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| Sunday, 7 December 2003 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Tapestry of colour : Jayanthi Liyanage talks to Barefoot's master dyer Jeremy Marjan
How can you tell a colourist from an artist? One dips in colour, and the other dabbles in his art, but a dyer who casts the dye on the yarn for long years finds himself recast as a master colourist who is extremely sensitive to the subtle ramblings of colour which meanders its way through fabric and fashion. Listen to Jeremy Marjan, the master dyer at 'Barefoot'. I do not draw, paint or sculpt. "Yet, I effectively serve an artist. Colouring is one of the most delightful of the arts and also a responsible branch of manufacture." Uttered in the soft, cultured patter of one whose unassuming quality his friend and Guru, Laki Senanayake, describes as a "self-effacement to the point of invisibility," the epigraph certainly does not sound like a spun yarn. Barefoot's striking show of wrapped and hung weft and warp installations of Jeremy's coloured yarn, which began at Barefoot Galleries last week, is to salute his 23 year-long dyeing for its trademark handmade clothings. Jeremy "Dyes with his boots on" at the gallery, until December 14. To say that Jeremy went "Barefoot" when he shed inhibitions to dye with no boots on, would be a fitting twist of this pun, with due apologies to Laki who conceived it.
"I was salvaged by Laki from a white collar plodding routine in a concrete jungle and literally dunked in a dye vat," says Jeremy describing his first entry in the 1960s, into the world of dyeing at Ena de Silva Batiks, which association transpired to be an enduring one. After an interim period in which he was found to be adrift freelancing, Jeremy's suggestion to Dominic Sansoni to go independent on Barefoot's colour needs, earned him an instant invitation to begin a yarn dyeing unit with them. The plant which began with a four-colour run, has today, to Jeremy's credit, spread to a palette of 65 dynamic colours. For Barbara who commenced her hallmark hand-spun and hand-stitched clothing cottage industry in 1958, this colour spectrum, initiated by her, has proved to be a predominant identity tag. After Jeremy attended a workshop on natural Indigo dyeing in Chiang Mai, Thailand, a small natural dye unit was created in the mid 1990s. Yet, he presents a case for chemical dyes saying, "The palette of natural dyes is limited compared to the synthetic dyes available. We mostly use organic dyes but use a certain amount of chemical dyes as well. But the process of dyeing is environmental-friendly with the effluents not jeopardising the habitat." Jeremy dyes at Barefoot's dyeing centre at Halgashena, overseeing five female and four male dyers, with each dyer dyeing a daily output of around 300 pounds of cotton and silk yarn, mostly imported from India, as yarn is in short supply locally. Boiling the yarn in oil drums turned stainless steel scouring vats are to scour the yarn by removing impurities such as starch which reduces dye absorption. The boiled yarn is then rinsed and dyed manually. "Since Barefoot has remained a cottage industry, all the dyers are village folk," Jeremy stresses. "The dyed yarn goes to similar village weavers at weaving centres at Wattala, Tharala, Weliveriya and Halgashena" and materialises as individually hand painted, embroidered and sewn clothing at the sales point. "We cater to a very sensitive Western and Asian export market, so the stringent laws on hand creativity," explains Jeremy. "None of the processes of dyeing, weaving, designing and making yarn into wearable clothes is automated as Barbara wants the industry to generate income for orphans and village folk." What makes this master dyer, called by Laki a sort of "Morgan of Wales", tick? His early childhood impressions, he says, come from solitary roaming in the cool, hill climes of Diyathalawa in the cosy environment spun by his grandma. "I am besotted with poetry, the likes of the Indian poets, A.K. Ramanujan and Dom Moraes." A fascination that extends to rugby, his other love. He also attributes his inspiration to create, to his brief acquaintance with the Colombo Amateur Theatre circle when Ernest MacIntyre, Shelagh Gunasekera and Karen Breckenridge rode high. Despite close encounters with such mighty personalities, he effaces himself by calling himself very conventional. "I quickly absorb what I confront." This philosophy is reflected in his soft, measured words and his meditative manner. "Perhaps, I look on dyeing too, as a meditation." A fitting tribute to the not-so-somnolent yarn by a master who lovingly dresses it up, day after day. ********** Home away from home : Sri Lanka through foreign eyes Home away from home, a photographic exhibition on Sri Lanka through the eyes of foreigners, organised by a group of young foreign and local exchange students of AIESEC (Association Internationale des Etudiants des Science Economique et Commerciale) opened at the Hermitage Gallery, Colombo on December 4. It continues till Dec. 10.
********** Japanese wood block print exhibition The Embassy of Japan and the Japan Foundation have organised their second exhibition of Japanese wood block prints to be held at the Public Library, Colombo from Dec. 9-13. The same exhibition will be held at the Kandy Municipal Public Library from Dec. 16-18. The 75 works of art to be exhibited by 46 renowned Japanese artists are all from the Japan Foundation collection. The exhibition is divided roughly into five categories, viz. (1) the older artists who have concentrated on prints over a long career, (2) the leading Japanese artists who are not professional printers but who made original artist's prints; (3) the Etchers who have revived the technique of mezzotint, a technique originally invented in Europe and brought to Japan in the eighteenth century; (4) the internationally active contemporary artists who experiment with art forms beyond the conventional boundaries of prints and painting; and (5) finally the younger artists who have expanded the applications of print media including photography and this group includes relief printing, graphic designs and installation artists. ********** BUNKA Award for Lankan actor Actor Palitha Silva was recently awarded the Japanese BUNKA award for his contribution to the field of dramatic art.
He has also acted in over 50 stage dramas and has over a 2000 performances to his credit. Among some of the acclaimed stage plays are Kaspar, Sergeant Nallathamby, Neinage Suduwa, Waiting for Godo, Midsummer Nights Dream, Punthila. Palitha Silva has won "Best Actor" awards in 1993 (Kaspar) and 1985 (Sergeant Nallathamby,) as well as awards for Best Director (1998,) Best Production (1998) and Most Popular Actor (1994 and 1999). |
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It will give the opportunity for Sri Lankans to experience how
foreigners see their country, and seeks to highlight that these students
are different from the typical foreigner living in Sri Lanka, says a press
release. "We love your country, its colours and differences. Many
things seem exotic, strange and beautiful to us and we want to capture
that moment before it is gone," says Ivana Poliacikova, an AEISEC
trainee from Slovakia.
He has acted in over one hundred tele-dramas since 1989. Some of his
acclaimed tele-dramas are Induru Dora, Diya Suliya, Avindu Andura,
Dhurganthaya, Mandaram Eli, Nidikumba Mal and Abhisamaya.
