The Central Province Handcraft Exhibition - 2006

Ruwini JAYAWARDANA

EXHIBITION: The annual handcraft exhibition of the Central province was held at the Grand Ballroom in Queen's Hotel, Kandy from November 16 to 18.

A large collection of handcraft items, nearly 1500, were present by craftsmen from different areas of the central province: Kandy, Matale and Nuwara Eliya.

The chief guest was the Chief Minister of the Central province, Sarath Ekanayake, while the opposition leader of the Central province, Nandimithra Ekanayake, the former minister, S. Arulswami, the secretary of the Ministry of industry, Shirani Weerakoon, the assistant director of the Department of Central Province Industrial Development and Business Promotion Pushpa Dissanayake, and the director of the "Jathika Shilpa Sabha", Thilaka Jayasundara graced the occasion.

This special event was organised by the Department of Central Province Industrial Development and Business Promotion with the assistance of the Central Province Ministry of Industry and the "Jathika Shilpa Saba". "Kandurata Sanwardana" Bank was the sponsor.

The handcraft items include "Sesaths", brass items, musical instruments, Bathiks, Jute (Dumbara motifs), Reedware, jewellery, artefacts made of red clay, patchwork, lace, traditional paintings, handmade paper and wood carvings.

The specialty about this year's event was that a number of new creations have joined the field. Among them is a clock made of lacquer and wood. It had won first place in the category of modern creations and is the work of O.K.G.S.K. Sanjeewa from the Matale district. It had taken him nearly a month to put the creation together.

Another product which won first place from the Matale region is a "Sesath". It is the work of A.G. Dharmadasa and he had expressed the wish to donate it to the Temple of the Tooth Relic.

To the head of the Ballroom was a beautiful artefact carved out of leather portraying god Saman inviting the Buddha to set foot on Adam's peak. This spectacular creation was done by M.A. Dharmawardana from Peradeniya, Kandy. It was sold for Rs. 15,000.

"The prices of the creations ranged from Rs. 25 to nearly 300,000. There is a metal trunk with cravings done by E.D. Weerasinghe of Kandy, which costs Rs. 250,000. It is the most expensive creation on display," pointed out M.M.H.G. Samaranayake, the "Jathika Shilpa Sabha" associate from Matale.

"We chose winners under 42 categories. The winners were selected by six judges from the University of Aesthetic Studies, Colombo. We received about 320 applications and about 200 craftsmen took part in this exhibition," Samaranayake said.

One of the contestants of this event, Ariyawathi Muthupatinge, 68, had been a continuous winner of the annual event for 13 years.

She had an exquisite collection of lace works, wool and satin garments, and Beearalu sari blouses on display. Her work ranged from hand woven table clothes to knitted lace portraits. Her talent and years of experience had led her to emerge as a winner in this year's competition as well.

"The National exhibition was be held at the BMICH on November 29 and 30. All those who have won first, second and third places would to take part in the final competition. Those who win at the final will be presented with presidential awards and cash," explained Nishantha Wijayalath, the associate director for the central province of the "Jathika Shilpa Saba".

Apart from the exhibition and competition, an awards ceremony was held at the Pushpadana Hall, Kandy, to present last year's winners with awards and certificates. H.G. Lapaya from Kalasirigama, Kandy, R.N.U.A. Wijerathne from Neelawa, Kandy, and M.A.R. Karunarathne from Palle Hapuvida, Matale received special awards.

These three awards were said to be given once in every two years to three great craftsmen who have been a pride to the nation.

"We hold events like this with the aim of opening doors to the local as well as international market.

This opportunity serves to benefit the economy of the individuals as well as the country," commented Wijayalath. "There is a good market for nature friendly products. The attorneys need to pay more attention to this matter," he stressed.

Pictures by Saman Sri Wedage

'Sewwandi' a tale of love, passion and revenge

Ruwini JAYAWARDANA

CINEMA: Internationally acclaimed actress Sangeetha Weeraratne's first cinema production, "Sewwandi" is to be screened at the Savoy and other EAP theatres from December 7.

"Sewwandi" is an adaptation of the true story of Inoka Sewwandi. The film portrays a touching tale of an ordinary girl who is faced with many challenges in life and gives up everything she possesses for the sake of love.

It vividly highlights its theme, "When a woman's love is betrayed, there is no limit to her wrath". "I feel that this story would appeal to the women in society as this storyline is about a woman's struggle," said Sangeetha, the producer, lead actress and international distributor of "Sewwandi".

"I think the message is focused in facing love, passion, and marriage in our society. Since this is based on a true story, I felt that it would touch the hearts of all our people. My role as Kumari was tough to perform and was a challenge for me."

The movie has a strong back up cast: Sangeetha Weeraratne (Kumari), Kamal Addaraarachchi (Pradeep), Chandani Seneviratne (Lalitha), Ravindra Randeniya (Priyantha), and Dilhani Ashokamala (Shirani) play the lead roles. Dayan Witharana makes his debut appearance to the silver screen through this movie.

Wasantha Obeysekere composed the script and directed the film while Jayantha Gunewardena handled the photography.

"Sewwandi" was edited by Ravindra Guruge. The music is by Rohana Weerasinghe and the art director is Lal Harindranath. It is co-produced by Sunil T. Fernando.

Pictures by Saman Sri Wedage

Mathura Strings to usher in Christmas breeze

MUSIC: The bells of the CSI Church, Francis Road, Wellawatte will peal merrily on December 2 "Ushering in Christmas Breeze" at 6:30 pm.

This year will be the fourth year of performance by Isaac Kulendran's Mathura Strings, which was named after his mother Mrs. Mathuram Kulendran, in remembrance of her contribution to the betterment of Church music.

One aim of Mathura Strings was to build the ability of the young players and Isaac Kulendran proudly claims that his pupils have mastered difficult keys of "A" Major and "B Flat" majors, and are able to play them with ease.

Among the young soloists would be Mewan Dabare, Ruth Anketell and Ramesh P. Ganahariti. Among the mature players would be Amila Jayawardene and Rosana Kulendran, all whom would be accompanied by the seasoned pianist Premila Perimpanayagam.

To top it all will be Ramesh P. Ganahariti's message. There would be interesting pieces too like the Manandarin Chinese song "Midnight Stars", Bach's minuet, Mozart's Einekleine Nacht Musik (Andante only) and a piece displaying the technicalities of the violin.

A relaxed and cool breeze awaits everyone who would be attending the programme "Ushering in Christmas Breeze". All music lovers and critics are invited to attend. Admission is free.