For the past 60 years, there has been only one widely recognised venue in Colombo for those who have a date with both the visual arts and the performing arts, and that is 18 Guildford Crescent, Colombo 7 – the address of the Lionel Wendt Memorial Art Centre, which is built on the site of the former home of musician, photographer and art critic Lionel Wendt, who died in 1944. Since 1953, when the Lionel Wendt Theatre came up, those of us going in search of good music, good theatre, good art, went to the Wendt. And we continue to do so.
In the past half-century, other Colombo galleries, theatres and concert halls have come up, but none has the cachet of the Lionel Wendt. The name ‘Wendt’ has become a quality assurance seal for a Colombo arts-related happening.
The previous week –November 17 –20 --was a week at the Wendt for many of us. The trustees of the Lionel Wendt Memorial Arts Centre marked Wendt’s 110th birth anniversary (he was born on December 3, 1900) with a packed programme of music, dance, art, photography and film.
The premises house a theatre-concert-cinema hall, two art galleries, and a photography studio, and all four venues were used for the tribute to Lionel Wendt. The gallery at the main entrance had a display of art and sculpture by artists who had previously exhibited there; the Harold Peiris Gallery upstairs showcased a large collection of Lionel Wendt’s black-and-white photographs; the main hall was used for evenings of dance, and instrumental and choral music, and the photography studio displayed photographs done by members of the Photographic Society of Sri Lanka. There were also daily screenings of “The Song of Ceylon”, the classic 1935 Basil Wright documentary in which Lionel Wendt’s voice is heard as the narrator.
Artist and sculptor Ruwan Prasanga, who hails from the southwest village of Gona Pinuwela, said he was grateful for a second opportunity to exhibit at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery.
“I gave an exhibition here earlier this year, and I am happy to have been invited back,” Mr. Prasanga said. “I come from a small village in the south, and giving a show in a prestigious venue in Colombo is an honour. My usual venue is the strip of pavement outside the Vihara Maha Devi Park, where artists from all parts of the country come to show and sell their paintings.”
Upstairs, in the Harold Peiris Gallery, about 60 architecture design students from the University of Moratuwa were viewing original prints of Lionel Wendt photographs.
“Our architecture design curriculum includes art and photography,” said undergraduate U. M. Wickremasinghe. “We were very eager to come to Colombo to see this exhibition. This is my first sighting of Lionel Wendt photographs, and I am totally amazed. These pictures were taken some 70 years ago, and they are more powerful, more daring than many of the photos taken today, with all the high-tech equipment available. There is a strong, instinctively artistic sense of placing and positioning in the images. The framing is perfect, the edges exactly where they should be. I have a special interest in fashion photography, and therefore an interest in the human body. Lionel Wendt’s nude studies are an inspiration to anyone interested in the human body, draped or undraped.”
Downstairs, in the photography studio, a group had gathered for an afternoon screening of “The Song of Ceylon.” When the 30-minute documentary was over, audience members turned to each other and talked about the film and the festival.
“I left Sri Lanka in 1969,” said environmental consultant Dr. Ravi Pereira, “and coming to the Wendt is very much a coming-home experience. Through my childhood and teen years, just about anything to do with the arts in this city happened here. The Wendt brings back memories. And as a historical document, The Song of Ceylon is very moving. It shows us a Ceylon that is no more. For a Sri Lankan, that is a poignant documentary.
“The other interesting thing about the film was the voice of Lionel Wendt. I had expected to hear a deeper, more British-accented voice. But Wendt sounds very Ceylonese – a sensitive, refined, educated Ceylonese voice, which was nice to hear.” Dr. Pereira and the two friends with him were comparing notes, as native Sri Lankans back in their homeland after three to four decades of life overseas.
“As children we grew up with Lionel Wendt’s black-and-white images,” said Anil Cabraal, a retired World Bank executive who spent 36 years in the US. “We had his book of photographs at home. The name Lionel Wendt brings back memories.”
Leslie Alles, who is back home after 32 years in Australia, remembers the Lionel Wendt Art Centre as a gathering point for anyone who was seriously interested in the arts. “The centre was upstairs, above the theatre, where the present Harold Peiris Gallery is. The Art Centre closed in the 1970s. I had friends who were ardent members of the Art Centre. I was on the fringe, but I enjoyed listening to all the passionate arts talk and chitchat.”
Dr. Pereira, who had bought tickets for all the festival events, and was looking forward to that evening’s dance presentation in the theatre, said: “This has been a nice overview of what’s available in the arts here.” |
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