A ‘chooty’ fighter and team of warriors win major battle
The tiny fighter has won a major battle between life and death and will be home this week. Dressed up in yellow and blue with socks sporting cute kittens, he is not just a fighter but also a poser giving a big smile for the camera! Infant Kushan Adithya did not fight his battle for [...]
Power of typography in shaping cultures
In the design world, typography, the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible and visually appealing, plays a crucial role in affecting how a message is perceived and how effectively it communicates information. It is often seen as a fundamental building block in design. Its significance though, goes beyond aesthetics. For [...]
Broad canvas of creativity from students across the country
Upon walking into the Harold Peiris Gallery on the first floor of the Lionel Wendt, one might be forgiven for thinking they are visiting a photographic exhibition. The gallery walls are lined with predominantly black and white images of people, places and things that range from the familiar to the fantastic. The smiling eyes of [...]
Appreciations
He wore multiple hats with the greatest devotion Ajith Abeyratne It was early on a grey Thursday morning when I got to know that my father had suddenly died from a brief illness. There was only numbness as I caught the next flight home, trying to fathom what a life without him would possibly feel [...]
Of kukul-kakul handwriting and teachers of yesteryear
I had the pleasure recently of meeting one of my old friends (I must stress here that the word OLD here refers to the age of our friendship, not our chronological age!). I have known him since our primary schooldays and so our conversation got us reflecting about the various teachers who used to teach [...]
National Trust lecture: The story of a prince and his clan over the last six centuries
Prof. Gamini Ranasinghe will talk on “The prince Balaina (a son of VI Parakramabahu?) and his Clan in China and Taiwan” in the National Trust monthly lecture on Wednesday, October 30 at 6 p.m. at the Auditorium of the College of Surgeons of Sri Lanka, No. 6, Independence Avenue, Colombo 7. Prince Balaina was an [...]
RASSL lecture: Early years of Buddhism in Sri Lanka
The Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka’s (RASSL) monthly lecture this month is on ‘Forging Identities in the Early Years of Buddhism on the Island of Lanka: Exploring Early Urbanization and Social Subject Formation’. It will be delivered by Professor Jagath Weerasinghe of the Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology, University of Kelaniya, on Monday, October 28 [...]
Deepavali: Light over darkness and a time for family and friends
Deepavali, the Hindu festival also known as the festival of lights that honours the birth of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity is celebrated in October or November every year in Sri Lanka. This year Deepavali falls on October 31. The victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance, the [...]
Remembering Sir Alexander Cunningham, the Father of Indian Archaeology
A small ceremony took place at the Kensal Green cemetery in London on October 16 to honour the memory of Sir Alexander Cunningham, the eminent British archaeologist who played a pivotal role in the restoration of Buddhist sites in India in the 19th century. Present at the ceremony were the Head Monk of the London [...]
Colombo, a place of chatty encounters
Dropping me off in front of the Lionel Wendt auditorium in time for a late afternoon rehearsal a couple of months ago, my Uber driver Jehan declared, “I play the keyboard, but I always wanted to marry a violinist.” I offered to buy him tickets for the next day’s concert, but told him the violinist [...]
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gregory Pardlo to chair jury for Gratiaen Prize
Prof Gregory Pardlo, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and the Head of the Literature and Creative Writing Program of NYU Abu Dhabi in the Arts and Humanities will head the Gratiaen Prize jury for the 32nd Gratiaen Prize. The call for entries for the 32nd Gratiaen Prize and HAIG Prize for Translation will open in mid-November [...]