Sinharaja now in canvas

Ananda Kannangara

A three-day exhibition of paintings, titled ‘The Sinharaja’ will be held at Lionel Wendt Art Gallery, Colombo on January 14, 15 and 16.

First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa will be the chief guest on January 14 at 6 pm. The exhibition will be opened for public on January 15 and 16 from 9 am to 7 pm.

Jayasena Colambage said ‘The Sinharaja’ will be his maiden Art Exhibition. He expects to display about 50 paintings on this world heritage rainforest.

He said he decided to hold such an exhibition, since no painter in the country has ever conducted an exhibition of paintings on this legendry rainforest.

He said the exhibition will be an educationally valued one for schoolchildren who study on biodiversity and the environment as co-curricular subjects.

“I visited a number of occasions even to Sinharaja to have a glimpse of the biodiversity, the environment, the fauna and the flora, the climate and also the living beings of this legendry forest before starting my paintings,” Colombage said.

He said he spent hours and hours even in the evenings in the forest to catch the real view of certain situations in the forest.

According to Colombage, the value of human relationship and the biological importance with regard to the Sinharaja forest is very high.

The greater biodiversity of this forest is the result of the higher rainfall throughout the year.

“The bigger and smaller streams that are running through the forest and over 25 waterfalls located within the forest add beauty to the place,” he said.

He said the percentage of indigenous species in the forest is very high, but the number of animals, birds, reptiles and serpents have not been discovered even by local and foreign scientists and explorers. A product of Buddhist Mixed School at Bandaragama, Colambage received his secondary education at Vidyaratna College, Horana. He is also a writer and provided articles for local newspapers and magazines such as Riviresa, Silumina, Nawayugaya and Rasavahini.

Colambage started his career at the age of 15 by taking part in art competitions in his area and also providing paintings to exhibitions, conducted by his alma-mater.

A resident of Rammukkana, Bandaragama in the Kalutara District, Colambage said he expects to conduct exhibitions of this nature of in Kandy and other main cities after the exhibition in Colombo.

“If I get a sponsor, I will hold such exhibitions even in foreign countries as it will be very helpful to promote the country’s tourism industry.”

He also thanked the staff of the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery for permitting him to conduct the exhibition and also the Lions Club of Bandaragama Metro for supporting him financially to make the exhibition a success.