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Arts Kala Korner
by Dee Cee Only a few
may have known that it was Shantha who gave the innovative treatment
to the weekly supplement on arts in the daily Divaina sometime back.
(He is presently the Art Editor). The few pages that were exhibited
showed a totally new approach to page layouts. There was a freshness
in them. One could see the genuine effort made by a creative artiste
to do something new. The pages were bold layouts with one or two
impressive black and white pictures - sometimes with a lot of white
space. The impact was eye catching. One had a feature on the renowned
sculptor Surendra. A dominating picture of one of Surendra's creations,
a portrait of the sculptor and the write-up about his creations
had been presented effectively. Describing
how he tried to be different to other cartoonists who had made a
name for themselves, Shantha says he tried to give a mobile effect
to the drawing to make a sharp statement and scribbled the words
without using the typed letters. The result was a series of pocket
cartoons titled 'Ekath Ehemeda' (Is that so) adorning the front
page of the Divaina for three years. "The objective of my pocket
cartoon was to use a headline appearing in the newspaper to kindle
subtle humour while bringing to the attention of the reader a weakness
prevalent in society," he explains. Referring to
the different classification of art (pure, commercial and applied),
he believes that under whatever category, a creative artist is able
to produce quality work based on his understanding of the medium,
his mastery of skill and his perception of the society he lives
in. Shantha's exhibtion
marked the release of a collection of his pocket cartoons in book
form - a 'must' for anyone's library because it reflects the social,
political and economic environment that existed in the country in
the eighties. As renowned cartoonist Wijesoma says, Shantha's book
of cartoons "makes you look at the most serious situations
in a lighter vein." Wijesoma sees
Shantha as a cartoonist who introduced a new style, breaking away
from the traditional, to the pocket cartoon, not seen in Sinhala
newspapers before. In the book,
Shantha has presented the cartoons in an interesting way. In the
first few pages he reproduces the newspaper pages with his cartoons
in the exact format they appeared in. Thereafter he has devoted
a page for each cartoon with a news headline indicating the topic
which prompted him to draw the cartoon and the cartoon with his
wording. There is an English translation given to each so that even
a non-Sinhala reader is able to enjoy it. A good thought. It's well worth
having Shantha's book of cartoons in anyone's collection. The journalist's
touch Among other
literary efforts by Jayasuriya are the 'Voyage', the English translation
of popular writer Jayasena Jayakody's novel, 'Pichcamala', and the
English versions of 'Thera Theri Gatha' and 'Selalihini Sandesa'.
Being his first try, 'Wevu Bendi Rajje' is a highly successful effort. Jayasuriya joins the band of civil servants who made it a point to put down on paper their experiences while serving in the remote parts of our beautiful and unspoilt island. More music,
Peradeniya Singers On December
19 evening, I had occasion to cross the valley to this sanctuary
of Christianity for a splendid recital of Christmas music compiled
and conducted by that irrepressible doyenne of music here, Bridget
Halpe. From Palestrina to Barber Shop, from the Basques to the Tamils,
we had a truly imaginatively selected programme which was as varied
as it was well performed; and of course we all had our chance to
massacre two thumping hymns: 'Hark the Herald' and 'Come all ye
faithful' being rescued in the final verses by the extremely competent
and well rehearsed Peradeniya Singers. It would be
hard to single out individual items for special praise, though I
suppose it must be said that by far the most ambitious piece was
the Vaughan Williams 'Fantasia on Christmas Carols', in which the
baritone solo was ably taken by the young English baritone Christopher
Lawson. I personally
much enjoyed the Sinhalese Carol with which I was unfamiliar, though
the Tamil item to my ears sounded too much like an Israeli folk
song! All in all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening of music. May we hear
much more music from Bridget and her Peradeniya Singers, and Kandy
resound to her efforts. A companion
for pleasure, thought and reflection I am no writer
nor a literary critic, but a mere lover of literature - be it poetry
or prose. As an ordinary reader I felt I should place on record
my joy and amazement at the talent Kumari displays in her writing,
not merely in the variety of style and topic, but also in the imagery
of her word pictures and the power of thought, conveyed sometimes
in the whole poem, sometimes in a verse and sometimes in a couplet,
throbbing with rhythm and meaning. She speaks of Friendship thus: "Earth's
friendships fragile chain "To
be or not to be Kumari can
focus on something with precision or produce an aura of intangibility;
for example in "Climb every mountain", in which she virtually
takes us on a world tour from Switzerland to Canada, from South
America to Russia, from Sri Lanka to Italy, and finally coming to
rest on the highest peak - Everest; and in "Falling Waters"
she goes from Dunhinda, Diyaluma and St. Clares to Victoria and
Niagara. In "Song of the Flowers" she again dwells briefly
on some 20 different blooms and ends with the beautiful thought: "If
flowers would govern our lives' day, Kumari's poetry
displays not merely beauty of composition, it evokes deep thought
that reveals her spirituality and belief in and love of God. This
is not merely in the poems on God "Of Silence", or on
"Lent", but in the sudden shift from the material to the
spiritual as in "Sound of Waves": "Gentle
tide that meets the shore At the same
time, she sees the humour in the Bible stories, which ends with
a hilarious poem of Jesus, Moses and an old bearded man playing
golf! Kumari's poems
are a good companion - for pleasure, for thought and quiet reflection.
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