National Trust lecture on Ananda, Ethel Coomaraswamy
View(s):Architect Ismeth Raheem will deliver the National Trust lecture for July on ‘Ananda and Ethel Coomaraswamy and the Making of Medieval Sinhalese Art’ on Thursday, July 25, at 6.30 p.m. at the HNB Auditorium, 22nd Floor, HNB Towers, 479 T.B. Jayah Mawatha, Colombo 10. The lecture will be simultaneously transmitted to the E.L. Senanayake Children’s Library Hall at Kotugodella, Kandy.
Raheem’s talk will focus on Mediaeval Sinhalese Art produced by Ananda and Ethel Coomaraswamy with particular emphasis on the pivotal role Ethel played in the compilation of this book.
Born in Sri Lanka in 1877, Ananda Coomaraswamy had an illustrious academic career both in Wycliffe College, England and at the University of London where he obtained First Class Honours in the Natural Sciences, with a specialised interest in geological studies. He married Ethel Partridge in June 1902. She was born in 1872 in Devon and had obtained a diploma in teaching prior to her marriage. A multifaceted and talented character, she had a keen interest in both art and science.
They arrived in Sri Lanka in 1903, when he took up the post of Director of the Minerological Survey of Ceylon. As a result of their experiences both Ethel and Ananda were prompted to undertake research and fieldwork on pre-colonial art.
Medieval Sinhalese Art was published in December 1908. Ethel’s contribution to the publication is significant. In addition to contributing some of the text in the book, including the chapters on embroidery and ivory, horn and shell, she took over thousand photographs for their research and publications under difficult conditions and assisted her husband in many other ways to bring out this remarkable limited edition publication which has now become a canonical work on the subject.
The National Trust – Sri Lanka lectures are open to members and the public at a nominal fee.Further information can be obtained from the Trust Office at the Post Graduate Institute of Archaeology, 407, Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 7. Tel: 2682730.
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