Art Briefs

Rajakaruna receives the top FIAP honor….

Henry Rajakaruna

Henry Rajakaruna, a veteran photographer, has been awarded the highest honor (MFIAP) of the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP). He also becomes the first Sri Lankan photographer to receive this top honor of the most recognized international organization of the field of photography. Rajakaruna has completed his 50th year in the photographic field and more than 300 of his creations have been accepted in international exhibitions.

Before this top honor he was awarded the AFIAP and EFIAP honors of the FIAP. He has also held seven solo exhibitions of his creations in Sri Lanka during the past.

Considering his contribution to the photographic art in Sri Lanka, Rajakaruna was also awarded with the World Photography Day award and an Honorary Fellowship of the National Association of Photographers-Sri Lanka (NAPSL) in 2010 in addition to the various awards he received from the other local photographic associations.

Fête de la Musique

Alliance Française de COLOMBO will organise ‘Fête de La Musique’ (International Music Day) on June 22 from 10 am to 6 pm at their Air Conditioned Auditorium at No. 11, Barnes Place, Colombo 7 .

This unique musical event ‘Fête de La Musique ‘ began in France in 1982 on 21st of June and now this music festival is celebrated all over the world and every year Professional and Amateur Musicians in France take to the streets and parks on this day to celebrate the arrival of Summer after a dismal Spring. It is free of charge and thousands and thousands of people flock to these parks and streets and performers embrace all kinds of music and nothing is out of place and it goes on the whole day.

Here in Sri Lanka, this is your chance to expose your hidden musical talents, it is for everyone: amateurs, professionals (no age limit), and you could sing in any language. Individuals, school bands, music clubs, interact clubs, music groups, ballet schools / groups, dancing schools, music associations etc...

If you can sing in any language), play any musical instrument and dance, this is the Big Day for you. Pop, Jazz, Rap, Country and Western, Disco, Rock, Baila or anything in music. It’s free of charge and the Organisers of Alliance Française de COLOMBO will Provide the Hall, Sound Systems and also Background Music by Annesley Malewana and super chimes.

There will also be Many Professional Artistes who will perform as Guest Artistes. Keep the date FREE as it’s going to be a day fun and entertainment from morning till evening with a carnival atmosphere and Entrance free of cand Food and Soft Drinks available at reasonable rates.

For application forms to participate! Please Contact the Alliance Française de COLOMBO at 11, Barnes Place, Colombo 07 - Tel 2694162 / 2693467.

Chamber Music Plus

The Chamber Music Society of Colombo along with the Goethe Institute and Concerts Norway will present ‘Chamber Music Plus’ at Goethe-Institute Hall on June 9 at 7 pm.

This time the CMSC will perform Beethoven’s Piano Trio op. 11 and Robert Schumann’s Piano Trio op. 88.

This music will be the inspiration for an original short film ‘The Adventures of Ricky Deen’ by the New York City trained award winning film director Boodee Keerthisena.

The concert/screening will be followed by an open discussion on the creative process between musician and film director and the natural symbiosis between moving images and sound. The event will be moderated by Lakshman Joseph de Saram.

Participating will be Soundarie David Rodrigo, Cynthia Fernando, Lakshman Joseph de Saram, Peter O’Reilly and Boodee Keerthisena.

'Suriya Bhanu' muhurath ceremony

The muhurath ceremony of 'Suriya Bhanu', a detective teleplay produced by Dr Arosha Fernando, directed by Anura Madhawa Jayasekara, was recently held at Hotel Ramada. The play stars Jeewan Kumaranatunga, Upeksha Swarnamali, Amitta Weerasinghe, Menaka Peiris and Taruka Wanniarachchi. The play is scripted by K B Herath.

Painter’s comfort

“My being finds comfort in the ancestral chest of memory, a bottomless container of infinite remembrances ready to be refreshed without context and out of context selectively. Some names without faces and some faces without names peer through an ancestral mirror; it reflects their genealogies as well as ours.

Their silent gazes beckon us to decipher the clues to understand their world that is so distant yet vivid enough to imagine.

I memorize their faces and caress the memorabilia left behind to signify and categorize eras, to lament and to comfort the nostalgias of others like me. Infinite possibilities of memories await just to be unlocked; they await moments of nostalgia to be revisited and a keeper who will be a posthumous repository for them. ‘Movie-made’ love was so simple then. Eventually, the hero falls in love with a beautiful damsel and lives happily ever after. Complexities that reside in myriad emotions within the idea of love abridged to a simplified formula to attain a timeless fantasy… a fantasy that resides between the past and present.” – Anoli Perera

Anoli’s work is currently shown at Sakshi gallery (hall 1:1B25), Hong Kong, and can be found on the online catalogue: http://www.artbaselhongkong-online.com

Catholic website

The National Catholic Centre for Social Communication has launched its official website in addition to online radio, facebook and YouTube accounts.

The centre invites all artistes to contribute with Sinhala, English or Tamil catholic songs. You can send songs with images as well.

Send your songs in a CD or DVD the National Catholic Centre for Social Communication, No 45, Kinsley Road, Colombo 8. For more details call 0718954214/ 0770212043.