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Kadirgamar’s vision and ambition for Lanka seen in ‘The World of Stanley Kirinde’
By N. Dilshath Banu
The much awaited book launch of “The World of Stanley Kirinde” -- a book of paintings and the life of artistes by the Stanley Kirinde Felicitation Committee, which was earlier chaired by the late Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar was launched last Thursday at the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies. The occasion was graced by Mrs. Kadirgamar and many other dignitaries.
The book was written by Dr. SinhaRaja Tammita Delgoda -- a historian and author of many books and articles on travel, history and art. In his keynote address, Dr. Delgoda said that in the eyes of Mr. Kadirgamar, “The World of Stanley Kirinde”, was much more than a book about art.

“It was a part of the way that Mr. Kadirgamar saw culture, as a vital part, perhaps even the cutting edge of foreign policy .This book may be “The World of Stanley Kirinde”, but it was the work of Lakshman Kadirgamar, the product of his vision and his ambition for his country”, Dr. Delgoda said.

Quoting the late Mr. Kadirgamar, Dr. Delgoda said, “You know, I wanted the people to know that not only do we have a history and heritage, stretching back a thousand years, but that we have a sophisticated and modern civilization, capable of looking East and West”

Before reading the foreword by the late Mr. Kadirgamar, the US-Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission Executive Director Tissa Jayathilake said the felicitation volume in honour of Stanley Kirinde was part of Mr. Kadirgamar’s long-term plan to raise the level of Sri Lanka’s contribution to the world of culture and the arts.

“Mr. Kadirgamar felt that with that the kind of heritage we ought to give the world something more than just tea, tourism and terrorism for which we have been known for in recent years”, Mr. Jayathilake said. He said Mr. Kadirgamar saw the book as a means of projecting an image of Sri Lanka.

Born in 1930, Stanley Kirinde’s paintings provide evidence that he lived during the pre and post independence era. He had been a close friend of Mr. Kadirgamar during his school years in Trinity.

Mr. Kirinde said that although Mr. Kadirgamar did not follow his line of study, he remained a very close friend of Mr. Kadirgamar and the loss of his friend was immensely felt in the crowd.

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