Episode 12: Kuweni Dias Mendis - Connecting cultures through art 

My guest this month is Sri Lankan-Australian artist Kuweni Dias Mendis. Kuweni integrates movement, sound, film, installations, markings and sculptural ritual objects to create immersive works that invite you to reconnect with your heartbeat, rhythm, gait, posture, and sense of time and space within a decolonised body. 

Her practice is deeply shaped by her hybrid cultural experiences of Sri Lanka and Australia. As a migrant on unceded lands, Kuweni advocates for and amplifies the voices of marginalised women through collaborative artworks, exhibitions, and participatory experiences. She creates spaces where these voices can be heard and valued.

In this episode, Kuweni and I chat about what prompted her to leave her toxic corporate career and follow her dream of becoming an artist, how she found a new family of aunties and discovered she's a river woman. We also yarn about why connection to culture and country is important, how Kuweni's art is a bridge between two cultures, and why we need to go the the table where we belong.

Visit Kuweni's art exhibition 'Riverscope' at Logan Art Gallery from 11 August to 12 September 2025. Check out her website: Kuweni  HYPERLINK "https://kuweni.com/"– HYPERLINK "https://kuweni.com/" Kuweni Dias Mendis and follow her on Facebook: dimuthu.dias or Instagram: kuweni_artist

Episode 12: Kuweni Dias Mendis - Connecting cultures through art&nbsp;
My guest this month is Sri Lankan-Australian artist <a href="https://kuweni.com/">Kuweni Dias Mendis</a>. Kuweni integrates movement, sound, film, installations, markings and sculptural ritual objects to create immersive works that invite you to reconnect with your heartbeat, rhythm, gait, posture, and sense of time and space within a decolonised body. Her practice is deeply shaped by her hybrid cultural experiences of Sri Lanka and Australia. As a migrant on unceded lands, Kuweni advocates for and amplifies the voices of marginalised women through collaborative artworks, exhibitions, and participatory experiences. She creates spaces where these voices can be heard and valued.
In this episode, Kuweni and I chat about what prompted her to leave her toxic corporate career and follow her dream of becoming an artist, how she found a new family of aunties and discovered she's a river woman. We also yarn about why connection to culture and country is important, how Kuweni's art is a bridge between two cultures, and why we need to go the the table where we belong.
Visit Kuweni's art exhibition 'Riverscope' at Logan Art Gallery from 11 August to 12 September 2025. Check out her website: <a href="https://kuweni.com/">Kuweni&nbsp; HYPERLINK "https://kuweni.com/"&ndash; HYPERLINK "https://kuweni.com/" Kuweni Dias Mendis</a> and follow her on Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/dimuthu.dias">dimuthu.dias</a> or Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/kuweni_artist/">kuweni_artist</a>

Are you a woman or girl of colour? Then join me, Netta Finney Mejia on Lioness Heart, a brand-new monthly half-hour podcast where we delve into the life of a strong, brilliant, badass woman of colour.

Let’s raise our voices, share our stories, and laugh and cry together. But most importantly, let’s roar!

Because let’s face it, it’s a jungle out there and we black and brown women, our big lioness hearts give us the strength and courage to smash through that jungle and forge our own paths.

Lioness Heart is produced and hosted by Netta Finney Meija 

Are you a woman or girl of colour? Then join me, Netta Finney Mejia on Lioness Heart, a brand-new monthly half-hour podcast where we delve into the life of a strong, brilliant, badass woman of colour. Let’s raise our voices, share our stories, and laugh and cry together. But most importantly, let’s roar! Because let’s face it, it’s a jungle out there and we black and brown women, our big lioness hearts give us the strength and courage to smash through that jungle and forge our own paths.
Lioness Heart is produced and hosted by Netta Finney Meija