Farewell to the poetess of the silver screen
With the passing of Sumitra Peries, we lose a filmmaker who despite her aristocratic origins and liberal upbringing, captured the poetry of everyday lives and fabric of the ordinary people of her land – the wending river, feudal upcountry village – with a haunting awareness and beautiful sensitivity. Sumitra’s films, rather like Punyakante Wijenaike’s books [...]
Sumitra, Lester and our French connection
Apart from our love for the moving image, the special bond that Sumitra Peries and I shared was France. Centre-stage in this very private equation was the great Lester James Peries. Although clearly a generation apart, the French language and culture was the glue that bonded us since I first met them in 1986 when [...]
Rotary’s ‘Honda Purudu’ championship finals today
The famous idiom Puhul Hora Karen Dane is turned into a song with a powerful message to children “Hora karanna epa”, “boru kiyanna epa”. The Rotary national project ‘Little Minds Strong Values’, uses 30 such Sinhala/Tamil songs with simple music/lyrics and eye-catching video animation to promote positive ideas and attitudes in children from a young [...]
Dinesh Perera’s work at Sky Gallery
‘Imaginality 360°’, an exhibition of paintings by Dinesh Perera opens next Saturday at Sky Gallery of the Fareed Uduman Art Forum and will continue until February 7. The exhibition will be declared open by the Chairman of the Sapumal Foundation, Rohan De Soysa on January 28 at 6.30 p.m. Dinesh schooled initially at Peradeniya Sarasavi [...]
A very local design vibe
“Just be bold and do it. You have to take chances, it’s not easy,” says Shanya Fernando who founded her homeware brand Isla along with her interior design practice, Studio Isla in August 2021. An interior architect by profession, Shanya made the decision to launch her own brand and studio a year after the outbreak [...]
Making music in Denmark and Ibiza
The ’90s saw the global rise of contemporary R&B along with the forming of popular male groups like Boyz II Men, Backstreet Boys, and All-4-One, as well as female groups like Destiny’s Child and TLC. The rest of the world dove into the trend, with many groups getting their start in the music industry. Achieving [...]
A special feast for the Year of the Rabbit
The ‘Year of the Rabbit’ – this year’s Chinese New Year dawns today, Sunday, January 22, and Cinnamon Red’s restaurant ‘Flavoured’ will go all out in celebrating the occasion with a special dinner buffet this evening. The buffet will consist entirely of diverse Chinese cuisine authentic to the many different regions of China. The buffet [...]
Paan Paan expands
Paan Paan, the popular artisan bakery opened its new outlet at the Avirate dress boutique on Maitland Place in Colombo 7 earlier this month with its full range of special breads, pastries and other items on offer.
‘Katha Karamu’ – App to aid communication out today
“Without the ability to communicate or the ability to speak, my life was a wasteland – I was living in a silent abyss. My life changed when I got the ability to talk this way – now we are able to give that ability to others,” says co-founder and co-president of the EASE Foundation, Chandima [...]
Shehan book reading at British Council
Booker Prize winner Shehan Karunatilaka will be reading extracts from his winning novel ‘The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida’ together with co-reader Ashok Ferrey at the British Council at 6 p.m. on Saturday, January 28. The novel is a searing, mordantly funny, hybrid state-of-the-nation epic set in 1990 amid the murderous mayhem of a Sri [...]
Sinhala translation of “The Light of Asia; the poem that defined the Buddha”, launched
Budusiritha Lowata Genagiya Maha Kavyaya; Asiyawe Alokaya, the Sinhala translation by Niluka Kadurugamuwa of renowned Indian author Jairam Ramesh’s book “The Light of Asia; the poem that defined the Buddha”, was launched recently. Budusiritha Lowata Genagiya Maha Kavyaya; Asiyawe Alokaya is a publication of the Pathfinder Foundation “The Light of Asia; the poem that defined [...]
Dr Roland Silva Memorial Lecture on Lanka’s biodiversity heritage
The Dr Roland Silva Memorial lecture will be delivered by Dr Rohan Pethiyagoda who will talk on “Serendipity: The Discovery of Sri Lanka’s Biodiversity Heritage”. The lecture which is part of the National Trust of Sri Lanka’s monthly series will be delivered online on Thursday, January 26 at 6 p.m. Link to join the Zoom [...]
Letters to the Editor
A bouquet to Welisara staff I am a retired accountant. I was hospitalised at the Chest Hospital, Welisara, Ward No. 1 for a respiratory tract infection and treated at the hospital for ten days. This was the first time I was receiving treatment at a government hospital. My observations during my short stay in hospital [...]
Appreciations
An incredible journey from Sinharaja to Pera Prof. N. D. Samarawickrame We owe our existence to a string of unforeseeable events, repeated arbitrary fortune. My father was born in a rural part of the country. He was the eldest of ten siblings who transitioned out of the village. The privileged upbringing and opportunities I had [...]