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Kala
Korner by Dee Cee In recent years,though the song has had numerous renderings, some doing more damage to it rather than creating the patriotic and religious fervour expected of it. In that context, it is consoling to find leading songstress Nanda Malini giving it a refreshing touch in her latest release, 'Sadu Nada'. Nanda Malini has picked another popular song - 'Suvanda Padma Olu Aadi' - from 'Dutugemunu' and yet another - 'Aku Da Namavu' from 'Devanampiyatissa' , both John de Silva's 'nurtis' in her collection of 14 songs released on Vesak day. It's a 'first' again - all songs being on a Buddhist theme highlighting the virtues of the Buddha, hallowed places of worship and the significance of Vesak and Poson. Nanda presents them in her inimitable style with a deep sense of devotion. It's indeed a treat both for the pious as well as musical lovers. 'Budu Sadu' is a fine mix of the old and the new. The song 'Nimala Moksha', for example, is in the 'nadagam' style, sung so well with the renowned singer Sunil Edirisinghe. Nanda has also included the first song she sang over the radio ' Budu Sadu' (lyrics:Asoka Colamabage. Music direction by D D Danny) in 1958. Being on a Buddhist theme, it fitted in to the album. Singlanka has once again produced something meaningful. What a relief at a time when we have to tolerate utter trash over even the state TV channels, in the name of music. They call it this rhythm and that rhythm - what is dished out is absurd. These do not help in the least towards the progress of Sinhala music. New talent
unearthed The way he had photographed Lester James Peries and Chitrasena, maybe five decades ago, are fine examples of this. And then there was the 'Ponds girl' whom we admired in the fifties. Not only were the photographs in a class by themselves, they were tastefully exhibited. The Festival marked the completion of eight years of the Institute of Sri Lankan Photographers. Conference
on South Asian writers The conference will bring together different groups of writers who produce the various literatures that make up South Asian literature. South Asian writers who have penetrated the international reading community and secured places for themselves amongst the greatest of modern writers, represent, for the most part, only a fragment of the writing that is emerging from the people of this region. For much of what has captured the world's imagination as South Asian writing today, is actually South Asian writing in English - and it might be further classified as South Asian diasporic writing in English. What is more impressive than either the standard or volume of the work inspired by this region, is the enormous variety in subject matter and treatment of the same. The artistes chosen to participate at this conference have been divided into three broad categories: South Asian diasporic writers, South Asian writers - resident in the region, but writing in English and South Asian writers writing in regional languages. Those presenting papers include - from India: Raj Rao, R. K. Dhawan, Shajahan Madampat, Zafar Hasan Anjum and Mala Pandurang, from Nepal Abhi Subedi, from Bangladesh: Deena Forkan, Fakrul Alam and Razia Khan, and from Pakistan: Lubna Chaudhry and Robeena Tahir, and from Sri Lanka: Ruvani Ran-asinghe, Dilini Walisundera, Sreemali Herath, Shamara Ransirini, Chandana Dis-sanayake, Chandani Lokuge, Lakshmi de Silva, Neluka Silva, Sidharthan Mau-naguru and Gerard Robuchon. Radiating
colours that thrill Be prepared to be flooded with colour, colour which changes as you look at it and which thrills the viewer to the core. The petals of the white araliya, for example, on examination are seen to be fantastic blues and purples radiating out from its yellow heart. Farida's Haque's great gift is that through her work she teaches us to see things which we might otherwise have overlooked. Chinese artists used to write their poems on the actual paintings themselves. Farida Haque's poems, which although not physically entwined, have tremendous synergy with the paintings. 'Many Ends of a Mosaic' - the title of both poem and picture - is about the loneliness of being a unique being. In the painting, the individual mosaic pieces try to extend outwards to form a pattern but somehow dance alone as 'spirits dropped from black trees'. After reading the poem, the painting really comes alive and we feel that fragmented sense of self which is the human condition. It is tempting to see her work as a progress, both biographically and artistically, from darkness to light. She has said that coming to Sri Lanka three years ago from America was like going 'from a diluted reality to complete anarchy of the senses'. Her two paintings of Pakistan, her homeland, in an earlier vein, have a deep sense of loss and foreboding about them. The rich yellow rape fields growing from terracotta soil promise much that seems to be forbidden by a lowering sky harbouring repressive grey rain clouds. By contrast 'Colombo Garden', painted soon after her arrival here, is an attempt to come to terms with the feelings that this extraordinary tropical island evokes. The foreground is a meticulously described tree and garden plants but behind it two enormous banana leaves are falling like twin towers. The poem, 'City of Umbrellas' celebrates Colombo in the rain, a Colombo which is a like a lover, a 'dark mistress of immeasurable generosity'. The quartet of pictures accompanying it are fleeting snapshots of the city as seen on the move. By contrast the Sinharaja Rain Forest paintings are evocations of being under a rain forest canopy, the deep gloom pieced by strange sudden sun flecks, looking up to an unreachable sky. 'Under black thunder seeped my senses into green canopies.....with my eyes, I tore off a piece of that unbearable viridian' counterpoints the experience of the actual canvases. Once again, the artist. Don't miss this fleeting exhibition. The experience of colour itself is therapeutic, bringing us into touch with parts of ourselves which we've neglected or abandoned. Her poems always contain an 'other', an invitation to a response from the reader. Farida Haque has generously let us into her world and shared her journey with us. The writer is a psychotherapist attached to the Medical Faculty of University of Peradeniya. She is also an author and free-lance journalist. Magnificent
sounds of The Creation London-based English graphic artist Mark Rogerson is expected to give a visual dimension to the 100 minute performance, with imagery suggestive of motifs and ideas found in The Creation with its libretto based on the Book of Genesis and John Milton's Paradise Lost, the orchestra's conductor Lalanath de Silva said. Among the guest artistes will be Michael Dewis (Bass), Robert Johnston (Tenor), the Sri Lankan born Gayathrie Peiris (Soprano) and Guest Chorus Director Gregory Rose. Soloists from Sri Lanka include Eranga Gunatilleke (Soprano) and Dhilan Gnanadurai (Bass). Fifteen wind and string players from the Bombay and Amsterdam Chamber Orchestras including the internationally famous cellist Jean Decroos will be the guests of the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka for this performance, forming a full orchestra that would include trumpets, trombones and kettle drums. In the tradition of the oratorio for which Handel's Messiah is best known, The Creation is widely believed to be the greatest single work of Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) and one of the most incredible and inspiring pieces of music of the 18th century. It uses the recitative (melodious speech by soloists) solos, duets, trios and a full chorus backed by the orchestra to celebrate Nature's coming into being. The Creation is a simple, yet powerful musical celebration of the magnificence of the realms of being, each with an environment appropriate to it, says Conductor Lalanath de Silva. Musically, this is not an event to be missed. "The performance of The Creation is one of the projects of great importance undertaken by the SOSL in recent times. It has the potential to inspire a whole new generation to love and understand good music," he added. Commenting on it, the project's sponsor, the Three Coins Company said: "We hope this concert will be one of the most moving performing arts experiences that Sri Lanka has so far witnessed." The proceeds from the sale of tickets will go towards the SOSL endowment development and the instrument loan fund. Tickets will be available from June 17, at the Atrium of the Crescat Boulevard and at the Deli Market of World Trade Center. |
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