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| Sunday, 14 March 2004 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Young contemporaries 2004: New impressions by Kaminie Jayanthi Liyanage
New impressions. fresh vistas and perspectives of the mundane as well as the spectacular. Bringing to the public forum quite a number of hitherto "not heard of" first timers from different parts of the country, to display their insights of art deploying new techniques and innovative modes of presentation. This is how one can describe the tenth exhibition of "Young Contemporaries" by the George Keyt Foundation which opened at the Harold Peiris Gallery of Lionel Wendt Art Centre on March 8 and will conclude today. In keeping with the Foundation's vision of "giving opportunity" to the emerging artists of the near and far corners of Sri Lanka, the exhibition was akin to a "refreshing sip of visual nectar" from 85 local artists below the age of 40 with nearly half the number comprising women artists.
Oils on canvas won the first three prizes. The panel of judges skimming the assorted multitude of talent, picked S. Sivaruban who had brought his surreal oils on canvas all the way from Jaffna, as "the Artist of the Year." Ruwan Upasena's reposeful black and white figure art won the second prize while the colour-strewn abstract landscapes of Sampath Amunugama won the third. Three merits were also awarded to Anura B. Dahanayake's four-piece water colour figures at labour; B.S.G. Dixon's three-piece bronze, sand and Aluminium rivet acrylic on wood; and Samantha Pradeep Jayatunga's three-piece acrylic on paper. Commenting on "Young Contemporaries 2004", Sita de Silva, Secretary to the Board of Trustees of the Geroge Keyt Foundation, said, "The artists are far more innovative this year. The cream of this surfacing talent will go on to present their work again at our next annual artist gathering, Nava Kalakaruwo." The Foundation initiated this series of exhibition in the early nineteen nineties, with the objective of discovering new local art and affording them a platform to promulgate their creativity, resulting in exposure to national and international promotion and enhanced opportunities for development. Cedric de Silva, Chairman, Board of Trustees, expresses that flowers which bloomed at the very first Young Contemporaries Exhibition "Flowers bloom again" have followed up with more exhibitions to keep the flowers "blooming" more and more over the last several years. This year's exhibition was sponsored by W.J.E. (Hans) Monhemius, a resident guest in Sri Lanka who has over the last 25 years been an immense supporter of the visual and performing arts in Sri Lanka. ###### Seventy voices in harmony : Choral feast for Kandy by Jubilate Choir and Peradeniya Singers On March 20 at 6.30 pm two fine choirs join to give music-lovers and students in Kandy a rare experience of choral harmony. The concert at the EOE Pereira Theatre in the Engineering Faculty of the University of Peradeniya is presented by the Kandy Music Society in association with the Arts Council of the University.
Including music of a wide variety of styles and periods from unaccompanied polyphony to full-blooded six-part harmony with piano and organ support, the programme showcases the range of Western choral music, says a press release from the organisers. The Jubilate Choir from Victoria, Australia comes to Sri Lanka for the first time after successful tours of the Netherlands and to several locations in Australia. Counting ninety members at full strength, its enthusiastic leader and conductor is Crosbie de Kretser. Thirty-six members and three accompanists are making the trip to Sri Lanka. Several concerts have featured guest artists and participation by local choirs. They will be joined in Kandy by The Peradeniya Singers, numbering 35 for this concert, conducted by Bridget Halpe. This group which began as the University Singers in Peradeniya in 1953 gives a regular two concerts a year besides participating in special events like the present and the reopening of the restored Central Bank Building in Fort. Its highly successful Jubilee Concert of 2003 is on CD. ###### Film Festival of the French speaking countries A Film Festival of the French Speaking Countries is scheduled to be held from March 17-21 at the Lionel Wendt Theatre.
Creations of all these directors have received official recognition and awards in France and these special screenings will allow the Sri Lankan public to discover these creations, some of them having never been publicly screened in Sri Lanka. This year's festival will feature a total of ten films and each film is scheduled to be screened once. The entrance will be free of charge. |
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The festival is a joint cultural promotion effort organised by the
Consulate of Belgium, the High Commission of Canada, the French Embassy,
and the Embassy of Switzerland with the collaboration of the National Film
Corporation of Sri Lanka.In addition to the French language films, three
Sri Lankan films will also be screened during this year's festival as a
tribute to Dr. Lester James Pieris, Asoka Handagama and, young and
upcoming film director, Vimukthi Jayasundara.
