talks, tours, and workshops held between December 2021 and April 2022 accompanied the exhibition’s premiere. These events included curatorial tours by Geoffrey Bawa Trust Chief Curator Shayari de Silva, guided walkthroughs with Geoffrey Bawa Trust Chairperson Channa Daswatte, talks with collaborators such as Lars Muller and Helene Binet, and more. In spite of turbulent conditions in Sri Lanka at the time, the exhibition drew over 7,600 visitors during its two-month run.

One year after its successful Sri Lankan opening, the exhibition travelled to the National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi, India between 17th March and 7th May, 2023. Its overseas debut was supported by the Sri Lanka-India Cultural Exchange Programme and coincided with 75 years of diplomatic relations between India and Sri Lanka; it received over 28,000 visitors, including External Affairs Minister of India Dr. S. Jaishankar and Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture of India, Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi. Bawa’s work had a significant influence on architectural practices in India, and he has also designed several buildings in the country.

Now, the Geoffrey Bawa Trust will present this archival collection to the United States, bringing with it a formal introduction to the celebrated architect whose life and work are far less familiar to those outside the architectural community in the Western Hemisphere. As part of the exhibition’s East Coast opening, Geoffrey Bawa Trust Chief Curator Shayari de Silva will deliver a lecture, “It is Essential to be There: Drawing from the Geoffrey Bawa Archives.” The lecture will take place in Hastings Hall at Yale University on Thursday, 5th September at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. De Silva will review Bawa’s prolific career spanning over five decades through the perspective of the archives, and question what constitutes archives in the context of Bawa’s work and context.

The Yale Architecture Gallery is open Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. and Saturdays between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., except for major holidays. Geoffrey Bawa: It is Essential to be There will be on view at Yale Architecture Gallery until 30th November, 2024. More information on bawaexhibition.com.