Cultural DIARY

Jayasiri Semage discards brush and palette

by Prof. Chandima Wijebandara

(BL/BRS Graduate School, Singapore)

Two-hundred paintings of dancing liyavela lines made without brush or paints will be on display at his exhibition opened on March 14 at the Semage Gallery, 3, Lilian Avenue Mount Lavinia. It will continue till April 10.

Painters all over the world use vivid colours and different media in expressing their beautiful thoughts. For instance, Leonardo Davinci painted Mona Lisa on canvas using oil paints while Michael Angelo and Pablo Picasso adopted the same technique in their time-honoured works.

Kalasuri Jayasiri Semage

One of the exhibits

Those who painted the walls of Ajanta, Karle and Ellora have found walls as their 'canvases' and used colours of their choice to communicate aesthetically rich imaginations. "While so much emphasis is made on colours, I wonder why the line was not given that much prominence?" asks Kalasuri Jayasiri Semage, Sri Lanka's international art ambassador. "Lines can be equally expressive even standing alone. In fact, the earliest experiments in drawing-art were made with lines. Colours, of course, add value to lines yet the use of colour has made many artists to underestimate the significant eloquence of line which is the basic tool of art." He adds: "The use of line has been practically reduced to cartoons and illustrative drawings."

Arguing thus for the powerful aesthetic and communicative value of line, Kalasuri Jayasiri Semage has made it a practical challenge for himself. He was, so far, known for his effective mastery of brush with balanced use of colour. As a matter of fact, the use of appropriate colour had been his greatest asset. His media had been canvas and other surfaces including walls. His paintings depicting love, peace, innocence, lust and religious themes are well-known both in Sri Lanka and abroad. Now he is preparing to show us how he has revolutionised his own technique in creating beautiful sentiments in our minds at his next exhibition. "No brush, no colours, simply lines. As a matter of fact I have chosen liyavela as my language in this series of paintings," says Semage. However, his usual themes like love, lust, compassion and joy have not been forgotten. They have found equal emphasis even in this simple application of black, yet poetical lines with a bit of added shades occasionally.

Aesthetic expressions

Nevertheless, one should not misunderstand that Semage is reducing his paintings to simple line sketches. For instance, a couple embracing each other and kissing passionately could be drawn as a line sketch. That is what, in fact, most artists do before they fill their works with colour. One can detect such outlines in almost every eastern painting. We can notice even in Semage's paintings very clear and bold line drawing he has made before adding appropriate colours. Those are just sketches. What Semage is going to showcase in his next exhibition is not a collection of such simple line sketches. They are perfectly finished works of different genre. The pictures he has drawn are effective aesthetic expressions generated with a high command of lines that almost always converge into traditional decorative liyavela motifs. The stylised flowers, leaves, buds, animals and basic motifs like galbindu, liyapota, arimbu, and palapethi found in traditional liyavelas are incorporated into beautiful depictions of human and animal life. His rhythmic ascending lines depicting various life forms culminate beautifully into such traditional motifs. In this new technique, Semage, evidently, has had close influence of stylistic liyavela designs found in paintings of ancient Buddhist temple walls. His intimacy with traditional Buddhist paintings both in Sri Lanka and India has definitely enriched his vision to a great extent.

When closely observed almost all line drawings he has made for the exhibition appears to begin as simple lines but develop into rhythmatic, creeper-like curves that become beautiful creatures full of life and ascend to a climax of converging either to a leaf or a flower. Such visualisation, as a matter of fact, is a rare achievement only possible to arise in meditatively trained methodical and insightful mind. The mind must follow the path of developmental line in a continuous, unbroken and confident way. Driven by concentrated and confluent mind the lines will form into beautiful curves impregnated with sweet and romantic feelings. Lines so formed will take shape of love, compassion and joy.

Difficult motifs

This, of course, is a rediscovery of the rich potential of line. Traditional art in the East shows that the artists who painted frescoes and murals had strong faith and trust in mastering lines. Before venturing into serious commitments of creating expressive, communicative and aesthetically enjoyable art, the students of art had to obtain perfect mastery of line. Anyone can notice this in Ajanta and Sigiri paintings. However, this fact is more or less forgotten or overlooked by many young artists today.

They do not seem to have sufficient mastery in line, and therefore, they depend on excessive use of colours and heavy use of brushes. According to Semage's opinion, any aspiring artist has to begin with drawing liyavela and liyapota. Then he or she has to continue his practice drawing increasingly difficult motifs systematically until he is capable of tiringitalaya. Then he will be comfortable in mastering and applying any style of painting creatively.

It is natural for any artist, who can draw well, to get more attracted to sentimentally pleasant romantic visualisations. Even the poets tend to prefer romantic depiction of beauty. A good example is Selalihini Sandesaya by Ven. Sri Rahula. He has described in beautiful and even suggestive language the beauty of city girls and village damsels. Even the author of Guttilaya found occasion to depict physical beauty in describing the occasion of celestial apsaras descended to earth to dance to the music of Guttila. An artist who wishes to translate the imagery of these poets in to paintings of hypnotic beauties has to visualise angel-like perfect physical images and has to meet the challenging task of bringing such beauties into 'life', doing justice to their romantic curves, laughing eyes, dancing lips and all sweetness. This is exactly what Jayasiri Semage has achieved even after leaving aside his brush and palette (temporarily, of course!) He not only depicts physical beauty but also paints their sweet love, affection and joy as well. As a matter of fact, his revolutionary and restrictive technique of translating his imaginations to liyavela lines has made the task complicated and difficult, yet being a maestro of lines he has reached salutary heights.

Gabbara Minisa comes to Lumbini

A scene from the play

 

The premiere of Sriyantha Mendis' latest stage play Gabbara Minisa will go on the boards at the Lumbini Theatre, Colombo on March 31 at 6.45 p.m. There will be two repeat shows at the Elphinstone, Maradana on April 6 at 3.30 p.m. and 6.45 p.m.

The cast include Sriyantha Mendis, Kusum Renu, Sarath Kothalawela, Wasantha Vittachchi, Malkanthi Jayasinghe, Sujeewa Priyalal and Mihiri Priyangani.

Aagaya pookkal

The Tamil dubbed version of award wining film “ Akasa Kusum” by Prasanna Vithanage , Aagaya pookkal will be released on April 1 at Cinecity Colombo and Raja Jaffna theatres.

A Temple Rebel

A Temple Rebel by Piyasiri Vijayasekera will be launched on April 5th at 5.30 p.m. at Goethe Institut, 39, Gregory’s Road, Colombo 7.

Dr. Selvy Tiruchandran and Dr. Michael Fernando will speak on some aspects of the book.

Website for Sri Lankan artists

A website (www.srilankanarts.lk) edited by critic, journalist and author Gunasiri de Silva will be launched on March 30 at 3.30 p.m. at the National Library Auditorium in Colombo 07.

Global Art Centre holds exhibition

The students of the Global Art Centre will hold an exhibition of paintings at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery, Colombo 7, from April 1-3. The Global Art centre in Colombo was launched in July 2007.

Shadow puppet show on Fa Hsien

A shadow puppet show on Fa Hsien will be staged at the John de Silva Memorial Theatre, Colombo 7 on April 1 at 6 p.m. The story of the puppet show is based on the journey of Fa Hsien who visited Sri Lanka 1,600 years ago.

Colombo bands perform for Cricket for Peace

The best amateur music bands in Colombo presented their compositions for the ongoing Cricket for Peace programme being conducted in the three World Cup hosting nations. Overall, more than 100 bands from Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh are participating in the multi-country, multi-language citizen programme organised by MoneyGram International, a leading global money transfer company.

The MoneyGram Cricket for Peace Music Album will be launched by eminent personalities from music and cricketing field in a finale event in Mumbai, India. The highlight of the finale will be the performance of a Tri-Nation Band constituted by nine lead singers from Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh. The singers will come together in Mumbai to create the Cricket for Peace anthem that will be multi-lingual and multi-ethnic in nature, and will use Hindi, Bangla, Sinhala, Tamil and English languages. The finale will be held in Mumbai on April 1.

Sri Lankan Theatre Festival 2011 and workshop on theatre

Sri Lanka Theatre Festival 2011 will be held from April 1 to April 9 at 4.00p.m. and 6.00 p.m. at Inter Act Black Box Theatre in Rajagiriya. A three-day workshop on modern theatre will be held on April 6, 8 and 9 in parallel to the festival.

The dramas of the festival include Pompinia by Nadeeka Tharangani, Beany (Tamil) by S.Dayalan, Caged ( Experimental Dance Theatre) , Zippy The Zebra ( Performance based on South African story about self-discovery and exploitation), Me Aliyata Geyak One ( Children's Play) by Arunashantha/ Nadeeka Tharangani and a short film.

Swarna Samadhi

A musical evening featuring Victor Ratnayake, Sunil Edirisinghe and Deepika Priyadharshini will be staged at the Gampaha Bandaranayake College, Main Hall on April 3. There will be two shows, one at 3.30 p.m. and the other at 6.30 p.m.

The music is by Nalaka Anjana Kumara and his orchestra. The Swarna Samadhi will be compered by Lasantha Rohana and organised by the '94 Group of the Gampaha Bandaranayake College. All proceeds will go towards the funding of the computer lab of the school.

Bernadage Sipirigeya

Bernadage Sipirigeya ( The House of Bernarda Alba) goes on the boards on today at 7.00 p.m. at the Lionel Wendt theatre. The drama is directed by Priyantha Sirikumara.

The play is woven around a family of five daughters and a mother struggling through the conflicts of the day-to-day life.

The play questions the influence of class and religion on its characters where fanatic attempts to maintain honour through oppression ultimately results in death

Kuweni the Queen of Lanka

Kuweni an exhibition by Anoli Perera will be held on March 30 at Hempel Galleries, 30/3 Barnes Place, Colombo 7.

Tribute to Gunadasa Kapuge and Vijayakumaratunga

Mithra Kapuge	Lalinda Bandara

A concert to pay tribute to Gunadasa Kapuge and Vijayakumarantunga by Mithra Kapuge and Lalinda Bandara will be held on March 31 at 7.00 p.m. at Yovun Nikehtanaya ,Anuradhapura.

The Incarnations of Wilson Guneratne on "Celeb Chat"

Popular stage, TV and screen actor Wilson Guneratne gets into 'Charitha Hathak' mode and takes centre stage on CSN / Prime TV's "Celeb Chat" at 9.30 pm on March 28 . Guneratne who enjoys popularity not only in Sri Lanka but also among overseas audiences, will talk about the creation of his popular play and why he later added on an eighth character making it 'Charith Atak'. Listen to him, share unforgettable moments and hilarious incidents in a Iong and colourful acting career. This will be a repeat telecast on March 29 at 8.00 AM

Non-Aligned

An exhibition of recent paintings titled 'Non - Aligned' will be held at the Barefoot Gallery, Colombo from March 27 to April 17. Works of Mariah Lookman, Thamotharampillai Shanaathanan, Lala Rukh, Muhanned Cader, Ieuan Weinman will feature in the exhibition.

Bonjour cinema! 2011:

The Francophone Film Festival in Colombo

Bonjour cinema 2011 will be held from March 30 to April 3 at the Punchi Theatre with daily screenings at 2.30 pm for children, 4.30pm (except on March 30) and 7pm for adults.

All the films are subtitled in English and the entrance is free.

These films are also scheduled to be screened at Alliance françaises in Kandy, Matara and Jaffna (dates will be informed later ).

The Alliance Française de Kotte, with the support of the Consulate of Belgium, Embassy of France and Switzerland in Colombo, will present the 6th edition of "Bonjour Cinema!", the annual Francophone film festival in Colombo. A selection of nine films will be offered by these three countries that use French as a common language. All the films represent the social and moral concerns of contemporary directors as well as the diversity and the creativity of the French speaking countries in the field of movie-making.

In addition to the film festival, the celebration of "Francophonie" includes a French Language contest - for students and French teachers - which offered the prize of 2 stays in Paris all expenses included, and will present on April 4 two live shows from the French singer Céline Caussimon: at 3pm for children only and at 6.30 pm for a concert of live French songs, open to all.

These cultural events will allow the Sri Lankan public to understand the Francophone culture that draws its richness from its diversity, the French language being spoken and shared by more than 200 million people around the world!

This is an event not to be missed!

7 films for adults (at 4.30 p.m except on March 30 at 7 p.m)

Joueuse/Queen to play - Caroline Bottaro - 2009 (FRANCE)

L'heure zéro/ Towards Zero - Pascal Thomas - 2007 (FRANCE)

Déchainées - Raymond Vouillamoz- 2009 (SWITZERLAND)

Les Petites Couleurs/ A Little Colour - Patricia Plattner - 2002 (SWITZERLAND)

Opération Casablanca/ Operation Casablanca - Laurent Nègre- 2010 (SWITZERLAND)

La promesse / The promise - Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne - 1996 (BELGIUM)

L'enfant / The child - Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne - 2005 - (BELGIUM)

2 children films (at 2.30 p.m.)

Les enfants de Timpelbach/ The Children of Timpelbach Nicolas Bary

- 2008 (FRANCE)

Microcosmos - Claude Nuridsany, Marie Pérennou- 1996 (SWITZERLAND)