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| Sunday, 26 May 2002 |
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for the love of charity
by Chitra Weerasinghe Going... going... gone at Rs. 20,000 for a Saskia Pringiers water colour of the 'Market Scene'? No... no... not yet. There's another bid for Rs 23,000 from a Belgian for a painting by a Belgian - (a long time resident here), says Auctioneer, Dunstan Kelaart as he looks invitingly at the bidders. Then comes the next bid of Rs 30,000. That moves on to Rs 31,000 and soon to Rs 32,000. The bids at times are from those seated at the same table with one vying with the other for whatever the prized painting displayed by the auctioneer.
And so this game of bidding and out bidding each other (a psychological exercise, perhaps) goes on and on until the auctioneer says going once, going twice. going, going, gone and lays down his hammer - satisfied that he has secured the best price and much, much more than what was expected for the item that went under the hammer. That was exactly what happened on Saturday May 18, when Colombo's caring and sharing society gathered for a Charity Dinner cum Auction of some prized paintings by eight of Lanka's renowned artists at the Taj Samudra's Golden Pond. The artists being Saskia Pringiers, Laki Senanayake, Sita de Saram, George Claessen, Manjusri, George Keyt, Iromi Wijewardena and Shanila de Alwis - who teamed up to help the organisers of this fund raising event - the Resource Development Centre (RDC) of the Ceylon School for the Deaf & Blind at Ratmalana to swell their charity coffers. The auction began during dinner, soon after a prayer by the Very Reverend Sydney Knight and compere Arun Dias Bandaranayake's briefing on the need to support the RDC in such fund raisers that would benefit the School for the Deaf & Blind - soon followed by Leah Marikkar's 'Power Point Presentation' of this school established in 1912. The facts were enlightening. We run three campuses, two at Ratmalana and one in Jaffna. Those at Ratmalana are residential schools and cater to 400 students. The school in Jaffna - a residential school until the buildings were damaged, now runs as a day school in a different location. We provide accommodation, meals, healthcare, a general education, vocational training and special education free of charge. Although it is a government assisted school, the funds provided by government are totally inadequate to run it. The school needs your help for the required funds to carry on its activities. May be a Rs 30,000, for that's what is needed to take the children on a picnic to Kataragama. Would anyone grudge these children that joy and privilege? No one would, really. The paintings sold. A water colour titled 'Temple Painting' by Manjusri Thera fetched the highest price of Rs 500,000 and Iromi Wijewardena's mixed media on paper secured Rs 140,000 - the second highest. Some went for as less as Rs 10,000. But it was all for a worthy cause and though the eight exhibits sold did not fetch a staggering amount, it nevertheless provided a measure of satisfaction to both donor and donee. Perhaps, you wish to know how this idea for a 'Charity Dinner' started? Arun had the answer. It all began last year when "we asked well-known artists to donate paintings to the school. The response was overwhelming. The paintings were exhibited at the Lionel Wendt and a large number sold on the first day. But alas! The next morning saw the attack on the Katunayake airport and with that all interest in buying paintings ceased. We were left with quite a number. With the changes we have seen in recent times we felt the climate most opportune for a Charity Dinner and so decided to make use of that opportunity to try selling some of these paintings during this dinner," he said. What's more, those who could not make it to this 'charity do' have sent "very generous donations". A word about the RDC. It was formed three years ago to raise funds for the school. Last year it was able to get over Rs 2 million and the money collected is being utilised to repair and maintain the school's buildings, improve the living condition of its students, purchase equipment and for various development projects. This charity dinner and art auction therefore, is but one of the RDC's fund-raising events and it was co-hosted by Mrs Nazreen Sansoni and Mr Ranjith Jinasena, the RDC's Hony. Secretary. And remember - the RDC is always on the look out for people willing and able to help it raise funds. |
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