Prasannajit De Silva Jun 2026

Dr. Prasannajit de Silva is an art historian and educator specializing in the visual culture of British India. He has taught at several prestigious institutions, including the University of Sussex, Birkbeck, University of London, and the Workers’ Educational Association.

Dr. Prasannajit de Silva completed his doctorate at the in 2007. His doctoral research laid the groundwork for his specialization in 18th- and 19th-century British art and visual culture. Over the years, he has served as an Associate Lecturer and guest speaker across various academic institutions, bringing rigorous historical scholarship to both students and peer researchers.

In 2018, Dr. de Silva published Colonial Self‑Fashioning in British India, c. 1785–1845: Visualising Identity and Difference through Cambridge Scholars Publishing. The book explores how British colonials in India used visual media—from portraiture and landscape painting to architecture and material culture—to construct and project their own identities. It examines the period between the consolidation of the East India Company’s territorial power and the high tide of Victorian imperialism, a time when British residents in India were actively “fashioning” a sense of themselves that was distinct both from the Indian societies around them and from their counterparts back in Britain.

: Addressing the severe skepticism, mockery, and moral anxieties projected onto them by the British public, who frequently viewed returnees as corrupted by wealth and foreign customs. prasannajit de silva

is an accomplished academic, art historian, and researcher whose interdisciplinary contributions span British colonial history, visual culture, and socio-cultural anthropology. He is best known for his rigorous analysis of how art and visual media reflect complex identity shifts, cross-cultural encounters, and political landscapes.

More than 1,400 laboratories worldwide have now contributed to the field he helped pioneer, demonstrating the vast reach of his research in Belfast .

: In this highly regarded monograph, de Silva explores the concepts of hybridity and "going native" among European settlers. Over the years, he has served as an

The work is recognised as an important contribution to post‑colonial art history and to the study of British visual culture in a global setting. Drawing on a wide range of primary visual and textual sources, Colonial Self‑Fashioning offers a nuanced account of how artistic practice served as a tool for defining social hierarchies, negotiating cross‑cultural contact, and managing the anxieties of colonial life. The book is held in major research libraries across the world, including Princeton University Library, the New York Public Library, and the University of Colorado library system.

In contemporary discourse, his name is invoked by environmentalists, peacemakers, and cultural revivalists. The Prasannajit Awards , a fictional initiative, honor thinkers who bridge tradition and modernity, ensuring his ethos remains alive.

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In a profession often accused of peddling influence, Prasannajit de Silva stands as a testament to the power of merit. He has proven that a lawyer can be both a fierce advocate in the courtroom and a wise regulator in the commission chamber.

Placing the materiality of everyday life in British India within the context of colonialism, race, and cultural exchange. Lecturing and Public Engagement