Future Cities: Makings of a Creative City - Colombo
About the Event
What does it take for Colombo to join the world’s leading creative cities? This session explores how culture, design, food, architecture, and technology can drive a new era for the city , one rooted in identity, powered by innovation, and open to global exchange. The conversation envisions Colombo as a vibrant, future-ready metropolis , confident, creative, and connected to the world.
Time & Location
Sunday, 23rd November 2025
9.00am - 11.00am
At Fashion Week Lounge, Level 8
Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams
No. 02 Glennie St, Colombo 02.
Invited Speakers & Moderated By
Christopher Sanderson and Martin Raymond
Co-Founders of The Future Laboratory in London, one of the world’s leading trend forecasting and strategic insight consultancies.
Christopher Sanderson and Martin Raymond are the co-founders of The Future Laboratory, one of the world’s leading futures and trend forecasting consultancies based in London. Renowned for their insight into global consumer behaviour, cultural shifts, and emerging market trends, they advise top brands on how to navigate change and create future fit strategies. Through their work, Chris and Martin have become influential voices in foresight and innovation bridging business intelligence with cultural storytelling to help shape the products, services, and experiences of tomorrow.
Panelists
Ruchi Dhillon
Architect | Founder, RD Design
Ruchi Dhillon is an architect known for her contemporary yet contextually grounded approach to design. As the founder of RD Design, she brings together a deep sensitivity to place, material, and culture with a modern aesthetic driven by a constant fascination with light, texture, and balance.
Her work reflects a deep respect for Sri Lanka’s architectural heritage while reimagining it for modern living achieving harmony between functionality, sustainability, and beauty in every project.
Ruchi has been behind several notable works, including:
Jetwing Colombo Seven Hotel (in collaboration with Ecoid)
Villa Victoria, Talpe
Wild Grass Resort, Dambulla
Ian M H Joseph
President, Paradigm Capital Inc.
Vice Chair, Shaw Festival Board of Governors (Canada) A seasoned financial leader and cultural advocate, Ian Joseph is the President of Paradigm Capital Inc., one of Canada’s leading independent investment banks. With over twenty-five years of experience in the finance industry, Ian has built a distinguished career that bridges capital markets, strategic planning, and organizational growth.
Beyond his corporate leadership, Ian plays a pivotal role in Canada’s arts landscape as Vice Chair of the Board of Governors at the Shaw Festival,one of North America’s foremost theatre institutions located in Niagara-on-the-Lake. He serves on all board committees and is an active member of the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Committee, reflecting his deep commitment to inclusive governance and cultural development.
A passionate supporter of the arts, Ian and his partners at Paradigm Capital have supported Shaw Festival performances for over a decade. His leadership has coincided with a period of remarkable renewal and success at the Festival, marked by record-breaking attendance, artistic innovation, and strong financial performance.
Sumedha Kelegama
Sumedha Kelegama is an architect and filmmaker based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. A Chevening and Cambridge Trust Scholar, he recently completed his MPhil in Architecture and Urban Studies at the University of Cambridge and holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Havana, Cuba.
His recent film Is This an Architectural Documentary? received the Film and Media Award from the Society of Architectural Historians and was featured at the 2025 Venice Biennale. It will also be shown at the upcoming Thailand Biennale alongside the 88 Acres exhibition by the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Sri Lanka. Sumedha’s research focuses on the embodied nature of spatio-environmental experience, exploring the phenomenology of perception and corporeality.
Kesara Ratnavibhushana
Kesara Ratnavibhushana (b. 1983) is a multidisciplinary artist, photographer & creative consultant. Currently based in Sri Lanka, his work as photographer-in-residence at the Shunt collective in London forged an intensely personal reportage style to photographic projects, specialising in architecture, fashion & select weddings internationally.
He recently concluded a series of regional shoots for Rolex SA, presented work as part of the British Council’s Net//Work 2.0 residency exhibition in the UK, and curated Sri Lanka’s first NFT exhibition The Brilliant Resilient.
His Unfolding Tesseract installation of large-format giclée tapestries, conceptual video and NFTs was presented at UnCommon Threads - part of Dubai’s Alserkal Art Week in March 2023 & shown subsequently in London & Capri.
In February 2025 Kesara collaborated with Parisian duo French Cowboy on an exhibition entitled Body Is… at the Galle Literary Festival & a mini retrospective of his work Will to Power was showcased at the ARTRA-Mannakulam Collection collaboration in June 2025.
He has a long association with SLDF & MBFW having documented both from 2008 whilst also fulfilling a role of Visiting Lecturer at AOD