Harvest feast in the season of the sun
It is the season of the sun. It is the burst of spring. The celebration of the Hindu solstice. It is the thanksgiving day for farmers to offer to the temples of their Gods, the first harvested rice of their effort and toil. It’s Thai Pongal. The harvest festival celebrated by millions of Hindu Tamils [...]
A sustainable green model
The gentle scent of basil fills the air and later one leaf crushed between the fingers of another variety gives out a slightly stronger scent. The first is Sweet Thai basil and the second Genovese basil, we learn, while fascination rises when we see the super food Tuscan kale, with the curly-edged leaves taking the [...]
WNPS lecture: Living in the only wetland capital in the world
Environmental scientist Dr. Chethika Gunasiri will deliver this month’s Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS) lecture – ‘Living in the only wetland capital in the world’ on Thursday, January 19 at 6 p.m. at the Jasmine Hall of the BMICH. Colombo is built on a mosaic of interconnected marshes and waterways known as the Colombo [...]
Recreating a pivotal period in history
Perhaps for the first time in his career, Prasanna Vithanage has ventured into recreating history on the silver screen; correction digital screen. What a herculean task! Hats off to him for his splendid effort in ‘Gaadi- Children of the Sun’. The story is set 200 years ago in the backdrop of the conquest of the [...]
Disruptive meditations
One of the strangest reader fulfillments of a book of poetry is its ability to disrupt the calcified events of life. The modalities of such disruptions are what make the creative art of the poetry memorable—and alarming! Reading through Nipuni Ranaweera’s debut collection of poems titled ‘Take me in small doses’, one cannot help but [...]
Sensitive exploration of a conflicted soul
The Lyrebird’s Cry is Sri Lankan Australian writer, Samantha Sirimanne Hyde’s debut. An alumna of the University of Kelaniya and Sydney’s Macquarie University, Sirimanne Hyde’s free verse, haiku, tanka and other poetic forms and short fiction have appeared in Australian and overseas publications. Inspired by a true story, the book explores questions about love, sexuality, [...]
A4A artists in group show
From January 19– February 11, the Saskia Fernando Gallery in collaboration with Udayshanth Fernando Foundation (UFF) presents A4A, a group exhibition by the three grantees of the 2021 Artists for Artists Production Fund (A4A) – Aruni Dharmakirthi, Lojithan Ram and Randika de Silva at the Saskia Fernando Gallery in Colombo. Launched in October 2021, A4A [...]
Letters to the Editor
Public should donate artefacts to the Museum It is not surprising that the galleries of the Colombo Museum are largely dedicated to the classical period of Sri Lankan history (Plus Section, January given that was very much the aim of its founder, Sir William Gregory. Though after his arrival in Sri Lanka Gregory was initially [...]
Appreciations
An inspiring lady, she touched many hearts Rupa Samarasekera Mrs Rupa Samarasekera, wife of the late Senapala Samarasekera, passed away peacefully in her sleep at her residence at Bataduwa, Galle, on November 23, 2022, 19 days shy of her 97th birthday. She came to her husband’s house at Bataduwa as a young bride and lived [...]