| Plus |
|
|||
|
Arts Blues, browns
and blacks of a material world And how I set
about touching your heart, is through my paintings, says Thanushka
Wijayapala. This young
artist, aged 23, will hold another of her exhibitions from September
27 - 30 at the Art Gallery, Colombo. Titled "The World Outside',
Thanushka will exhibit 15 acrylic paintings which will portray paintings
of 'life in the material world'. "I believe
that there are two kinds of worlds- the material world and the idealistic
world. I try my best to focus on and portray the materialistic world,
through my paintings. An idealistic world is everyone's dream and
maybe my future paintings will focus on this world, but until then
I am satisfied with my impressions of the material world..."
says this budding artist. She began painting
in 1985, at Mahamaya Girls College, Kandy and has already had two
solo exhibitions. Her first was titled "Abstract Visions Through
Reality" and her second was "Silence." "I paint
figures," she says. True enough, nearly all her paintings contained
female figures. "Most often the colours I use are dark blues,
browns and black. They somehow seem to represent the material world."
'Kamma' portrays a woman seated on a bed, bemoaning her sins. She
has been placed within a circle and tiny red strokes fill the painting.
"The red strokes symbolise her sins..." Thanushka explains.
"I like to paint in blue too..." she says indicating the
different shades of blue which make up the picture. Her most interesting
picture is an interpretation of Vincent van Gogh's 'Sunflowers'.
"The female figure in my painting is the vase in Vincent's.
"I have
used almost the same shades of yellow and the same number of sunflowers.
Van Gogh, was one of the greatest artists ever," she explains.
"it is a pity that no one understood him and that led him to
commit suicide. "That is what I try to show in my painting.
That artists should be understood." "My paintings are a result of immense thought. I think about what I am going to paint for days and do a number of studies. But, the painting can be finished in about a day," she says. "The idea for the painting develops slowly in my mind and I think it out to the last detail." Big
dreams for 'little theatre' Their Little
Theatre named the "Namel and Malini Punchi Theatre" will
be located in Borella. It has been their dream, nurtured secretly
with patience and fortitude, from the '60s, they confess. The Arts Circle
believes the Little Theatre will promote an appreciative and intelligent
audience and keep alive the theatre arts. Formed in early 1976,
the Arts Circle has been more active abroad, since Namel and Malini
were resident in foreign climes for a long time, though returning
to Sri Lanka periodically to present theatrical productions and
related events. It is well
known that dramatists are discouraged because they do not have a
proper and readily available venue for rehearsals. The Circle's
intention is not only to provide a venue for rehearsals of plays
but also a stage for small audiences to view plays and other events.
The objective of this project will be to make available such a theatre
as a national and international venue to all artistes. It will also
be to establish the theatre as a centre in the promotion of national
and international peace and harmony through the medium of art and
drama. They will also
try to create an awareness and pride of the theatrical arts and
their cultural values among the youth and general public. The main objective
of the Little Theatre, however will be to create a low cost play
production scheme and promote a regular theatre audience through
a membership drive. They also hope to produce both Sinhala and English
plays and since the audience will be limited to 100 people, the
plays will run for about two weeks. The inaugural
foundation-laying ceremony of the "Punchi Theatre" building
will be on October 23. Cultural miscellany It is traditional
to pay tribute to the guardian deity on such an occasion and so
it was the opening item for the evening. With the horns and horanas
and drums, and particularly the rich and resonant sound of the geta
bera the item was impressively executed. In the tradition
of the low country Kolam dance, the story of Jasa and Lenchina was
beautifully played. There was the roguish Jasa with his cavorts
and capers but it was pretty Lenchina who stole the show and charmed
the audience, full of nonchalant coquettish teasing and chiding. Then there
were the six dancers on whom the coveted Ves status has been bestowed,
which is the highest recognition a Kandyan dancer could hope to
attain. They were magnificent with their heads held high with justifiable
pride enacting a dance sequence from that enduring Kohombakankariya. The finale
was the most striking, featuring almost all groups involved in the
show. It was a performance with distinct clarity, allowing for group
solos of the different instruments and drums. Choral
Festival The Church will hold a Choral Festival on September 29, at 6 p.m. Anthems by Ralph Vaughan-Williams, Samuel Wesley and others, will be sung by the choir interspersed with readings and congregational hymns. Cora Abraham
set free young artists She was my
English teacher at Girton from Sixth Grade to the Matriculation.
She also taught us geography and mathematics and had the knack of
correlating subjects like geography and English in a way that was
totally interesting to the student. Essays could
take in topics ranging from 'Breakfast in an igloo' to 'A broiling
afternoon in a rain-forest in Ceylon' or 'Listening to the devil-bird
at night'. Imagination was all, after a chat between teacher and
pupils. We were fascinated
with Mrs. Abraham's original dress-sense - pastel cotton khaddar
frocks in green, orange or yellow (which she pronounced 'jello'),
or at the other end of the spectrum, shocking pink or indigo. These
were worn with beige stockings and smart shoes. They were set
off by matching hand - woven indikola belt and hat from Kalutara.
The latter graced the staff room in solitary splendour each day.
Right down to her hand bags Mrs. Abraham supported local industries. These tastes
could have begun in Madras where she worked for some time with the
YWCA, after her term of study at the Government Training College
in Colombo. She specialized in the teaching of English. She was
the sister of Shelton Blacker, the Manager of Girton. Their grandfather,
William Blacker of British origin had come to Ceylon with the first
batch of English officials of the Indian government after the capitulation
of Colombo by the Dutch. After many
years of teaching in the schools of Colombo and the outstations,
Mrs. Abraham retired. Suddenly we had news that she had opened an
Art School known as the Melbourne Art Classes, so called because
they were held in a garage of her home in Melbourne Avenue. These
classes are now in their 53rd year. Those who had never known the
real Mrs. Abraham, the artist with words and with freedom of expression
as her technique were surprised. But not those who had come under
her spell in an English classroom. Mrs. Abraham's Art School went
from strength to strength. Distinguished artists like Richard Gabriel
and Mallika Kulasekera, and Laki Senanayake joined her staff, and
her students made a name for themselves both here and abroad. These
art classes are now run by Chandra Thenuwara and Nalini Weerasinghe. Mrs. A was
self-taught, having immersed herself in the writings and philosophy
of the famous Austrian artist Cizek which projected art as the door
through which children savoured mental stimulation and the enjoyment
of freedom. She invited
me to her very first exhibition of her young artists' work fifty
years ago at the National Art Gallery. It captivated
me with its startling newness and the freedom of choice to express
themselves that the youngsters displayed. My daughter
was five years old when I took her to Mrs. Abraham's art classes
and I was delighted with her progress. At an exhibition
the next year I saw how painters and paintings expressed their provocative
perceptions. They defied tradition and old worn-out trends. The
ages of the artists ranged from four to fourteen. My daughter was
six. The walls clanged
with colour - purple elephants trumpeted; green cows champed red
grass; wild geese flew over black lilies. There were people too
in these pictures of water colours, pastels, oils, gouache, acrylic
and charcoal. Parents and grandparents moved around the National
Art Gallery. Cora Abraham,
who had inspired this profusion of painting, and believed that art
was an expression of both love and hate, courage and fear, joy and
grief; that art was therapy, art was all, shepherded me to the far
wall, and asked me, "What do you think of that?" "Intriguing,"
I said. The water colour prominently displayed was filled with resonances
and disonances of paint content and colour, balanced artistically
against each other. The large work
was divided into three parallel horizonal sections - white, bright
yellow and turquoise blue for background. On it an outsize distorted
face painted orange with green eyes, red lips askew, and white teeth,
glared under a head of coiled black hair. I stared and stared. Mrs A, now
colourfully garbed in salwar kameez, a scarf floating behind her
and slippers on her feet, gave me a catalogue and moved away. I
turned its pages. There was the name of the artist and beneath it,
very simply stated: 'Mummy in a temper'. Over the heads of the crowd my child had seen me in front of her picture. She came beaming towards me, pleased with herself, innocently happy, and took my hand as I bent down to hug her. Kala Korner by Dee Cee An encyclopaedia
in Sinhala for students Percy has been
working on a big project for many years - the compilation of an
encyclopedia in Sinhala. Years of planning resulted in the first
volume being released a few months back. The second volume is just
out. Percy's plan is to complete the project in 15 volumes. He hopes
to release an issue every month. Percy has always
been very methodical in his work. When he started several special
supplements in the journals he worked for - 'Silumina', 'Vijaya'
and 'Navayugaya' (his last assignment was as Editor, Navayugaya)
- with the objective of imparting knowledge to the readers, he collected
a lot of material that he catalogued systematically with the hope
of publishing them in volume form. 'Lama Ha Yovun Vishva Koshaya'
(Children's & Youth Encyclopaedia) is the outcome. "While
working on numerous newspapers and journals, I realised the thirst
for knowledge. The readers kept asking so many questions. The information
I gathered in answering readers' queries helped me in compiling
the encyclopaedia,' Percy says. Wide coverage Ampara, for
example, is covered extensively giving the reader valuable information.
Life sketches of personalities in numerous fields including those
in the arts are also included. How many of us can remember that
there were nine Sinhala kings with the name Agbo? Percy lists them
all with historical notes about each one. Well illustrated
with a lot of pictures, sketches and maps, there are several pages
printed on art paper with colour photographs too. The first volume
running into190 pages has a fine finish with easy to read clean
print. The use of English terms as an additional guide where appropriate
is handy. Readers'
Club Weeraratnes
are back Domiciled in
Australia, Sybil and Neville make it a point to return at regular
intervals and let us enjoy their creative pursuits. |
||||
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
being...."
reads the artist's note.
