India - Sri Lanka Foundation supports Char Adhyaya

The India - Sri Lanka Foundation is supporting the cultural festival Char Adhyaya by Santiniketan Friends from October 15 to 18 at several venues in Colombo.

An art and sculpture exhibition will be held at the National Art Gallery from October 15 to 17.

It will be inaugurated on October 15 at 5pm. Around 40 paintings by artists from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Milan will be exhibited.

The dance and musical show, Char Adhyaya will be held at John de Silva Theatre on October 16 at 7pm. Two dance and music shows titled Salamba and Kanya will be held at Museaus College Auditorium on October 17 and 18 at 7pm. Char Adhyaya or four chapters covers the four cultural aspects of Rabindranath Tagore's life, namely, music, dance, painting and drama.

The Festival will have performances by Sri Lankan artists (alumni of Santiniketan) as well as performances by the students, teachers and artists from Santiniketan, India.

Santiniketan Friends' is an organisation formed by the Sri Lankan alumni of Santiniketan to provide a launching pad for fresh Sri Lankan graduates from Santiniketan as well as to promote Sri Lanka as a cultural hub for the promotion of art and culture in South Asia.

It aims to promote Tagore's vision of unity through culture and fusion of expression through the medium of fine arts and culture.

Sri Lankan dancer and choreographer Channa Wickramasinghe is the President of the Santiniketan Friends and his troupe would be performing Kanya - a fusion of Sri Lankan dance style on the tunes of Sougata Roy Chowdhury, a famous Sarod player from India. The other eminent Indian artists participating in the festival are Yaikhom Hemant Kumar (Manipuri dance), Buddhadev Das (Esraj player), Manoj Murali Nair (Kathakali dancer, music composer, dance drama director and Actor) and Swastike Mukhopadhyay (vocalist).

The Sri Lankan artists participating in the festival include Sujeeva Ranasinghe (Esraj player), Thilini Rodrigo Yadev (vocalist), Charith Rumayanga Perera (vocalist), Samarasinghe Arachchige Maduranga (vocalist), Prasanna Kolambage (artist and sculptor) and Madhava Gunawardena (artist and designer).