Come and graze at this buffet of art
View(s):With two weeks to go Ashok Ferrey takes us through the highlights of Colombo Scope festival
By Smriti Daniel
In the run-up to the Standard Chartered Colombo Scope festival, Ashok Ferrey finds that he’s less curator and more “chief cook and bottle washer.” “I’m proof reading and handling emails. I’m chasing up banners and posters and arguing with sponsors about the size of their logos,” he told the Sunday Times. It’s all part of the job description and Ashok says he’s pleased to find “things are slotting into place that we hadn’t really expected.”
The festival is being billed as one of literature, film, art, music and dance and will be held at Park Street Mews from March 22 – 24. “It’s like a buffet of art, and you can just graze,” says Ashok. “Go in and listen to one literary event, then stop by a concert of classical music and then take in a dance performance.”
Significantly, only five events every day will be ticketed ones (universally priced at Rs.500, with the exception of the gourmet lunches and dinners with authors that will be hosted by Park Street Mews and priced in the range of Rs.4250). Other events will be free – one each morning and everything after 4 p.m.
Those in search of a dose of literature can look forward to sessions with two authors from the UK. The award winning author of ‘Saraswati Park,’ Anjali Joseph has taught English at the Sorbonne, has written for the Times of India in Bombay and been Commissioning Editor at ELLE (India). ‘Another Country’, her second novel, was published in June last year and was longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize. T.S Eliot prize nominee, poet Sean Borodale will talk about his startling original publication ‘Bee Journal’. Written over a period of two years spent observing a hive, the collection is a ‘working journal’ that catalogues in gorgeous poetry the life of bees, from the living architecture of the comb that develops around a small nucleus and ends in the capture of the swarm.
Anoma Rajakaruna and Agenda 14 will be presenting films from notable Sri Lankan directors like Asoka Handagama and Prasanna Vithanage, accompanied by Q&As after, says Ashok, adding that he has invited Anouska Hempel to select the art works on display. Every day also brings with it a round of entertainment, embracing dance and music across various genres, among them a lunchtime concert with Lakshman Joseph de Saram and the Chamber Music Society, a dance performance by Seneka Abeyratne paying tribute to Martha Graham, another by the Floating Space Theatre Company and a rock concert by the group Out of time.
For his part, the author of Colpetty People says he’s enjoyed putting together the series of panels that will explore his chosen theme of ‘Identity’. Beginning with The Kaduwa, a free event, Ashok has Sumathy Sivamohan, Shermal Wijewardene and Malinda Seneviratne talking about English and its role in Sri Lankan culture, moderator Shyamalee Tudawe will ‘wield the sword’. Others have representatives of Sri Lanka’s religious faiths discussing their ‘life in robes’ and a panel moderated by Savithri Rodrigo that brings together Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya of the Sri Lanka Army and Rajiva Wijesinha, in conversation with war reporters Carolin Emcke and Julian West to tackle the problems of war reportage.
“I just put them in because they interested me, but it transpires that they’re interesting everyone,” says Ashok, who chose his panellists with great care. Of The Kaduwa panel, he says. “I’ve really thrown the cat among the pigeons. That’s the fiend in me. It’s boring when everyone agrees with everyone else. I want a panel where there’s war, in the nicest possible way.”
There’s been a great deal of interest expressed by local writers, who’ve been offered chances to stage their launches and readings at the festival. Several have come forward. “Lots of people have been coming in at the last minute, asking ‘can I launch my book?’ says Ashok, explaining that he’s been happy to oblige, after all he feels he’s catering to an audience of book lovers.
However, the real draw among the new writers may just be the 2013 Gratiaen nominees. The announcement of the shortlist will kick off the whole festival and the nominees will be brought back on Sunday to talk about their work alongside last year’s winner Madhubashini Ratnayake.
Standard Chartered Colombo Scope 2013 is presented in partnership with British Council and the Goethe Institut. Session tickets priced at Rs.500 are available at Park St Mews restaurant, Goethe Institut and the British Council. All gourmet lunches and dinners are at Park Street Mews restaurant. Tickets priced at Rs. 4250 and Rs 5000- are available at the venue. Venue partner is Park St Mews, Print Media partner is Wijeya Newspapers, Electronic Media partner is ETV and Wine partner is Favourite International.
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