Youth - Common Wealth of 54 nations

Wehelle Piyathilake, Maharagama special correspondent

ASIAN CULTURE: The Commonwealth Day Commemoration Ceremony 2007 was held in Sri Lanka at the National Youth Centre, Maharagama recently. The chief guest was Minister of Youth Affairs Pavithra Wanniarachchi. The Chairman and the Director General of the National Youth Services Council Bhaswara Senaka Gunaratne organised the ceremony.

Youth delegations from Bangladesh, Brunei, Pakistan, India, Singapore, Maldives, Malaysia and Sri Lanka participated. Traditional dancing and Music were held in the evening - two items from each country were displayed.

It was a nice mixture of traditions of South Asian countries.

This was a rare opportunity for Sri Lankans as well as the youth who attended the ceremony to witness the different traditional and classical aesthetic items on stage.

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Lines of expression...

PAINTING: The word art in its broadest sense has to do with the making or doing of almost anything that depends on a degree of personal skills and talent.

An artist's work is influenced not only by his experience, temperament, knowledge and understanding, but also by his particular emotions at a given time.

Artist Chandana Ranaweera's inspiration derived mostly from temple murals and cave art. He expresses elements through line-drawings, basing his creations on rural surroundings and bringing the village backdrop of Alawwa to life.

Using a few strokes, Ranaweera has brought a series of geometrical figures before his viewers. His works include a variety of themes, from deities to human beings and sacred places to the countryside. Flowing beneath the thick black lines, the artist brings forth a philosophy that has a great impact on the observer's senses.

However one must note that this is not a form of cartoon drawings for his drawings embody a message to society - a message that could be understood by the observing eye and the sensitive mind.

Chandana is a past student of the junior school Alawwa and Maliyadeva Vidyalaya, Kurunegala. He had also followed an art course at the Ceylon Society of Arts. He had won many awards for his talent and had displayed his creations at both local and international level.

As a teacher at his village school, Ranaweera had imported his knowledge to many. A number of his students have won awards in national and international competitive exhibitions.