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W A Silva Museum for Language, Literature and Typography
Chief Curator of the W A Silva Museum — preserving Sri Lanka's language and typographic heritage.
The W A Silva Museum for Language, Literature and Typography is located in Colombo 6, Sri Lanka. Named after W A Silva, a pioneering Sinhala novelist and publisher, the museum preserves and makes accessible Sri Lanka’s language and typographic heritage.
Role
Serving as the Managing Director and Chief Curator since 2020, through the Institute of Typography — Sri Lanka.
Mission
The museum works to:
- Preserve physical artifacts of Sri Lankan printing and typography history (typefaces, presses, books)
- Document and archive the history of Sinhala and Tamil typography
- Make this heritage accessible to the public, researchers, and designers
- Connect Sri Lanka’s typographic past to its present and future
Collections
The museum holds collections related to:
- Early Sinhala printed books and manuscripts
- Printing press equipment from colonial and post-colonial Ceylon
- Original typefaces and type specimens
- Documents related to the development of Sinhala and Tamil typography
Public Programme
The museum hosts educational visits, workshops, research access, and public events to keep the connection between Sri Lanka’s cultural heritage and its contemporary design community alive.