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| Sunday, 24 October 2004 |
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Features |  |
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'Feathers of life'
These Paintings will include endemic resident and migrant birds. All 50 exhibits on display will consist of watercolour paintings as well as pencil and ink sketches. "The main objective of this exhibition is to educate and create public awareness through my exhibits about the importance of birds that inhabit our country," says Hasitha, who is also a passionate bird watcher. Hasitha is a member of the Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka (FOGSL) where his bird watching extends to a period of over 10 years. As a member of the FOGSL Hasitha has been keenly involved in many workshops, surveys and projects carried out around the country contributing towards the conservation of our Fascinating winged creatures.
"My passion to paint began at a very early age. However, my passion for bird watching, learning more about these wonderful creatures and bird art began at the age of twelve. It was through continuous hard work and commitment that I was able to nurture and mould my artistic abilities to its current shape", explained Hasitha. "I later decided to blend my talent with my passion for bird watching and now I concentrate mainly on drawing and painting birds in their natural habitat", he further explained. Hasitha finds time to pursue his academic work as well. He is a final year student studying for his BSc in Business at the Informatics Institute of Technology affiliated to the Manchester metropolitan university, UK. Hasitha's paintings are based on field sketches that he was able to make while on his ardent bird watching expeditions. The birds are then placed on natural surroundings applicable to the bird variety and are toned down to look as natural as possible. Much emphasis is placed on the birds' eyes and feathers, which are the most favoured parts of Hasitha's paintings. Hasitha added with appreciation that the advice of fellow bird artist Lester Perera further helped in developing his skills in bird art. In addition Hasitha would further like to thank all others who have extended their heart felt support in him in making his dream a reality. Ceylon Tobacco Company Ltd will sponsor the exhibition as part of their corporate social responsibility in promoting Art. Mobitel (Pvt.) Ltd will be the Co-sponsor. ********************* 'Creeps' : Modern values on stage 'Creeps', a youth drama by Lutz Hubner translated into Sinhala and directed by Asoka de Zoysa will be staged at the Namal-Malani Punchi Theatre, Borella on October 28 at 6.30 p.m. Presented by Theatre Transformation in association with Goethe Institute and Young Asia Television, 'Creeps' is the most topical youth drama of Germany after the reunification. It is a powerful shocker about fictional reality of the television, and how media misuses pictures and images they are of actual people. In the translation into Sinhala, Natasha, Priyadarshini and Gowri are three young girls, who come from different social classes and geographical areas of Sri Lanka today. They have reached the final casting round of a Life Style Magazine on TV for fashion conscious youth, having been fished out from a mass of applicants. They are now ready to prove their talent and commitment in front of a running camera, each craving to become the moderator of the hip-program 'Creeps'. The three teenagers quiver in the experimental net of a 'Big brother' producer, who is heard but not seen. Caught in the closed space of a dingy studio, they gasp for air, trying to outdo and hurt each other, are slimy and crawling, tear apart their more or less delicate souls, only to discover that they had unconditionally been used by the unseen producer, who exposes their inner - most feelings, hopes and anguish, with a hidden camera. As such grossly misused and sent home with a paltry sum of money with all their dreams shattered. Relevance for Sri Lanka in 2004 The three self assured young ladies represent different social groups: Natasha from the highly globalized city of Colombo, always in the trendiest outfits, she never wants to miss any event of the 'Yuppie-Jetset'. Priyadarshani comes from a family background that is determined to resist westernisation. She is vegetarian and much concerned about the pollution. Gowri hails from the North and is displaced by the War, which had begun even before she was born. Each budding TV star has the right for her perception and understanding of Sri Lankan values, culture and tradition. Yet they all belong to the same generation who cherish their independence and right to 'live it out', their real identity. The fourth character is the 'Overhead voice' who like some magician makes his presence felt by his voice and the visuals projected on the large screen: With the effects of sound and light he is able to show the three budding stars the reality of the world of TV Stars. 'Creeps' is not aimed at warning youth of 'evils of TV', nor is it exposing its 'false values'. It does not strive to show a kind of 'clash of civilizations'. Instead it will spark in the young minds some light on 'cultural identities', 'values' and 'life styles' they are born into; while commenting on some aspirations of teenagers in a highly commercialised multi-ethnic society. ********************* Critic's corner Young Musician of the Year - 2004 : Rewarding experiece by Satyajith Andradi It was indeed a rewarding experience for those who braved the rainy weather to attend the Young Musician of the Year contest held at Ladies College Auditorium on September 26. The audience, which consisted mainly of music students, teachers, parents and well-wishers, got a valuable opportunity to listen to a broad selection of classical piano music by well-known as well as lesser-known composers. The competition was organised by the Institute of Western Music and Speech. The competition started with the competition for the Junior Category, which was for contestants under 12 years. Seven finalists took part in this contest, for which the set piece was Beethoven's Sonatina in G major. In addition to the set pieces, every student was required to play a choice piece. The works featured in the Junior category were from Schumann, Greig, Cesar Cui, Koelling, C. Harris and Brian Chapple. Savini Chandrasinghe emerged as the winner of this category while Shanil Gunawardena and Dulanjali Clement were first and second runners-up respectively. There were seven finalist-contestants in the Intermediate category, which was for youngsters aged 12 to 15 years. The set piece for this category was the Rondo from Mozart's Sonata in C Major, K 545. The choice pieces were by Chopin, Dennis Alexander and John Thompson. Vinayak Rejendran was the winner of this category. I found his rendition of Chopin's much-loved Fantasia Impromptu particularly charming. Krishan Devasagayam and Kavipathi Parange emerged as first and second runners-up respectively. The set piece for the Senior category was the Rondo from Beethovan's well-known masterwork, the Sonata Patheque. The choice pieces were by Chopin, Granados, Karol Symonovsky, George Gershwin and Blumenfeld. There were six finalist-contestants in this category, which was for those under 21 years. Asitha Tennekoon emerged as the winner of the senior category with a lively and confident performance of the Beethovan's Rondo from the Pathetique Sonata and a sensitive interpretation of Preludes 1 and 2 from Gershwin's 3 Preludes. He also became the overall winner of the Young Musicians of the Year contest. The first-and second runners-up of the senior category were Ishan Perera and Gayathri Subasinghe. It was heartening to note that some of the finalist-contestants came from towns as remote as Badulla. Western Music should not continue to be the exclusive cultural property of a privileged few living in and around Colombo. The enjoyment and cultivation of this noble art should become more and more broad-based. |
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Bird artist, Hasitha Kumaradasa will hold his debut exhibition titled
'Feathers of life' on November 13 and 14 at the Lionel Wendt Gallery
(Harold Peiris). The exhibition 'Feathers of life' depicting the
ecological importance of birds in the Environment will portray a wide
variety of bird species found in Sri Lanka.
