Fascinating murals
By Shireen Senadhira
Vesak time was just over and the all the temples
were spruced up. I visited the Gothami Vihara in Borella area,
mainly to admire the famous murals in the temple's shrine room. This
particular temple was built by Apolonia de Soysa Pieris, mother of
Sir James Pieris. This temple would have been one among the others
in our country but for the fact that it contained special murals.
This vihara was established in 1900. Then, in 1939, George Keyt, the
well known artist was invited to paint the walls in the shrine room
where the statues are. He was asked to paint episodes that depicted
the life of Buddha and so he did. Thus, this temple became special
as the other temples mostly have murals of the Jataka stories and
paintings of hell.
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Teaching Indian cinema : problems and prspects
The eminent film scholar Christian Metz once
remarked that 'the cinema is difficult to explain because it is easy
to understand.'. This paradoxical statement highlights the central
problem of teaching films. Everyone knows what film is; everyone
enjoys films. Hence, many voice the opinion, that there is nothing
to teach about cinema. Clearly, this is wrongheaded. Cinema, like
literature or music, is a complex art and it draws significantly on
both of them. Therefore, it is very important, at the very outset,
to establish the fact that there is much to be taught regarding the
art of cinema as indeed as literature.
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Raja Rao - A great Indian novelist of the 20th century
Following the last week's Cultural Scene on
Indian born writers and their work, this week I would like to focus
on one of the fine Indian born writers who has made a great impact
on the West through his writings.
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