💡 05. Introducing Kumkum Fernando
Kumkum Fernando is a multidisciplinary artist based in Saigon, Vietnam. He collects various curiosities, scraps, and ancient artifacts, reanimating these found materials as art objects.
Kumkum Fernando: About the Artist
Kumkum Fernando was born in Sri Lanka to an antique collector, and he is based in Saigon, Vietnam. Fernando collects various curiosities, scraps, and ancient artifacts, reanimating these found materials as art objects. His creations take inspiration from both Sri Lankan and Vietnamese culture, resembling fantastical beings from mythology and folklore. In fact, Fernando designed the gigantic “messengers” at the 2023 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
Contacts: Find Kumkum Fernando on his website and Instagram :)
Project Spotlight: Post Colonial Rainbow Punks
Described on the Jonathan Levine Projects page as “intergalactic swashbucklers - part gangsters, part mythical beings,” these Post Colonial Rainbow Punks have ventured across space-time and landed on Earth to find Princess Izzah 281. In total, there are four punks: Lomba, Koha, Softboss, and Manike the Maniac.
Fernando handmade these punks using wooden reminents of French era architecture, which he and his team scavenged from the streets of Saigon. In doing so, Fernando literally dismantles and reclaims the city’s colonial past, repurposing its haunting materials to construct these mythological and futuristic “punks.”
Thoughts: Personal Reflections and Connections
I really, really love the Post Colonial Rainbow Punks. They are playful and novel while still paying tribute to Vietnamese traditions. For instance, the project process page notes how Fernando specifically preserved (and even enhanced) the layers of paint on the repurposed wood, because they embody the Vietnamese custom of coating doors in celebration of major milestones. I find it interesting how, in turn, these pieces of abandoned wood are not only symbolic of French colonialism in Saigon, but also the rich Vietnamese culture that thrived despite it.
The process page also went into detail regarding Fernando’s approach to woodworking and embellishing. It guides the reader step-by-step through the creation of a punk. Similar to how I felt regarding Noah Harders’ mask captions, this behind-the-scenes look really made me appreciate the final products even more. I enjoyed the BTS images very much, because it seemed like Fernando and his team were genuinely very proud and happy with this whimsical yet sincere project.
Resources and Further Readings 📖
*This entry is just a simple introduction to Kumkum Fernando and his body of work. If you are interested in exploring his process, practice, and philosophy in greater depth, I have gathered below a little index of resources that I found very informative.
- More about Fernando
- More about the Post Colonial Rainbow Punks:
- Cool Hunting’s Interview with Fernando regarding his display at PLAY by American Express PLatinum:
- Interviews on Fernando’s massive “messengers” at Coachella 2023:
Short video introducing the Post Colonial Rainbow Punks in all their glory, as photographed by Wing Chan and posted by Jonathan LeVine Projects and Kumkum Fernando on Instagram ⬇️