|
|
 |
 |
| Sunday, 18 August 2002 |
 |
|
 |
Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Explicit art Olga Dimitri has been creating her art work on a tea estate near Kandy for the past eight years. Her art is a response to contemporary issues, with her own vision of reality and imagination. Traditional rules are no longer valid in her deeply emotional artistic creations. The work is all bright and innovative abstract forms, the media tea, rubber, graphite, copper and various other natural solids. A tension between the spontaneously executed and the carefully planned is tangible. Stringent and dissolved forms between colour fields and lines characterize the compositions of Olga Dimitri. She herself comments on her pictures as windows to her future. This artist has an unusual faith. Growing up in the iron curtain of the Soviet Union, any free expression was not easy at all. During the era of perestroika, Olga has conveyed a lot of her ideas in designing interiors for private offices, which number exploded after perestroika began. She left Russia in 1993, expressed metaphorically in her painting "wind of tao" where, she says, "I was swept out of my Moscow environment and carried to a new, vivid land which always seemed like an unreachable utopia of my imagination." She has a painting of her abstract vision and interpretation of Adam's Peak in which she conveys her belief of Sri Lanka being a Holy Land. The exhibition at the Havelock Place Bungalow is from August 16 to 20 at 6 & 8 Havelock Place, Col. 5. Tel. 585191.
The Ritual to open StageRite Festival in Bangalore
The Ritual, Jehan Aloysius's fascinating infusion of local religio-cultural ritual mask-theatre and modern secular drama, is making waves by becoming the first Sri Lankan stage play to be invited as the opening act of StageRite Festival in Bangalore, India, to be held from October 6 - 12. The invitation comes from the Artistes' Repertory Theatre (ART) of Bangalore, which has staged over 50 productions and are authorised aagents for Samuel French, the world's largest publishers of plays. "We may have to have a Colombo show of The Ritual once again in end September as we need to raise funds for the Bangalore trip," speaking on behalf of CentreStage Productions, Jehan told the Sunday Observer. "We need to find sponsors quickly for the cast and the crew as the festival is just one-and-a-half months away. We have approached Ceylon Tourist Board and the SriLankan Airlines and are optimistic that something will come through." "Art is going to publish our play in a book," Jehan said. "StageRite is the first gates of all Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore playwrights and it's an excellent opportunity to promote new dramatic writing of Sri Lanka. Our participation there also opens a broader cultural bridge between Bangalore and Sri Lanka."
The Ritual's achievement has also received the commendation of the Sri Lankan premier who learnt of it while in Bangalore. "We appreciate the support Nirmala De Mel, Managing Director, Quickshaws, has given with travel arrangements and letter-writing," Jehan said. Looked on as a "mini-Edinburgh theatre fair" in both East and
West, StageRite will have five more Indian plays in the wake of the
Ritual, with theatre workshops, lecture-performances and platform
performances of street theatre, mime, street magic, clowning, commedia and
masks. A convergence of around 2,000 theatre enthusiasts a day is
predicted, with dignitaries from Central and State Government of India,
eminent theatre personalities and representatives from the Royal Court
Theatre of London and the British Council of Chennai. Destination - Sri Lanka An exhibition of photographs by artist Prasad Abu Bakr will be opened
to the public on August 20 and 21 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily at the 'Destination - Sri Lanka' is due to travel through India and other SAARC countries and also to China in 2003 as a tourist promotion exercise.The exhibition will be declared open by Paddy Withana, Chairman of the Tourist Board and is presented by Fjuifilm in collaboration with the Lanka Oberoi. Connaissance de Ceylan, Jetwing Hotels, Aitken Spence, Taj Group and
Mount Lavinia Hotel are the principal participants. Leaf Litter The Australian High Commission, in association with the Lunuganga Trust, presents 'Leaf Litter,' an exhibition of works by the well-known Australian artist Fiona Hall, at the Paradise Road Gallery from August 18-28. Fiona who has exhibited widely, both at home and overseas, has won several major art prizes, including the prestigious Contempora 5 award in 1997, Australia's most lucrative art prize. The artist first came to Sri Lanka in 1999 as the inaugural Asialink artist-in-residence at Lunuganga, the garden estate of the eminent architect Geoffrey Bawa. She has returned on a regular basis. 'Leaf Litter' is an exhibition drawn from Hall's ongoing work at Lunuganga. The works, fine leaf paintings against a background of banknotes from the species' country of origin, explore issues of colonialism and exploitation of natural resources. - Fiona Hall All pieces in the 'Leaf Litter' exhibition have been purchased by the
National Gallery of Australia. Avidu Anduru Based on the novel by Sarath Wijesuriya Avidu Anduru the new 20 episode
teledrama directed by Sudath Rohana will be telecast on ITN commencing
August 25. The story deals with the social problems faced by the people of
Batadombagahawatte in the Western Province and focuses on the 'Arachchi
Ralahami' the village leader and his sex exploits. The series stars
Sathischandra Edirisinghe, the late Trilicia Gunawardena, Palitha Silva,
Somalatha Subasinghe and Indrajith Navinna. The telecast on ITN is
sponsored by Milco Pvt. Ltd. - Wiruma 'Quest for Excellence 2002' conference Six past winners of Sri Lanka National Quality Awards will share with peer industries and service sector organizations the win-win strategies and exceptional practices which launched them to performance excellence when "Quest for Excellence 2002" Conference (QE 2002) is held on August 29 at Trans Asia Hotel. Over 200 participants from varying corporate disciplines are expected to attend this conference which was last held in 1998. For future aspirants, the forum will be a one-day showcase of the successful business activities of Bodyline (Pvt) Ltd., Ceylon Tobacco Co. Ltd.. Colombo International Nautical and Engineering College (CINEC), Lanka Electricity Co. (Pvt) Ltd., Logistics International Ltd. and MTN Networks (Pvt) Ltd. in Leadership, Strategic Planning, Customer and Market Focus, Information and Analysis, Human Resource Focus, Process Management and Business Results. The presentations from the senior leaders of each of these award-winning companies will converge in a panel discussion at the close of the program, with ample opportunity for queries from the participant organizations. CEOs, senior managers, education and health care leaders and professionals, directors of staff functions, heads of operating units and quality performance improvement practitioners can register for QE 2002 by mailing or faxing to 671579 or 672617 and a cheque for the registration fee of Rs. 2,500/00 per person, to reach Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) before August 22, 2002. The Sri Lanka National Quality Awards Scheme of SLSI has so far produced 12 winners in National Awards and six in Merit Awards. For further information, contact Quest for Excellence 2002, Marketing and Promotion Division, SLSI, No. 17, Victoria Place, Elvitigala Mawatha, Colombo 8. Tel. 671567-72, 674618, 687523, 697039, 075-354319. E-mail: [email protected] |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
Lionel Wendt Gallery, Guildford Cresent, Colombo 7. The collection depicts
five years of travelling by the artist to various hotels and locations in
Sri Lanka.
