|
|
 |
 |
| Sunday, 25 August 2002 |
 |
|
 |
Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
World premiere of Wekanda Walauwa
Lester James Peries' most recent film 'Wekanda Walauwa' (Mansion by the lake) was screened as the closing film at the grand finale of the Asian Film Festival in Mumbai on August 10. Present at the ceremony were Chandran Rutnam, the producer of the film, Dr. Lester James Peries, the director, the famous film star and director Dev Anand and Ram Naik, Union Minister of Petroleum, who presented the First Asian Film Culture Award to Dr. Lester James Peries, saluting Lester on his achievements in the Asian film industry. This is the third time Lester James Peries has been honoured by the government of India. In 1965, he won the Golden Peacock Award for the classic Gamperaliya at the International Film Festival in Delhi and in the year 2000 he was honoured with the lifetime achievement award also presented at the International Film Festival in Delhi. The Asian Film Festival Award honours the classic director for his body
of classical films which has given a prominent place to Sri Lanka in Asian
Film. His newest film which is a story set in Sri Lanka in the 1980s was
inspired by Chekov, but is very much a Sinhala film in theme and style
projecting the changing world, focusing on the intimate family. The film
stars Probodha Sandeepana and veteran actors Malini Fonseka, Ravindra
Randeniya, Wasanthi Chathurani, Sanath Gunathilake, Iranganie Serasinghe,
Senaka Wijesinghe, Elson Divithuragama and Ranjith Rubasinghe. The film
was produced by Chandran Rutnam and Asoka Perera. Gami Asiriya
The flamboyance of the village comes alive in oil and water colours at the art exhibition Gami Asiriya by R.M.B.N. Rathnamalala which will be held at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery from August 30 to September 1. A simpleton, committed to his art, Rathnamalala won the All Ceylon
Competition in 1990 and the following year was fortunate to be recognised
as the runner-up in the poster competition organised by the Central
Environmental Authority. Since then Rathnamalala has been holding solo
exhibitions in Mahawa and Kurunegala. Two years ago he successfully
exhibited his paintings at the National Art Gallery, Colombo. From music to painting Camala Seneviratne, a teacher of Western classical music at Mahamaya
College, Kandy for more than 35 years, decided to switch her creative
talents to painting and studied the rudiments under the late Gate Mudliyar
A.C.G.S. Amarasekera after her retirement from government service. Over
the past years she has been creating paintings ranging from landscapes to
animals and will exhibit her creations at her home every Sunday till 12
noon. Concert in Canberra by Don Asoka Wijewardena
The Sri Lankan community in Australia in association with the Australian Cultural Affairs Ministry has invited veteran Sri Lankan female singer Chandra de Silva Weerasingha and her daughter Sanjeewani Weerasingha to perform a concert in Canberra, at the end of August. This is a start of a series of concerts that will showcase Sri Lankan singers who dominated the music industry in the early years. Chandra de Silva, since her childhood developed her skills and talent in singing which were greatly appreciated by music lovers in Sri Lanka. The late Herbert M. Seneviratne and music director R.A. Chandrasena, recognising her latent talents were responsible in launching her into the world of music. When she was just 16 she passed the audition as A grade radio artiste at the then Radio Ceylon and was lucky enough to train under the veteran musician Ratne Jankar. She contributed a number of songs to HMV records. "I am indebted to music directors like R.A. Chandrasena, R. Mutthusamy and M.K. Rocksamy who were extremely helpful to me. I have sung in 25 Sinhala films in addition to my repertoire of songs for commercial records," expressed Chandra de Silva Weerasingha. In Canberra with her daughter Sanjeewani Weerasingha who is a popular
female singer in Sri Lanka, Chandra hopes to revive her musical friendship
with her fans of yesteryear. A place in the sun Time is beyond matter. Nevertheless it is a matter that concerns all of us. Whatever 'Time' is what matters is that we know how to use it and how to measure it. One of the ways to measure time is to watch the movement of the sun, when it rises and when it sets. Thus a day begins as the sun rises and the day ends as it sets. A week begins on the day of the sun: Sunday. The Sinhalese have several words to refer to the sun. One of the oldest is 'su:rya', a word our ancestors brought from India, where they spoke some form of Vedic language. In Sinhala, things are generally denoted by inanimate nouns and beings are denoted by animate nouns. Though a planet, the Sinhalese use animate nouns to denote the sun: 'su:ry-ya' (the sun) 'su:rya-yek' (a sun) 'su:rya-yo:' (suns) An animate nouns is used to denote the sun because the ancient Sinhalese believed that the sun is a living being, a god, 'divya ra:jaya:' He was named 'su:rya divya ra:jaya:' (the Sun God). Sinhalese Buddhists also believe that the world will come to an end when seven suns rise. To refer to these seven suns the animate markers 'denek' and 'dena:' are used after the word for seven 'hat': su:ryayo hat denek (seven suns) su:ryayo hat dena: (the seven suns) In Pali writings, the sun is called 'suriya'. In the course of time,
both 'su:rya' and 'suriya' changed into 'hiru' and 'iru' and these are the
words that occur in contemporary Sinhala, both in speech and writing. Bruckner lecture by Rohan Joseph Orchestral Conductor and Pianist Rohan Joseph will give an hour's lecture on 'Anton Bruckner - an overview of his life and symphonies' at 7.00 pm today at the Dutch Burgher Union (DBU) Hall, 114, Reid Avenue, Colombo 4. The Austrian composer Bruckner has been very much in the local news recently in connection with the announcement that Rohan Joseph has signed a three-year CD contract with the Philharmonic Orchestra to record the complete set of symphonies of Bruckner. The first recording is to be done in London in December along with a live concert at the Royal Festival Hall, London. The present lecture is one of a series of meetings on music
appreciation organised by the Western Music panel of the Arts Council of
Sri Lanka and the Department of Cultural Affairs. It is open to the
public. Message of Hope by Vimukthi Fernando Not at all a stranger in their lives. It keeps them alive, it makes them smile with another dawn... And now, it comes in the form of a "Message" in all its festivity. "Message of Hope" a presentation of music, dance and drama organised by the Ceylon Bible Society, will go on stage Saturday August 31, at the Bishop's College auditorium to help out the differently abled. The choir of the Sri Lanka Federation of the Visually Handicapped (SLFVH) has come forward to help their sisters and brothers. So are some well -known names in the field of music and dance. The Lylie Goodridge Singers, Cantata Singers, Choir and Worship team of
Foursquare Church, Drama Group of the Dutch Reformed Church, Dance Troupes
of the Salvation Army Zion and individual singers of repute Francis
D'Almeida of Choro Benedicite fame, Hope Mendez from The Virtues with
Adele Beiling and Lohan Bibile will entertain the audience on Saturday
night. Sudu Sevaneli clears the cataract of common masses
Through the critical eye of a film fan is a radiant light which drives away the dark shadows on today's silver screen. Most of today's films are like frogs among an admiring bog. So that at a time when there is a rat race of pecuniary minded people with the thirst for earning money by hook or by crook by showing cheap commercial films with sugar coated filthy jokes, sex and violence, our great artist has put his best foot forward to present an admirable creation on the silver screen. He has swum against the tide of today's stream of films with an abundance of cheap popularity. Sudu Sevaneli is a film which can be enjoyed by the whole family seated together because it is devoid of cheap vulgarity. This film gives a flashback of how Victorian culture of the nineteenth century had a dominant influence over the indigenous cultural values of the natives due to the British domination. Thus, it has made the youth aware of the cause of the present deterioration of the country. With that mental enlightenment they can look at the festering wound that has been created by the super powers of today. The substance of the story is woven around the follow up incidents of the 1848 rebellion against monstrous colonial rulers. Through a single statement made by Iranganie Serasinghe "Licking, licking and the licking the backs of the white rulers" has laid bare the message our able artist wants to convey. It is high time the masses realised the cankerous destruction of indigenous values of the underdeveloped countries by the super powers. The poor ordinary masses waste their hard earned money, and time by seeing the present day wave of third class films and are misled by ambiguous childish jokes. At such a time, our sagacious artist has taken the risk of presenting this exemplary work of art to clear the cataract of the common masses, not through cheap humours films. Now they have got the chance to see one of the rare films. All in all, there is a profundity at the conclusion in this cinematic folk poem. It gives a deeper theme by showing, even with Sudu Banda's endeavour to keep up to his principles, he ends up in a sensuous life. But all that ends up showing the transience of things. The coffin bearing the end result is symbolic of that. So, the great artist has very skilfully presented a profound aspect of the native religion of the Sri Lankans in contrast to the religious aspects forced on the natives through foreign domination. And at the end Sudu Banda is in deep contemplation and his life does not end there. It tells the story of Sudu Bandas born and Sudu Bandas to be born making valiant efforts to regain their past prosperity, through this historic cinematic folk poem. It brings out a universal theme applicable to the modern world. Instead of white shadows of British domination then the shadows of super powers are covering the whole under developed third world countries today it brings a message about the necessity of driving away the oppression of the capitalist hegemony pervading the poor countries. The two recent uprisings that occurred against capitalist regimes of stooges of super powers is a continuation of the native uprisings against British domination in the nineteenth century. Our able artist makes the masses aware of the need of the era in this film, not much through verbal expressions but mostly through wordless expressions of the clever film stars like Iranganie Serasinghe, Vasanthi Chaturani, Linton Semage, Roshan Pilapitiya and others. Versatile melodious voice of Nanda Malini too has helped immensely to convey the message what Sunil Ariyaratne wants to convey. It is hoped our intelligentsia will direct the poor common masses towards the need of the time and enlighten them to see films of this calibre. So great master, we congratulate you on your attempt to awaken the people from their dreams and hope now the tide will turn towards the production of films of this nature. - Daya Manamperi , Former English Instructor, Colombo University He is different but unique Reputed artist Jayasiri Semage recently held his 21st local exhibition at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery.
Semage has had over 10 solo-exhibitions, both locally and abroad in venues (ranging from Spain and USSR, to Japan and Korea). His window displays, temple murals, interior decor, permanent decorations have made the artist outstand among contemporary local artists.
His paintings have an extraordinary magnetism that literally spring out and both capture and captivate your attention. He paints with a vividness echo, vibrancy and vigour, a brilliant fusion of colours and tone. His colours lay side by side in perfect harmony. It helps the viewers to understand, appreciate and enjoy his paintings better. Semage's greatness is his ability to apply his insight in the multi-faceted aspects of life in Sri Lanka. His pigments are soft earth and pastel-toned. The figures are curvaceous and easy on the eyes and overall his paintings have a harmonious compositions with rhythmic designs. This considerable record of activity is reflective of the intense appreciation of his works by the local and foreign connoisseurs over the past. Just like any other artist Semage has learnt a few things from a few people and places, an inescapable phenomenon of particularly the present times. But he is different - he is uniquely Semage - artist of Sri Lanka, and of the world as well. Semage seems to be an optimistic as gloom and despair are never depicted in his works. - Arundathie Abeysinghe |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
Through his exhibitions and other creations, particularly in the open
air, Semage has earned a name as an artist with an outstanding local
touch. His creations may be seen in the Buddhist Viharas of Malaysia,
Singapore and Penang and the shrine room of the People's Bank Headquarters
in Colombo and the Women's Headquarters of the Sri Lanka Army. His work is
on permanent display at the Mount Lavinia Hotel.
Semage has also been influenced by Picasso, but the influence is
visible more in his cubist style rather than content. Infact, his style is
traditional modern, figurative, linearly defined and precise...
