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yaka.villa

@yaka.villa

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Artist-run space in Bandaramulla, Mirissa
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🔥🧱𝓜𝓾𝓭 𝓑𝓪𝓻𝓫𝓮𝓬𝓾𝓮🐡🐟 Few months ago, Clara Duflot @onausicaa and Nina Jayasuriya @ninajaya_ organised a shared meal in Yaka Villa. Friends, relatives and people who work at the hotel were invited to prepare it together. Fish and vegetables were marinated, wrapped in foil and banana leaves, then covered in clay, shaped by many hands. The parcels were laid in the embers of a fire started with coconut husks, and left to cook slowly in their earthen shell. Once taken out of the fire, these edible sculptures were cracked open with a hammer, releasing the fish and vegetables inside. Sinhala version in the comments ⬇️ Photos © Yaka Villa by @yaka.villa
The exhibition «A Dy(e)ing Neon Sea» is about coexistence and impermanence. From the dark rooms of a batik factory, where different generations of women keep an old craft alive, to the bright neon lights of the beach, filled with people passing through, Clara creates a fragmented landscape that still holds together. Traditional batik dyes, casts of stinging plants, and objects from the seashore coexist under artificial neon light. The work reflects on a place shaped by mass tourism, where traditions continue to survive despite it. A short film is also being presented as part of the exhibition. «Mud under the fingernails», made collaboratively by the Yaka Villa team and the artist, looks at how these changes affect everyday life. It follows Tanya, a young woman who runs a beauty salon, and the ways she finds freedom within them. «When I arrived in Mirissa, I was struck by the large coconut tree wrapped in blue neon lights on the beach. Every evening it lights up after sunset. There are two sunsets reflected in the waves: the sun's, and then the neons from all the bars along the shore. (...) The large leaf prints are from Alocasia, nicknamed elephant ears, a plant that produces an irritating sap when cut. I often work with stinging plants in my practice, both in casting, like roses, and in dyeing, like nettles and brambles. I love how plants can hold attraction and repulsion at the same time, alongside ancient knowledge.» — Clara Duflot @onausicaa Many thanks to everyone who joined us for the opening ! Sinhala version in the comments ⬇️ Photos © Yaka Villa by @yaka.villa
Join us Friday for Clara Duflot’s @onausicaa end-of-residency show at @yaka.villa from 5 to 9pm ! 📍Palm Villa, Matara Road, Bandaramulla, Mirissa, Sri Lanka work in progress at the studio © Yaka Villa by @yaka.villa
We are pleased to invite you to the opening of the exhibition « 𝒜 𝒹𝓎(𝑒)𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓃𝑒𝑜𝓃 𝓈𝑒𝒶 » by the artist Clara Duflot on Friday May 15th, starting at 5pm The exhibition A Dy(e)ing Neon Sea is about coexistence and impermanence. From the dark rooms of a batik factory, where different generations of women keep an old craft alive, to the bright neon lights of the beach, filled with people passing through, Clara creates a fragmented landscape that still holds together. Traditional batik dyes, casts of stinging plants, and objects from the seashore coexist under artificial neon light. The work reflects on a place shaped by mass tourism, where traditions continue to survive despite it. A short film is also being presented as part of the exhibition. ”නියපොතු යට මඩ” (mud under the fingernails) made collaboratively by the Yaka Villa team and the artist, looks at how these changes affect everyday life. It follows Tanya, a young woman who runs a beauty salon, and the ways in which she finds freedom within these. @onausicaa 📍Palm Villa, Matara Road, Bandaramulla, Mirissa by @yaka.villa
👀 inside Yaka Villa’s studio During her six weeks at Yaka Villa, Clara’s studio practice moved between traditional dyeing techniques and mold-making with materials gathered along the way. Outside the studio, our collaboration extended into a video project and a culinary performance. @onausicaa Photos : Yaka Villa by @yaka.villa
Born in Paris (France) in 2000, Clara Duflot @onausicaa lives and works in Paris. A graduate of the Beaux-Arts de Paris in 2025 and the École Duperré in 2021, she develops a practice encompassing sculpture, installation, and video. Her work lies at the intersection of fantasy and archaeology, where narratives of femininity, contemporary myths, and popular culture converge. In her work, assemblage and molding are considered a way of being in the world, blending humor, tenderness, and critique. A subversion that transforms the vestiges of consumer culture into poetic relics. Clara joined us for a six-week residency at Yaka Villa, where she continued her work in molding and textile. Photos : 1 : Clara’s portrait, Yaka Villa 2, 3, 4, 7, 8 : Exhibition views, Clara Duflot 5, 6 : Goddess of snack, in collaboration with Raphaël Neverdream, Bettina Nuwendam by @yaka.villa
Views from Fireflies of Wadu Kurulla Te Ata Hapaitahaa--Conroy’s (@teata_vws.hc) work draws both from Polynesian stories and oral traditions, as well as from cinema, pop culture, art history, music, and various traditional and popular mythologies. His installation weaves together references to mythology, popular culture, and diasporic circulation. Taking Zephyr, the god of the west wind, as its point of departure, the artist connects the west coast of Tahiti (where this wind brings ideal surfing conditions) with the rap culture of the West Coast of the United States. The green fabric in the space evokes both the garment of the deity and the bandana, while also recalling the batik technique introduced to Sri Lanka during the colonial period. Paper bird motifs, inspired by Hakka textiles and Javanese batiks, link these geographies: much of the Chinese diaspora in Polynesia originates from the Hakka region, which also influenced the Javanese patterns later incorporated into batik. Formed from a single repeating motif that can evoke flames, feathers, or breadfruit leaves, these figures emphasize the circulation of forms, knowledge, and stories across winds and oceans. With works by Tristan Chevillard @tristan.chev Nina Jayasuriya @ninajaya_ Sarah Jayasuriya @sarahjaya Léa Jayasuriya @leajaya_tattoo click the link in bio for full details by @yaka.villa
Born in 2002 in Papeete, Te Ata Hapaitahaa-Conroy grew up in Tahiti. His work unfolds today through sculpture, installation, and video. Currently a fourth-year student at the Beaux-Arts de Paris in the studio of Julien Creuzet, he develops a practice that weaves connections between diverse influences and references. His work draws both from Polynesian stories and oral traditions, as well as from cinema, pop culture, art history, music, and various traditional and popular mythologies. Te Ata joined us for a one-month residency at Yaka Villa (Mirissa), where he continued developing his practice in the studio and collaborated with the neighbouring Lehka Batik workshop. @teata_vws.hc by @yaka.villa
👀 inside the batik factory During his residency at Yaka Villa, Te Ata Hapaitahaa—Conroy collaborated with our neighbouring workshop, Lehka Batik. Batik is a traditional dyeing technique carried to Sri Lanka from Indonesia under Dutch colonial rule. Working alongside the artisans, Te Ata explored this centuries-old craft as a way to trace the cultural exchanges and displacements, woven through history and geography. @teata_vws.hc Resident from 18.02.2026 to 18.03.2026 by @yaka.villa
Join us for the opening show of @yaka.villa Saturday 14/03 from 6 to 9pm 🅕🅘🅡🅔🅕🅛🅘🅔🅢 🅞🅕 🅦🅐🅓🅤 🅚🅤🅡🅤🅛🅛🅐 The Fireflies of Wadu Kurulla exhibition weaves itself in the image of the bird’s nest: as a space of construction and transformation. With patience and precision, the bird builds its nest with an entrance designed to deceive predators. It is said to glue fireflies with mud to light up its interior, though experts have dismissed this. But perhaps they came in through the wrong door? With works of Te Ata Hapaitahaa—Conroy @teata_vws.hc Nina Jayasuriya @ninajaya_ Sarah Jayasuriya @sarahjaya Léa Jayasuriya @leajaya_tattoo Tristan Chevillard @tristan.chev 📍Palm Villa, Matara Road, Bandaramulla, Mirissa by @yaka.villa

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