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| Wednesday, 18 August 2004 |
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Lasting memories by Packiyanathan Ahilan An exhibition of paintings by 13 artists from Jaffna, organised by the Art Circle of the Department of Fine Arts, University of Jaffna in association with the Alliance Franchise de Jaffna was opened at the Alliance Franchise Gallery in Jaffna on July 20. The exhibition will conclude today. This is the 10th "Muthusam" (Heritage) programme of the Art Circle, which is based on the idea of the promotion of the art heritage in our society.
The show of 'Tanjavur glass paintings' (from Jaffna), early photographs of Jaffna, the photography exhibition of Jaffna's architecture, classical music and dance concerts, traditional 'special drama' (opera of Tamils) and the awareness programmes for safeguarding antiques and the cultural sites were the notable and remarkable record of achievements of the Art Circle in the past, in the field of art and culture. The modern history of Jaffna's painting begins with the formation of the Winsor Art club in 1938. From 1938 several institutions, individuals, little magazine circles participated and cultivated the field of visual art practices and discourses in Jaffna. The 1980s was the most important and transitional period of the Sri Lankan Tamil art scene including visual arts in the background of cruel ethnic conflicts. A. Mark, artist and art teacher who drew hundreds of paintings about the war in the 1980s, played the main role to establish the 'modern' way of painting in Jaffna.
The show is the outcome of this socio-historical context. It included 13 living and practising artists belonging to various generations and countries; who are living in varying conditions, gender and social status; each artist has his own past and present. But they are all from the same homeland: Jaffna the northern part of Sri Lanka. The ethnic war 'dislocated' the life and land of the people: diaspora and displacement of Tamils compelled them to adopt and relocate their life to the given conditions. They were compelled to live in a dual nature, travel from past to present. The homeland exists partly visible, partly invisible or partly in present, partly in the past. Memory replaced the lost land, streets, fields, homes neighbours and relatives, memory of the homeland become tortuous, nostalgic and also ecstatic. To the artists wherever they live, either in Canada or the U.K or France or Sri Lanka the memory of the land is the spirit of their work. They celebrate, they record, they re-code and they report their memories of their homeland. The paintings of local artists Kanagasabai, Rajaratnam, Assai, Rasiah, Kailasanathan, Nilanthan, Vasuki, Shanathanan, Sivaruban and Vaidehi (India), Arunthathy (U.K), Anushiya (U.K), Karuna (Canada) and Nanda Kandasamy (Canada) are being exhibited at this show. They map the plural nature of representation of art. Artist and art history lecturer, T. Shanathanan curated the show. **** Back **** |
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