Mirissa or Bouzigues, eh?

An exhibition of black and white photography by Seneka Abeyratne at Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo together with Alliance Francaise de Kotte, from July 4 to14 - a French Spring event.

Mirissa and Bouzigues are two scenic coastal villages situated in southern Sri Lanka and the Languedoc-Roussillon region of southern France, respectively. Mirissa lies between Galle and Matara and Bouzigues, between Sete and Montpellier. Both rely heavily on fisheries and tourism for income generation. The fishing community of Mirissa engages primarily in coastal and deep-sea fishing while that of Bouzigues specializes in the production of top-quality oysters. (Brand name: "Huitre de Bouzigues.") There are thousands of oyster tables (farms) in the Etang de Thau - a picturesque salt-water lake which merges with the Mediterranean at Sete.

"It took Mirissa several years to recover from the tsunami of 2004, which devastated the coastal regions of Sri Lanka. It is now regarded as one of the best spots in the world for watching blue whales. I hope that through these images one will get an idea of the contrasts as well as the similarities between the two fishing villages described above: one bordered by the Indian Ocean, the other by the Etang de Thau. Mirissa and Bouzigues differ vastly in terms of living standards, yet both possess an intrinsic charm as well as a natural beauty which, as a photographer, I find immensely appealing."

Seneka Abeyratne is a freelance economist, playwright, literary/arts critic, photographer, digital artist, and contemporary dance choreographer. He is the winner of the Gratiaen Prize (2006) and State Literary Award for Drama (2008).

He has published four books to date, including a black and white village photography book (Facets of Wewala).

His most recent work (2013) is a novel set in Sri Lanka (unpublished). He has held four solo photography/digital art exhibitions to date: three in Sri Lanka and one in the South of France (Languedoc). 'From Mirissa to Bouzigues' is his fifth.