• Mirroring our times
• Wonder boy
• Acne in Adult Women
• Where do you go for fun.....?
• Glad to be a country boy..
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Mirroring our times

For ten days, they spoke about art, thought about art, agreed and disagreed. Kumudini Hettiarachchi meets with Artists, who gathered at an International Artists' Camp in Habarana Village.

As you drive into Habarana Village, the beautiful "wewa" (tank) and the manicured gardens, with a few grazing ponies come into view. The eye also takes in strange shapes, seven in all, among the ponies. Getting closer, you realise they are sculptures. Two-faced, human/animal, heads of clay, decorated with exotic flowers, on mounds of mud. Among them, in the middle, a hole dug in the earth, meant to depict the door to the orient.

The sculptures done just seven days ago, have withstood the rain, and are an appropriate symbol - an exchange between east and west. An exchange it is for 31 artists, who have gathered at an International Artists' Camp from October 5 to 15 at Habarana Village. This residential artists' camp has been organised for the second consecutive year by the Goethe Institute in collaboration with the British Council, the Alliance Francaise, the George Keyt Foundation and the Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts.

Ten artists selected by the Vibhavi Academy, 10 by the George Keyt Foundation, three by the Institute of Aesthetic Studies and eight foreign artists, have spoken art, thought art, pondered art, agreed, disagreed and discussed each others' work during the 10 days they have been together. They have dealt with styles and contemporary techniques at length and as the evening shadows fall, watched slides of each others' works and argued about the strengths and weaknesses.

Among the foreign artists two are from Germany, two from England, two from France, one from India and from Nepal. After all this art in Habarana, their works would be exhibited at the National Art Gallery in Colombo from October 25 to 27. According to camp co-ordinator Ranjith Perera, from Vibhavi, Habarana was chosen as the location because it was away from the hustle and bustle of the city. "We needed a dynamic environment where the artists could interact and also get into that frame of mind for painting. They have nothing else to do. They are away from the hassles of the city. So they can just paint," he says.

At the start of the camp, some of the artists looked around, cycled to Anuradhapura, Sigiriya and Dambulla. These cultural sites, Mr. Perera feels, with their own beautiful art form, "provoked" thought.

And as we soon found out, it is not only art as in painting at the camp, but also 'other' forms of art as well. For Michel Wohlfhart from France, it was sculpture and he did his work in the hotel garden. His was the work we spotted as we entered. But the rain had come and pieces of his sculpture were coming off, he smiled picking up the tusk of an elephant from the ground. What would he put on display in Colombo? He would take a few "bits" of clay from his sculptures as relics and along with slides show the evolution and making of his works.

As we strolled past the chalets occupied by the artists, evident from all the half-done paintings hung around and paint tubes and brushes strewn about, we came across Druvinka Bodh, a Sri Lankan busy with a large "frame" of oil on canvas. In the large picture, there were small windows through which "skeletal" people could be seen in various scenes. What inspired her? The "walking dead bodies" in the Rwandan conflict has made her take as her theme, the different crises, be they man-made or natural, innocent families face.

There are similar problems here and in other countries, she says. For Druvinka, family life also means art, because her husband, Balbir Bodh, Curator of the Heritage Gallery in Colombo is himself an artist. Their two-year-old son, Tashi Sanden is also showing promise as an artist. She and her husband, who is from Tibet and whom she met when she was studying at Shanthi Nikethan in India, hope to open a print-making studio in Colombo for budding artists.

In an indirect way, Ashmina Ranjit from Nepal too is taking up the issues faced by families, but seen through the eyes of the oppressed women in Asia's patriarchal societies. Her theme is "women and sensuality." "You can fight for women's rights in different ways and I am fighting through the brush," she says, while adding the finishing touches to an "untitled" painting. It seems like flames, bright red flames. Is this fire? I question timidly and she replies, "Inner fire."

Our eyes are drawn by paintings depicting turmoil. Barbed wire, black smoke_" Yes, paintings are a way of expressing feelings about our environment," H.W. Tillekeratne explains shyly. As a painter, he cannot visualise anything sans the environment. And in the present environment there are many problems, many needs, materialism is on the rise and so is unease. He has been successful in conveying his message, because his paintings seem an apt mirror of our times.

For Thomas Scheibitz from Germany, his immediate environment seems to be the problem. It is very humid and hot, he says. "I cannot paint during the day because of this. I also cannot sleep at night because of it. So I paint only in the night and in my room." He usually likes to paint landscapes, and has done a series of small abstract paintings, mostly what he has seen indoors and through his window, blending them with what his imagination produces.

Sharon Kivland from England has been doing "nothing" at the camp, only "observing".. She is an artist of a different kind. She puts together "pieces of text" by talking, listening and observing people. Her job is to, literally, add the punchline to the works of art of the camp participants. She will do so, just before they are exhibited in Colombo. She has been in "observational" contact. She has watched the whole process - the dynamics of the group since they met, how they paired off and branched off, she says. There was a "separateness" between those from the west and those from the east at the beginning. Two days before she saw the two groups move across. The blending, mixing and thinking aloud resulted after seeing Ashmina's painting, Ms. Kivland said.

For bearded Jagath Ravindra producing a work of art in the raw is abhorrent. Any experience or social issue being dealt with in a painting should have "art values". It should possess the characteristics of art which are form and structure, he stresses. A painting of his, we saw, was in "panel form." Two frames together, but which could also be used separately. A man in isolation, even though he is involved in many social and economic issues. Ebenezer Sundersingh from India looks into himself and does figurative paintings using childhood memories symbolically. He comes from the artists' village of Chola Mandal in Madras, where he runs a studio. We were intrigued by the painting of a man's head with hooks sticking out.

The Habarana camp has provided Benjamin Swaim from France a chance to dabble more in the "new work" he has been interested in for some time. Those days he used to do big paintings, and has held solo and collective exhibitions, but now he is attempting to fill the "space" between a painting and a book - ink sketches with a few lines of writing. Dubbing them "visual poems" he says the writing is something which comes from his head.

As the evening draws to a close, we leave the artists, viewing the works of their colleagues. The camp seems to have achieved its goal - interaction and an exchange of views and techniques.

Wonder boy

By Wathsala Mendis

Lanka's leading pacie, this very down to earth young man is the idol of many cricketers and the dream of every girl. Talent, fame, good looks...he has it all in abundance. Irrespective of age, race, or gender, everybody admires him. But quite oblivious to all this, 'Wonder Boy' Chaminda Vaas is still very much a family guy who loves to be fed by his mother and petted by his brothers and sisters (he's the youngest in the family, having two brothers and two sisters).

According to his mum, Chaminda and his father are the best of friends. Mrs. Vaas also reveals that Chaminda will be tying the knot next year.

We caught up with Chaminda Vaas, after practices, Walkman in hand (he listens to music whenever he can) to ask him a few of his favourite things.

Place

There's no place like home. As cricketers we're always on the move and have very little spare time. I treasure every moment I get to spend with my family.

Memory

The day we won the World Cup. March 17, 1996. How can I ever forget that? It was such a great victory, especially for a country like Sri Lanka. We were the minnows, yet we beat the cricketing giants.

Person

Jesus Christ. He's granted almost all of my wishes.

Fantasy

To be the best in the bowling department. (Isn't he already at the top?) No, there's still a long way to go.

Colour

White and blue. They are simple colours.

Journey

After our World Cup victory, we were invited to tour in the States.

We got the opportunity to visit Disneyland, Universal Studios, and Planet Hollywood. It was the chance of a lifetime, I would say. (He also fondly remembers their trip to Victoria Falls on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe while on tour, which he describes as 'out of this world.')

Time of day

Bedtime, of course! (No wonder!)

Item of clothing

Sarong or jeans with a T shirt. It's very comfy. Besides, I like to dress simply.

Cricketer

Wasim Akram. I like his style. He's truly a professional.

Possession

Humility and simplicity. (It's written all over him.)

Sport

Football. Apart from cricket it's the next best thing. I've played football in school and in clubs.

Song

'No Matter What' by Boyzone. It's pretty meaningful. But mostly I like Sinhala songs, especially Asanga Priyamantha's song about 'Amma.' (He may have conquered the world of cricket, but to his Mom he's still her 'baby.' She still feeds him and washes all his clothes.)

Sportsman

Pete Sampras. It's a treat to watch him play. He's also very simple and unassuming.

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