Arts
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artistic dive into colourful cultures Born in Buenos Aires, Cora studied at the Escuela National de Bellas Artes Manuel Belgrano and under the artistic influence of her uncle, the Argentinean artist Rubén, after which she started her artistic journey in Germany in 1981. Having lived in Germany for five years, she has also worked in many countries including India, Nigeria and Mexico. Now in Sri Lanka where her husband is Director of the Goethe Institut after her previous post in Guadalajara, Mexico, Cora arrived in the country in December. Her most recent project was a contribution to Artlink WOMAD 2005 where shejoined French artist Beatrice Dacher and eight Sri Lankan artists in a project led by Britisher Angus Watt to design flags for the festival. “The body has reached the destination, the soul is still underway,” is a saying that Cora feels was proved right, when she had to change continents, countries, languages, and cultures. Having dedicated herself exclusively to African topics for the first two years during her stay in Mexico, she recalls an enormous arts project she created comprising 120 pieces. “Odu Iranti” involves sculpted African wood, further transformed and painted with African earth colours, 13 “doors”, black and white drawings, a ritualistic approach to mythology with an installation of carved and painted stools and gods, sculptures, paintings and a collage over five metres in length. When
it comes to the question of how far her artistic potential can stretch
within Sri Lanka, Cora remains optimistic. “Different countries
provide an artist with different inspirations and boundaries. Depending
on various cultural, natural surroundings and the artist’s
mood, the paintings can change,” she said, adding that no
matter how different the background, the personality of the artist
and the pattern and spirit, their workings remain unique at all
times. Cora also has a fondness for installations, which are avant-garde works of art that can be described as everyday objects slightly transformed to carry a message. “One of my favourite installations was a bed made of wilting roses, beautiful from a distance, but unappealing up-close because the wilting roses carried a fetid smell,” Cora said. Satisfying her artist’s curiosity through her many travels across the world, Cora has become the avant-garde artist that she is today by learning to trust her intuition and listening to any source of inspiration. Cora doesn’t believe in art as a source of revenue, as she feels art created for commercial purposes carries no spirit and allows little room for creativity. “If you create, you risk everything. But it’s only through creation that you can grow,” she says. Wow:It
was gripping The location for this intimate encounter was well chosen. The Punchi Theatre emanates a mysterious sense of familiarity that was ideal for a script of this nature. The crowd was not a regular Lionl Wendt interpretation of a gregarious mob, but an enthusiastic group of theatre lovers who didn’t want to miss a word. And Mamet’s plays usually do not offer the luxury of missing words. So there we were waiting for the curtain to reveal the magic. And an annoying cell phone rings. I growl and the over-sized female has the audacity to actually answer the call. Some discipline on the part of the audience can really help the performers, I must say. The play started on time! Bravo! The curtain opened with the professor on the phone. Feroze rushed his lines to such a degree that it was difficult to imagine that he was in fact having a telephone conversation. It was impossible to follow what was happening in relation to his wife, ‘Jerry’ and the house they were buying. Maybe some tonal variations could have helped and some more attention to the four P’s. The set was minimalistic and appropriate. The costumes were simple but that telephone was handled so badly! It was ringing after it was picked up! Then in walks Carol. Carol (Suhasha) had a radiating sense of stage presence. However, her diffidence was pushed to asinine limits. Maybe the director aimed at a sharper contrast in character development, but this was not at all necessary. If Carol’s diffidence was limited to a mere want in pitch and power, the first act could have been more palatable. The
overlapping exchanges between the professor and Carol were wonderfully
handled. While the director had maintained the escalating sense
of ‘heat’ between the two, these exchanges were handled
so skilfully that despite their overlapping, we hardly missed a
word. Well done! Ifaz Bin Jameel’s directorial abilities surfaced
mostly in the next two acts. While I found the first act a little
difficult to sit through, the second and third acts had me spellbound.
Suhasha’s shedding of artificiality was partly responsible
for this distinction. Then came the third act; the best of all. Suhasha was at her best and so was Feroze. The magic that two talented actors can create on stage was quite evident here. I could hear people breathing. The dialogue was that intense. Well sustained too. And the professor’s final retaliation was the culmination of this nerve-biting enactment of a professor-student dialogue. A special
note on stage blocking/movement/combat is in order. The typically
“Ferozean” sense of meticulous choreography added a
startling sense of realism to the end. And my final reaction was
an absolute “wow”! Colours
of nature come alive at BC “Colours used by the young artists, that’s what captured me in this art exhibition. In the end, it portrays the beautiful colours of Sri Lanka. It’s also a celebration of nature. These
paintings will create awareness about nature among the students
as well as their parents, thus helping to spread the message of
protecting the environment among all,” said Tony O’Brien,
the Director of British Council. Six-year- old N.V Senuri Anudika, from Matara District the youngest participant in this competition won the first prize while second place went to Safrina Shahul Hameed of Thunduwa Muslim Maha Vidyala in Kalutara. Placed third was K.L.N.G Kalupahana from Kandy. The paintings of 39 other young artists were highly recommended and highlighted in the exhibition stall. A lifetime
of painting and teaching Born on December 10, 1929 Mr. Saldin strove throughout his career to cultivate his own style as seen in the many paintings that hang on the walls of his living room. These paintings reveal his flair for capturing movement and expression in colourful brushstrokes. Having
followed a three-year course in drawing and painting at the Ceylon
Technical College, he was assigned to the staff of the Government
College of Fine Arts in 1951 where among his contemporaries were
Tissa Ranasinghe, George Bevan, Ivor Baptiste, A. K. V. Wijeysekara
and Sita de Saram. He was then absorbed into the Institute of Aesthetic Studies, University of Kelaniya in 1974 after which he pursued his passion for art through a series of exhibitions at the Society of Arts. He won many awards at open competitions as well. During Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Sri Lanka, in 1982, Mr. Saldin was appointed to complete two paintings related to the event, both of which can be found in her personal collection. The gallery of portraits of Muslim leaders of the past, in the Moors Islamic Cultural Home was also his work. He was also one of the few artists honoured by the Arts Council of Sri Lanka, when paintings were procured for the state’s Inaugural Permanent Collection in 1983. Although Mr. Saldin was invited to many prominent exhibitions, he has never held a solo exhibition. Among the many exhibitions he has been part of are the Colombo Plan Exhibition, the Commonwealth Exhibition in London, the San Palo Bienalles in Brazil and international exhibitions in New Delhi and China. While
oil painting is his speciality, Mr. Saldin has experimented with
woodcarving, Japanese metalwork, stage makeup and interior decoration.
75-years old now, Mr. Saldin hopes to hold an exhibition of his life-long paintings at the end of the year. |
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