Arts

Kala Korner by Dee Cee

A world record 

As chief guest, Justice C. G. Weeramantry of the International Court of Justice remarked, it was a unique event - an achievement for any country. A world record, he pointed out. 

In the quest for peace, he stressed the need for knowledge. Peace and education go together and here was a commendable effort towards achieving that goal. He paid a glowing tribute to Dr Ariyaratne for his efforts at achieving peace.

The books were a mix of subjects written by a galaxy of writers both in English and Sinhala. Most of them were authoritative works by professors, academics and experts in selected fields. 

They ranged from Justice Weeramantry's 'Justice Without Frontiers' to renowned dancer Premakumara Epitawela's 'Natum Upatha Ha Inginaluwa' (Birth of the dance and the ballet). The list started with Justice A. C. Alles' treatise on the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (in Sinhala) detailing the JVP's history during the period 1969-89. 

There was veteran journalist Kirti Abeysekera, now domiciled in Canada writing on 'Doughty Dons of Dowa' and a couple of works by retired Police officers - Tilak Iddamalgoda's 'Crime and Poverty', F. N. D. Jilla's 'Without Fear or Favour', & A. C. Dep's 'The Police and the Sinhala Muslim Riots of 1915'. Professor Nandasena Ratnapala added two more titles to his long list - one in English on 'Crime and Poverty' and the other in Sinhala which, judging from the title ('Jayasri Amathithumani') should be interesting reading. There were three releases by Professor Nimal Senanayake - 'Trends in Rebirth Research', 'Tutorials in CT Brain Imaging' and 'Gangulen Egodata'. Marketeer Deepal Sooriyarachchi who started his series on 'Sinhalen Business' last year, had written the second in the series, 'Paribhogika Sathkaraya', the first Sinhala work on customer care and had also tried his hand at writing a book for children - 'Kavuruda Obe Yaluwo'. The list goes on.

Felicitation

"I spend most of my time in other countries who appreciate my service," he said. He had spent the last two months in Japan, India and Nepal. He attended the opening of the 'Sama Chaitya' in Lumbini last week. Pointing out how he had given up all his attachments with Sarvodaya six years ago, he said he was a free man now - undetached and feeling light, ready to face death any time without fear. "I do not own a single inch of land, I have no huge bank accounts, I have no burdens. I am happy if I have just sufficient funds for my daily existence - to meet the expenses of myself, my wife and our two unmarried children."

Emphasising the need for more and more material for reading, he was all praise for publisher Godage for his tremendous service in encouraging young writers. "At Sarvodaya Vishva Lekha, we are trying to do the same thing but we are more selective and try to pick on subjects which need to be focused for the benefit of society." 

Dr Ariyaratne pleaded that the need of the hour is to forget politics and for everyone to get together and save the country. Party politics should be forgotten. We should all think of the country, he stressed.

Unique and memorable

On October 18, at the Alliance Francaise de Kandy, Mark treated us to yet another of his special offerings. Using his gifts of analysis, dramatic ability, a truly versatile vocal delivery and a prodigious memory, Mark presented his interpretation of Albert Camus's novel: L'Etranger (The Outsider). 

This is the second of Mark's presentations based upon one of Camus's novels. Many of us will recall with pleasure La Chute (The Fall) earlier this year and, I suggest that for those of us who are not students of Camus, the reason we recall this work is because of Mark's unique, single-handed way of laying it all out before us in an entertaining and memorable fashion. 

Using his own method, that falls somewhere between three-dimensional dramatization and two-dimensional monologue, Mark succeeds in leading us through the complex workings of the mind of Camus the Existentialist whose work reflects the post-World War II philosophy de l'absurd, a sense of alienation and disillusionment, yet the assertion of the positive qualities of human dignity and fraternity. This is a tall order to fill, even in the form of a serious novel, let alone a dramatic presentation. But Mark has done it: not once, but twice! 

Moreover, Mark has demonstrated that his method is not dependent upon one author's form of expression. In between Camus's La Chute and L'Etranger, he applied his special gifts to Count Leo Tolstoy's Kreutzer Sonata. In addition to analysing and presenting the altogether different nature of this writer's philosophy and literary style, Mark had to manage- in the first person singular- the main character's voluminous introspective musings in a way that avoided losing the thread of the story. His method met the challenge.

There is more! Moving back to Camus, Mark plans to present La Peste (The Plague) another of this author's North African novels. Who knows what will come after that. Whatever it may be, and as I said at the beginning: I think that we here in Sri Lanka are indeed fortunate to be able to witness Mark Amerasinghe's productions.

– Bill Campbell

Events

The exhibition is organised by the Sri Lankan Ambassador in Nepal Ms Pamela Deen and will be declared open by Dr. Arzu Deuba, wife of Nepal's Prime Minster.

Semage will exhibit 42 new paintings on typically Sri Lankan themes of the village and its lifestyles which he has done especially for this exhibition.

His inspiration deeply rooted in Sri Lankan life, Semage has achieved remarkable international recognition. His work adorns temples in Singapore and Malaysia. He will next exhibit at the UN in Geneva in Jan/Feb.

Naribena returns

The cast includes Wijaya Nandasiri, Rodni Warnakula, Bandula Wijeweera, Saddha Uthpalakanda, Lakshmi Damayanthi, Rathnasheela Perera, Subashini Hettiarachchi, Saman Gunawardena and Kusumsiri Liyanarachchi.

Colours of contemplation

The German artist Jurgen Zahringer chooses the word 'Contemplation' as the title of his latest exhibition at the Barefoot Gallery. Contemplation means in general, the inner process of a human being in thoughtful consideration or observation. 

The term also implies a religious connotation in the sense of meditation or concentration upon any higher being, either God or a universal mind. 

As the artist transfers this term with its different connotations into contemporary art, I would like to outline some of these aspects suggesting something like an orientation-frame for the viewer. 

Through the title of his exhibition, Jurgen Zahringer refers to religion in a broad sense. He sees the process of the development of an artwork as a contemplative process where the artist has to concentrate, meditate, reflect, consider and so on. 

This idea of the long process of contemplation it took him to create these works becomes evident in the serial production he uses. 

Developing moulds to form Buddha heads and fan palm reliefs, he replicates various heads and leafs, but colours them in varying ways. In addition, the fan palm relief is replicated in a positive and negative version, thus combining different components.

The Buddha head is a symbol of the cultural and philosophical background the artist has lived in since 1997. Contemplation and meditation play a major role in Buddhist practice.

The other component, the fan palm relief can be understood as a sign of the overwhelmingly, rich nature of this so-called Paradise island. This leaf has an ideal, symmetrical shape that allows its own connotations. Nature especially in the context of 'paradise' implies sensuality, sexuality, womanhood/feminity and fertility. The correspondence of the positive and negative form implies the aspect of duality.

Both components are set in series, underlining the fact that they are not painted or drawn. They do not try to depict any kind of nature, reality or religious symbols. They reproduce forms, which are found in Sri Lanka. They are symbols for a context, a philosophy, a surrounding the artist refers to.

The third component in Zahringer's work is colour, which is a dominating factor. He uses colour in various forms in his sculptures. The object on the wall opposite the Buddha heads, a box with 60 different pigments, which is available in Germany, symbolizes the importance of this component. The colour in combination with form creates different atmospheres, moods and vibrations, symbolizing for the artist the 'colours of Life', as he expresses in the title. 

Each Buddha face has its own colour impression. Light and shadow change, different parts of the face are stressed, thus the possible impressions vary.

The fan palm leaf on the other hand looks unnatural in combination with colour. So the colour underlines that the artist is not trying to depict or duplicate nature but to refer to it as developing an independent object with unique aesthetics. 

– Dr. Sabine Grosser

Dynamic contrasts blossom into virtuosity

By Tennyson Rodrigo

Beethoven's Fourth Symphony was premiered in Colombo that day. Its world premiere was in Vienna on November 15, 1807. In programmatic repertoire it is one of the least performed of Beethoven's symphonies. Beethoven's sound-world typically features a rapid punctuation of wide and shifting dynamic ranges interwoven into a delicate balance between colours, timbres and dynamic contrast. The first movement of the Fourth Symphony is a classic example of this. Sustained soft passages are punctuated by eruptions into fortissimo sections with timpani and trumpets calling the shots. Ravel's Bolero is something altogether different but still very demanding. Its repetitive theme in constant rhythm starts almost inaudibly and ascends to a dramatic crescendo. In the long intervening journey there is a gradual escalation in dynamics with challenging solo parts specially assigned to woodwind and brass; the strings are confined to a pizzicato mode for almost half the entire duration of the work.

These are difficult works to perform. The selection of this symphony and Ravel's Bolero for the programme was indeed very ambitious on the part of SOSL.

The first half of the concert was entirely devoted to Beethoven. It's heartening to see that the SOSL is showing capability to produce sounds of symphonic dimensions in depth and body. Yet, at least to my ears, the violinists among themselves as a group and in combination with the woodwinds in particular showed sings of frailty. Arguably, the violin is the most difficult instrument to play whether or not it's a solo or ensemble performance; and violinists constitute the largest single contingent in a symphony. It was a shade discomforting to notice from time to time the harsh and tinny discordance stemming from a lack of coherence, blend and pitch integrity.

These comments are not in anyway intended to discourage the players. Rather, it is hoped that they would induce the orchestra to work considerably harder that the overall impact of the violins is rendered wholesome. After all, the violins with their unrivalled octaval range constitute the quintessence of melodic and textural foundations of an orchestra. 

The cellos, violas and the twin double basses complemented one another effectively in enhancing the impact of deeper musical forces. The young timpani player Neomal Weerakoon gets full marks. Standing erect, eyeball-to-eyeball with the conductor, his rearguard contribution to the spaciousness of the sound and dramatic impact of orchestral dynamics was outstanding. Congratulations

On my first reading of the programme I felt the Bolero should have been the appropriate rendering to end the concert. I felt justified in having thought so when the Bolero received the most sustained applause at least up to that stage of the programme. Obviously the audience enjoyed it.

It took about five minutes to regroup the orchestra to enable the piano to be wheeled in for the last item. Thanks to the occasion, it was my first exposure to Grieg's piano concerto in A minor and I looked forward immensely to hearing it being played.

The first movement kicked off with a fleeting drum roll. 

In precise synchrony with the end of the roll, Ms Shanti Dias struck the first resonant note of the piano with panache; and from then on her disarmingly flowing pianism began to cast a magical spell on the audience. The momentum of the impact gathered as Ms Dias' nimble fingers ran through the keyboard from end to end. Unobtrusively she evinced a deep commitment to her task with a well-balanced mix of bravura and delicate feeling and the robust virtuosity of her skills unfolded as she executed the cadenzas in a workmanlike manner.

The adagio blossomed with rapt beauty and glowing atmospherics with muted strings distilling the underlying poetry of the concerto. At least to my mind, Ms Dias' playing, well supported by Lalanath de Silva, lifted the entire orchestra to a level of eloquence and spaciousness that wasn't quite evident till then.