Sanjeewa Kumara's fantasies

Prasad Abu Bakr

PAINTING: It is pure fantasy and a cavalcade of colour depicted through the works of artist Sanjeewa Kumara who is presently showing a unique collection of his work at Paradise Road Galleries.

All the work that this artist has produced at present and even in the past strongly depicts a lot joyful overtures even if he is quite unconsciously or otherwise suggesting pathos or protest. It is in his inborn style that Sanjeewa addresses many issues that affect today's society at large, be it political or environmental.

With this, his 12th one man exhibition within a span of 10 years, the artist has deviated into many other areas and is grappling with subjects that seem to have never appeared in the process of producing his work during the earlier years. "I work on a few paintings at a time", explained the artist giving his audience a cue as to how his imitable style has continued to stay intact over the years.

But looking at his present work it is strange how one could have remembered his stamp of style so accurately even though one has walked through many exhibitions since Sanjeewa Kumara's last exhibition, at this same venue a year ago.

It takes a lot of willpower for creative people to keep track on a continuous style; either they have to willingly hold steadfast on to it or their regular form of self expression through whatever medium they dabble in has to nurture and form a style part, which can eventually reflect a sense of individuality. The latter is really true of artist Sanjeewa Kumara's career.

Style has become an issue in a global sense, in all fields and more so in creative streams. This may be due to the manner in which art is flourishing today in comparison to 25 years ago. It is naturally believed that only a stamp of style that can genuinely reflect the authenticity of what one is viewing or buying for that matter.

The honesty of an artist's approach towards his career too can be measured only by this same yardstick. So Sanjeewa Kumara's style of work too depicts his honesty.

Instead of changing methods and line to suit the trends that constantly change in today's art market, which is very obvious that many artists are involved in doing; this fact is evident every time they come up with a new collection of work. Sanjeewa Kumara has held on steadfast so sincerely on to his own, accepted or not.

The artist's present exhibition at Paradise Road Galleries at 2, Alfred House Road, Colombo 3, will be on till May 30 from 10.00 a.m. to midnight daily.

Photographic workshop and exhibition

Imagine Tropics

Venues: Goethe-Institut Colombo, 39, Gregory's Road and Bawa Estate in Lunuganga till May 25

The Residential workshop in Lunuganga: From May 14 to 22. Exhibition from May 25 to June 10

WORKSHOP: This project is part of a larger international collaborative initiative by all the Goethe-Institutes worldwide working in the tropical belt on the subject 'The Tropics'.

The final international exhibition of this initiative will be held in Berlin in 2008.

As part of this programme the Goethe-Institut Colombo/German Cultural Centre will be hosting a 2 weeks photographic workshop led by the internationally acclaimed German Photographer Karin Apollonia Mueller at the Bawa Estate in Lunuganga (home of the Architect Geoffrey Bawa). The workshop will focus on the specific theme of 'Imagine Tropics'.

Throughout the history the notion of paradise has been personified in the European imagination an evocation and a longing for a tropical paradise, a fantasy of exotic exuberance, overflowing fertility and sensuality, a metaphor for the Foundation of Life.

How do the photographers of Sri Lanka, living in this environment as the 'normal' one, create photographic essays on a different view of this environment? Tropics seen from within, imagined in a new attempt to experience it more consciously, as Geoffrey Bawa did, when he designed Lunuganga.

Exhibition:

The best photographs taken during the workshop with the same title are going to be presented at an exhibition in the Goethe Hall of the German Cultural Centre. The opening of the print exhibition will take place in the presence of the workshop director, Karin Apollonia Mueller.

As we obviously don't have images to show from this exhibition yet, we would like to provide you with some information about the workshop director perhaps a hint, what you, the participants can expect from her workshop.

Karin Apollonia Mueller - Workshop director

Karin Apollonia Mueller is an internationally acclaimed German photographer who has been working in both California and Germany for the past 10 years. Her subject matter is the notion of landscape and urban landscape. She has received numerous fellowships and awards internationally. Karin Apollonia Mueller's work is included in collections at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art amongst others.

Her recent body of work, 'Angels in Fall', was recently purchased by the Whitney Museum in New York. Widely travelled, she also has extensive experience as a workshop director.

After the workshop she will lead in Sri Lanka, her next big project will take place in China.

Her work is also included in a representative exhibition of modern photography from Germany. The World as One, curated by IFA, the well-known Cultural Institute for International Relations in Stuttgart, Germany.

The participants were selected by the workshop director on the basis of applications sent by them and are all local photographers involved in the field of photography. The project is co-sponsored by the Lunuganga Trust and is supported by Kodak.

Film stars and singers in cricket carnival

CARNIVAL: The country is going to experience probably one of the most exciting events of the year, featuring top film stars with singers and past Sri Lankan cricketers.

No it's not going to be a location shoot where they enact different roles before the camera, but a series of cricket matches that would demonstrate the ability of film stars in bowling, batting and fielding. The 'ICICI Bank stars cricket carnival' will bring all these stars together on May 28 at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium.

These stars will be playing to entertain thousands of cricket and film fans and on the other hand would be contributing to fatten up the monthly pensions scheme fund for the retired, deserving film artistes.

All the matches will be friendly exhibition matches. Teams that will be in action will be the 'Comedians' team led by the popular Tennyson Cooray, 'Actors' team captained by Arjun Kamlanath, 'Actresses' team led by Sumana Amarasinghe, 'Stunt Men' team captained by Teddy Vidyalankara, 'Singers' team led by the young singing sensation Champa Kalhari etc.

Apart from film stars there will be a team comprising some ex-Sri Lankan cricketers led by Arjuna Ranatunge. The final match would be between the past cricketers and the combined team of the film stars, which will be played under lights.

In addition to cricket action, there will be a lot of entertaining acts between the matches. During the breaks, there will be musical, skits and dance acts that will be performed by various artistes. All these acts are to be performed on a special stage at the ground itself.

Soon after all the cricket, there is a grand musical show which will feature some of the popular artistes in the country and there will be a lot of surprises as well.

The 'ICICI Bank stars cricket carnival' will be telecast live on Derana from 3.30 p.m. The telecast of these matches will be in international cricket coverage standards, and the whole TV production will be handled by a special international TV crew. The main sponsor of the event is ICICI Bank.

Annual Youth Awards Festival

AWARDS: The annual Youth Awards Festival is being organised for the 15th time by the Cultural and Communication Institute (CCI) at Battaramulla.

The CCI will hold an all island contest to encourage creative writing. Contests will be held in three stages, for children, youth and adults in essay writing, short stories, poetry, songs and children's books.

The award festival will be held in August in Colombo and applications could be obtained by sending a stamped envelope to the following address: Nimal Sedera, Chairman, Cultural and Communication Institute, 352, Ekamuthu Mawatha, Koswatta, Battaramulla.

The Wizard of Oz at Russian Centre

MOVIE: The Wizard of Oz (1939) will be screened at the Russian Centre in Colombo on May 27 at 5.00 pm.

Take your family on a fun filled journey down the yellow brick road where lions sing tin men talk, scarecrows dance and children of every age are reminded that in all the world, there's no place like home.

Whisked away by a swirling tornado, 12-year-old Dorothy (Judy Garland), her dog Toto and even her Kansas farmhouse sail over the rainbow and into the dazzling land of Oz. Filled with playful munchkins, enchanted forests and endless surprises, this dream-come- true world is one great adventure after another.

But the most wondrous adventure of all begins when Dorothy and her new found friends go in search of the kingdom's mysterious wizard and the secret that will lead her home.

Magical, musical and always memorable, The Wizard of Oz starring Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger and Bert Lahr is directed by Victor Fleming. The runtime 2 hours.

Call the cultural officer for further details on 2685429/2685440.

In Tune

SHOW BIZ: Making a drastic jump from 91 to the hot seat at No. 1, Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria is maximized at the this year's Maxim's seventh annual "Hot 100" list of the most successful women in film, TV, music, sports and fashion.

Still in shock as was the rest of the world, Eva's outburst was "Surely there are more beautiful women in the world?" We couldn't agree more! However, the magazine who seeks candidates bestowed with incredible beauty, potential to reach far and a hype around their stars, also voted Jessica Alba at No. 2, followed by Lindsay Lohan, Angelina Jolie, Stacy Keibler ("Dancing With the Stars"), Scarlett Johansson, Cameron Diaz, Kate Bosworth, Keira Knightley and singer-actress Christina Milian.

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With the whether inching up on the scale, Sean Paul continues to turn the heat up with his hot single "Temperature".

Reigning at No:1 for an indefinite number of weeks, Sean Paul is gearing up for a long and successful journey this year.

Despite having turned down a peculiar offer for a collaboration with ZZ TOP, the reggae star feels confident of his instantaneous decision about working with other musicians.

"I don't want to talk down about people, but there have been a few offers I've turned down".

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After five years in the shed, Tool has spun into the music industry with their latest release

"10,000 Days". The anonymous four men of Tool has followed their own vision choosing "substance over style, art over image" as they did 16 years ago when the band was initiated by front man Maynard James Keenan. The current single "Vicarious" averages about seven minutes fueled by double effort while standing in the shadow while constantly defying the conventions of the music industry.

The band's new album, "10,000 Days," is currently No. 1 on the Billboard 200 - the second time the band has reached the summit. This follows the sale of more than 8 million copies of its first three studio albums in the United States. "We wanted people to get into the music

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Considered outrageous and blasphemous, the controversial Da Vinci Code, finally has arrived in the local market, despite the forfeiting and attempts of keeping the picture under wraps. This epic novel-turned-to-theatre, has had a surprisingly low profile coverage and press screenings.

However, after exuberantly hounding many a movie stores, the visual flick of The Da Vinci Code is comparable to a stifled laugh! The plot is based on a murder and hidden clues in Da Vinci paintings that takes an American Professor Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) and the murder victim's estranged granddaughter Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou) around in a circle of deceit to the discovery of a religious mystery of two thousand years. A mystery that would shake the foundations of Christianity.

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Two years rumor mentioned of the birth of a super group involving best buddies Jack White and Brendan Benson. The addition of Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler confirmed and developed into "The Raconteurs".

With the release of the perky single, "Steady, as she goes" backed up by a few scattered live previews of their album "With Broken Boy Soldiers", The Raconteurs displays eclecticism and honey-thick melodies in their mere 33 minute long album. With the presence of Jack White vaguely present in their music, The Raconteurs is a timely side project for the band members. A side project that may cease to live up to their hype.