Art Residency Program 2005 invited four local and international artists whose work experience includes sculpting. Coming from diverse cultural backgrounds and stylistically different in art making, the four artists participating in the residency program were Stephen Mckenzie (Sweden), Joy Deb Roaja (Bangladesh), Torin Chandrasekara (Sri Lanka), and Nishantha Rukmal Hettiarachchi (Sri Lanka). The work produced during the 24 days of the residency gave us an insight into the energy invested by them and their experimental, innovatively playful and serious absorption in their work. While they retain their individuality, the artists have been able to connect their work through the idea of transforming very contemporary urban materials into art by privileging the experimentation and transformation process within the context of art making. While in all of the works, certain political and social meanings are embedded, what is clearly visible was the attention given to techniques, search for new material, new ways of using material and to find new meanings in these transformed material.

The Art Residency Program 2005 was sponsored by Hivos, Ford Foundation/Triangle Art Trust and the Goethe Institut , Colombo. The ‘Artists’ Talk’ related to the Art Residency Program were sponsored by H. W. Architects.