Barbara Sansoni, weaving colour and yarn to create a tapestry of employment, empowerment and creativity.
Known as the doyenne of design in Sri Lanka, Barbara Sansoni is a household name. Her brightly coloured designs are easily identifiable and her signature style is inimitable. Although countless others have tried to emulate her no one can match her original creativity, unique ability to match colours and her design detail. Barbara is a legend in her own right. She has singlehandedly revived the Sri Lankan handloom industry with her exquisite designs in a range of tropical and vibrant hues. Thanks to her foresight and vision, the handloom industry which was at one time in the doldrums and in danger of going under has spawned a renewed industry. Barbara championed sustainable and ethical production of fabric and clothes long before it became a definitive byword in the fashion industry.
Barbara was born in the Citadel City of Kandy on 22nd April 1928. This year sees her celebrate her 92nd birthday. Her parents were Bertha Daniel and RY Daniel who worked in the Ceylon Civil Service as an Assistant Government Agent. Due to her father’s job which saw him posted to Batticaloa, Mannar, Matara, Kurunegala and Kandy young Barbara spent her formative years amidst a rich cultural heritage.
She was educated in a boarding school in Kodaikanal in South India. She then returned to
Sri Lanka where she attended St. Bridget’s Convent where she sat for her Higher School Certificate
in 1945.
Armed with her qualification she took wing to England where she studied for five years at the Regent Street Polytechnic.
Marriage beckoned and in 1952 Barbara married Hildon Sansoni. Soon she became a mother to Simon and Dominic. Her husband passed away in 1979 and two years later Barbara married
Dr. Ronald Lewcock with who she made her home in Cambridge, England.
From a young age she showed an interest in art and developed an intense love of colour. This is evident even now, for when you see Barbara she is often clad in her own products and resembles a profusion of bright and gay colours. The vibrant hues of South Asia and Sri Lanka particularly have provided Barbara with a lifetime’s worth of inspiration for both painting and cloth design. She was intrigued by colour and its bright vividness and had art lessons from several dedicated teachers during her youth, including
Mr. J. D. Perera and Prof. G.M. Amarasinghe.
Though Barbara had painted and drawn since early childhood, she was not initially drawn to weaving a means of expression. It was in 1962 that Barbara was approached by her long standing family friend, the Mother of Good Counsel of the Sisters of the Order of the Good Shepherd to design cloth for their weaving centres just outside of Colombo. At first Barbara shied away from the project as she had not wanted to work with nuns. Barbara has just wanted to paint and draw. In the end Mother Good Counsel prevailed and Barbara accepted the proposal to work together. They agreed that Barbara would be allowed to forgo the weaver’s warp and stick to her favoured tools of pens, paints and canvas.
