Erik Berglund:

‘On Wings of Love’ to heal your soul

MUSIC: World famous harpist and tenor, Erik Berglund is about to engage on his first ever concert in Asia. In other words he will be visiting Sri Lanka! The concert, “On Wings of Love”, presented by “Joy of healing”, Germany, will be held at St. Joseph’s College Chapel, Colombo, on February 27. Paul Mueller of “Classic Live”, the Austrian promoter of the concerts is coordinating the event. His daughter, Nicole, also a talented singer, will join Erik on stage.

Erik Berglund is of Norwegian descent and was raised in Minnesota where his mother was a singer and choir director and his father was head of the fine Arts Department and Orchestra Director at St. Olaf College.

Erik grew up in an artistic environment. He was active in everything from puppetry and film making to drama and painting. He also played the piano, violin and sang.

Erik toured Norway playing the violin as a part of his father’s orchestra and later toured the United States as a member of the St. Olaf choir. The talented musician then moved to New York to work for Tomlin films on educational productions; acted in off-off Broadway Theatre; and co-wrote and performed puppet musicals in conjunction with the children’s Museum of the Native American.

Erik’s fascination for the harp evolved when he began to study harp music under Mildred Dilling, the legendary harpist who taught Harpo Marx. Since then the harp became Erik’s major form of artistic expression. He began singing and playing in cities throughout the world: the United States, Europe, Canada, South America, and the South Pacific.

The harpist had recorded many albums, including the following CDs: Angel Chants, Harp of the Healing Light, Angel Flight, Healing Harp of Heaven, Angel Beauty, Harp of the Healing Waters, and Angelic Harp Music.

In addition to being an international recording artist, Erik is a sensitive healer whose life has touched thousands via workshops, retreats, and private healing sessions. Leela Sylvia Isani and Satya Sabine Wimsen, who are well known German healers, will be joining him.

Leela and Satya have used 20 years of experience to dedicate their lives to uplift mankind into a higher consciousness in order to make the world a more peaceful and loving place. they organize seminars around the world and organize spiritual journeys and events.

Due to their love for the island, both Leela and Satya have inspired many different international artists to visit Sri Lanka. They will be organising seminars on miracles of healing on March 10 and 11.

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Multicultural show at Sterling Heights, Michigan

TAMIL CULTURE: Sri Lankan Tamil kids from Michigan, a Northern city of the United States of America entertained thousands at a colourful multicultural show at Sterling Heights with kids from various parts of the world on February 2.

The Mayor of Sterling Heights graced the occasion where the majority of the audience was Americans.

The programme is conducted every year with the participation of 1000 plus audience where the Michigan kids join with kids from more than 15 other nations.

The same group of Michigan based Sri Lankan kids did a show for tsunami relief and raised more than US $12,000.00.

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‘Unknown Canada’ brought to Sri Lanka

The best test of a civilized society is the way in which it treats its most vulnerable and weakest members. (Mahatma Gandhi)

PHOTOGRAPHY: A collection of selected photos chosen to be published and distributed all over Canada by The Pivot Legal Society, and brought to Sri Lanka by Olga Afonina, is being exhibited in Alliance Française de Kandy from February 23 to March 2 along with her own works, reflecting six months experience of Unknown Canada.

Olga believes that art, as the most sophisticated and flexible feature of human, creative self-expression, makes life sensible, and is naturally assigned to smooth away and cure social problems. It has the potency to seal up spiritual and cultural gaps in the society. Her recent half-year in Vancouver, Canada, was devoted to exploring this in practice.

The primary goal of the exhibition is to demonstrate and attract public attention to such unique human rights-respecting programs as Safe Injection Site (free drug injections in a safe environment), an anti-discrimination campaign for sex trade workers, subsidised health care programs, various volunteer initiatives, and some other relatively unknown human supportive programs in Vancouver.

The city’s quiet leadership, in human rights and humane support to vulnerable populations, is an inspiration and model to compassionate people of intelligence and goodwill, in all countries where responsible, respectful and practical solutions are sought.

The result of Olga’s experience and research was that she won second place in the Pivot Legal Society’s Hope in Shadows 2006 Downtown Eastside Photography contest for her photo alley, which plays on light and shadows to reflect the areas many contrasts.

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Ancient myth comes alive on stage

STAGE DRAMA: Trojan Kanthawo, a translation of the Greek playwright Euripides’ “The Trojan Women” (Troiades), will go on boards at the Lionel Wendt Theatre on February 28 at 7 pm.

The drama is staged as a fund riser for the Abhina Academy Building Fund.

The plot of the play revolves around the fate of the women of Troy after their city has been sacked, their husbands killed, and as their remaining families are about to be taken away as slaves.

The play is directed and produced by Dharmasiri Bandaranayake.

The cast include a number of celebrities, which include Anoja Weerasinghe, Neil Alas, Yashoda Wimaladharma, Meena Kumari, Nilmini Buwaneka, and Dharmasiri Bandaranayake.

The set designs are also by Dharmasiri Bandaranayake and Nimal Bulathsinhala while Rookantha Gunathileka composed the music. Jerome de Silva handles the choreography and the make up is by Wasantha Wittachchi. Priyantha Prabash is the stage manager.

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Rekawa: Sinhala cinema’s line of destiny

Review by Somachandre Wijesuriya

CINEMA: On the anniversary of Lester James Peries’ film Rekawa there were many eulogies paid to the director at the ceremony at Regal but many poins were missing.

One points is why fifty years after Rekawa Sinhala cinema remains one of the most pitiable art forms in the country. Two books were published on this occasion but they have not identified the cultural trends that gave the impetus to Rekawa.

The main cultural trend which made Rekawa possible is the activities of the 1943 group, Sri Lankan equivalent of Salon des Independents. The formation of this group was one of the most important events in Sri Lankan culture.

Its importance lies in the synthesis of traditional art forms and those deriving from the West, which has produced painting truly Eastern in inspiration, yet of universal validity.

It made a paradigm shift in the concept of art in the country. Lester was not directly involved in the movement but his brother was and one cannot leave out the possibility of its influence in the sensitive mind of an artist in puberty.

Most writings about Lester ignore this fact and portrays him as the visionary who rescued Sinhala cinema from the grip of decadent Indian cinema. This concept coincides with the subsequent rise of Sinhala chauvinism which was diametrically against the progressive Western cultural trend established by the 43 group.

Art does not form itself in a vacuum and is greatly influenced by the politics of an era. The Indian trend was an attempt to show values of South Indian culture which faced threats of Christian influence under the British.His appreciation of cinema as an art was negative and he led a critical movement in Sinhalese cinema which is even today a negative influence.

The influence for Rekawa came from Neo-realism, of Italian cinema and not from the vituperative critical tendencies of Vilegoda. Neo realism originated in post-war Italy and the main attribute of this trend was the attempt to describe the difficult economic and moral conditions of Italy.

The films were shot out doors simply because the people whose lives were depicted in films were mostly refugees and had no roofs over the heads.

One reason why our cinema is still in a pitiable state is we do not have writers who are bold enough to penetrate this parochial vision. It has been said that after Gamperalya the great film maker has made more family films than art films. One cannot make great films if great scripts are not available.

Great scripts come from great writers and currently they are not available due to monolingualism in our education for over fifty years after Rekawa in 1956.

There is another reason. Great writers are also thinkers who can foresee social upheavals. They were there on the eve of French Revolution. The French became a great nation.

The writers challenged the notion that kinship is god given Our writers mentally live in the Sinhala Buddhist State created by the rulers for their existence. They do not challenge censorships.

Fifty years after Rekawa we have gone past Dharmasiri Pathiraja, Dharmasiri Bandarnayake, Tissa Abeysekera and arrived at Wimukthi Jayasundara. Where do we go from here? A question that should be posed to the current Chairman of the Film Corporation.

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Diary

Events at Indian Cultural Centre

ENTERTAINMENT: The Indian Cultural Centre has organised a line up of programmes for the end of the month. A violin recital by E.M. Indrani Edirisooriya, lecturer of the University of Visual and Performing Arts, is scheduled for February 23 at 6.00 p.m. The Hindi movie “Arth”, with English subtitles, will be screened at the premises on February 26 at 5.30 p.m. A Hindustani vocal recital by Chamila Edwards is organised on February 28 at 6.00 p.m.

Chathuskka and Surandika’s Arangetram

DANCE: The Arangethram of Chathuskka and Surandika Seneviratne will be held at the Elphinstone Theatre on February 24 at 6.00 p.m. They were trained under the guidance of Rangana Ariyadasa Udayakumara, directress of the Sripada Ranga Nrthya Nikethana (Kadawatha). The two girls were past pupils of Sirimavo Bandaranaike Vidyalaya, Colombo.

‘Modaborn’ at Lionel Wendt

DANCE: Kapila Palihawadana and his students will be performing a dance titled “Modaborn” at the Lionel Wendt Theatre, Colombo 7, on February 24 and 25.

Natanda dance theatre’s work infuses modern dance with a distinct influence from traditional Sri Lankan and Indian dance forms. This is a totally new kind of dance theatre.

Rohan de Saram inaugurates 50th season of the Symphony Orchestra

MUSIC: The 50th season of the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka gets off to a grand start on February 25 at its Maestro concert, featuring the internationally renowned Sri Lankan Cellist, Rohan de Saram, as soloist in Tchaikovsky’s “Variations on a Rococo theme.”

Rohan de Saram performed as a young prodigy for Pablo Casals who said “There are few of his generation that have such gifts”.

Rohan has performed as a soloist with the major orchestras of the world and with leading conductors such as Barbirolli, Adrian Boult, Zubin Mehta and Seiji Ozawa. The “Rococo Varation” which he will be performing was written in 1876. It is a charming, delightful piece, written for a virtuoso performer.

The other major work in the programme is the famous 3rd symphony of Beethoven, “Eroica”. It is one of the great masterpieces of all time, and was Beethoven’s favourite symphony.

Ajit Abeysekera conducts the concert, which will begin with one of Weber’s best known orchestral compositions, the overture to “Oberon.”

The concert is sponsored by Singer Sri Lanka, Arpico and Brandix, supported by SriLankan Airlines and the Earle de Fonseka trust.

It will be held at the new Ananda College Auditorium, commencing at 7 p.m.

Exhibition: Architecture and Religion

Exhibition: “Architecture + Religion” is the second in the series of thematic exhibitions called “Made in Germany”, organised by the Goethe-Institute that deals with contemporary Germany architecture.

Since ancient times, and in virtually all religious communities throughout humankind, to endow belief with a fixed location via the erection of cult buildings has been a fundamental preoccupation of humankind. The exhibition shows magnificent enclosures transcending everyday life, places of prayer and of dialogue with God all over Germany.

Venue: Goethe-Institute Sri Lanka

Date and time: February 27 to 11 March

A slide presentation by Shereen Amendra will bridge the gap between the sacral-architecture in Germany and Sri Lanka.