Lankans show colours in India

Priyanka KURUGALA

Works of three Sri Lankan artists are on show at the traditional art exhibition at the Lalit Kala Academy in New Delhi, India until April 5. The exhibition began on March 22.

Dammika Bandara	Dilan Shashika	Jagath Jayasooriya

The three artists, Jagath Jayasuriya of Jayamalapura, Gampola, PDM Dammika Bandara of Morugama, Polgahawela and Dilan Shashika of Kahathuduwa, Polgasovita have earned a name for themselves in traditional temple art and have showcased their work at the Shilpa National Exhibition.

The exhibition is organised by the National Crafts Council, Sri Lanka in collaboration with India Sri Lanka Foundation, Lalit Kala Academy and the Sri Lankan High Commission in New Delhi under the sponsorship of the India Sri Lanka Foundation.

Eighty four drawings are on show at the exhibition.

The three artists have mastered the art of copying of famous art works which is important to conserve traditional art in the country.

Jayasuriya is a graduate in fine arts from the University of Kelaniya. He has mastered ancient wall and cave paintings of artistes. He has now dedicated his time to copy ancient paintings as a mode of preservation for the benefit of the future generation.

Navanari Kunnaraya - decorative elements of the Kandyan period

Travelling in a horse cart - Southern tradition by Dammika Bandara

Hanuman bringing part of the Himalayan hill - Kandyan artistic idiom by Jagath Jayasooriya

He won first place in traditional paintings at the annual handicraft exhibition of Central Province from 2009 to 2011.

Dammika Bandara has sharpened his skills on traditional paintings. He won President's Awards at Shilpa 2009 Exhibition. He is a regular awards winner at provincial and national handicraft exhibitions from 2004 to 2011. He works for the Department of Small Industries of the North Western Province as a consultant.

Dilan Shashika won the award for the outstanding artist in traditional paintings for two consecutive years in 2009 and 2010 at the Western Province Handicraft Exhibition and the first place at Shilpa 2010 National Handicraft Exhibition, conducted by the National Crafts Council. "Art is one of the most important paths to express human impression to each other. Sri Lanka has a long history in Buddhist paintings. It falls in to two periods. They are the classical and the Kandyan periods. The Anuradhapura period was the significant era for classical paintings but during the Polonnaruwa period, these two styles can be seen clearly in the Thiwanka Pilimageya," University of Performing Arts visiting lecturer Jagath Kumara said.

He said however during the Kandyan period, it was only limited to two dimensional art.

"Up to date, emotional expressions have been given pride of place. Nevertheless, anybody wishing to develop their skills as artists must first develop real art. As a second step, they can develop abstract art. Portraits, textured material and models are a significant skill which should be mastered," he said.