Jaffna then and now

Chandani Jayatilleke, who visited Jaffna after 23 years, takes a trip down memory lane and finds that some things haven't changed at all, despite two decades of war.

My first visit to Jaffna in 1982 - as a kid - is etched in my memory like a short documentary film. It was a pleasure trip, during our school holidays. The places we visited - KKS, Thondamanar, Nagadipa and Velvetithurai, the friends we made, Karthika and Dharani - the scenery and hospitality we enjoyed still linger in my memory as fresh experiences.

Our hosts - the natives of Jaffna made every effort to make our visit a memorable one, and we were showered with love and affection by them.

That long train journey on the Yaldevi from Colombo Fort to Jaffna was fascinating. Those days, we always enjoyed long train journeys during school holidays. I still have a tiny scrap book which I made of the memorable moments in Jaffna on my return - a record of what I saw and experienced. The names of the railway stations where the train stopped during the journey are clearly marked there. And this memory is long-lasting, although there were no digital or electronic pictures then to record the things Jaffna was famous for.

In contrast, my second visit to Jaffna in 2005 (two weeks ago) was on an assignment, as a journalist - to report on the woes of Jaffna's residents and the development work going on there.

Sadly, it was 23 years after my first trip. The unfortunate incidents which took place after 1983 kept us - Jaffna and me - apart for such a long time. I had no opportunity to keep in touch with the friends I had made there on my first trip as the war had imposed an impenetrable barrier between us.

This time we flew to Jaffna from the Ratmalana Airport. It was not a pleasure trip - although we all enjoyed each other's company. The work was intense and the schedule was tough.

Jaffna town is becoming increasingly westernised, I noticed. Goodies, both local and imported, can be found aplenty in the markets. Some of the imported ones we found in Jaffna are rather new even in Colombo. And people in the town have fairly comfortable lifestyles too. They go out to dinner as many hotels and restaurants have come up in the town, following the ceasefire.

Many houses, from among those that escaped destruction during the fighting in Jaffna town and its suburbs, have been transformed into guest houses or given on rent to foreign agencies.

However, just outside the town, the war-battered villagers are struggling to make a living and yearn for support to rebuild their lives.

Concluding a successful field tour in three days, we did not forget to taste Jaffna specialities such as thosai, Wade and of course its most popular ice cream - Rio.

At Rio Ice Cream House, we noticed the young and old enjoying its superbly decorated ice cream in a variety of cups. What we ordered - Sundae Special came in boat shaped cups, with decorations that looked like a real boat.

In the market, traders made their best attempts to sell their goodies such as famous Kotta Kelengu, Nelli juice, Jaffna wine, peanut toffees and dry prawns to the visitors from Colombo. The market was a hive of activity.

What brought tears to my eyes was the absence of the railway track in Jaffna. The track was ripped up long ago, as the war took its toll of the peninsula's infrastructure.

Although many things have changed in Jaffna and its people have suffered for a long time due to a protracted conflict, Jaffna's hospitality and friendly smiles remain the same. Although the language was a barrier to communication, we were happy that our team made many friends there, once again. And this time, I made an effort to collect the pictures of what I saw and experienced, including those peace loving innocent faces of children, women and the fishermen.

'Roopa Chaya' an exhibition of photography by Hegoda

by Anjana Gamage

'Roopa Chaya', an exhibition of photography by Lal Hegoda will be held on August 10 and 11 at the Colombo National Art Gallery.

Holding a camera in his hands during his childhood wasn't a novelty to him as he was very familiar with the lenses. His knowledge of the lenses was somewhat an inborn talent being born to a renowned 'cameraman father'.

Well-known photographer Wilson Hegoda considered as the 'Master of Sri Lankan Photography', was Lal Hegoda's father.

'Roopa Chaya' is not Lal's maiden photography exhibition. As a renowned photographer working for more than 30 years in the field of photography, Lal has shown his 'colours' through the lenses for several years. Some of his unique 'clickings' have become internationally recognised too.

'Roopa Chaya' is his latest collection of photographs that will showcase his inborn talent further with the modern techniques used in photography. More than 30 photographs taken by Lal will be displayed at the exhibition.

This is how Lal is describing his photography:

This world is a gigantic picture when it is considered as visual reality and we remove individual mycro units out of that huge picture with the help of photographic lenses. Then we name this process as photography and displaying of these micro units in Art Galleries as photographic exhibitions.

What photographs represent is and is not at the same time, is what frail human eye can see through the well focused Camera Lenses. This is what I call an illusory situation. So a photograph is nothing but an illusory work. Yet illusion or maya is an intrinsic part of reality. If I remove visuality of authentic world what percentage of reality will remain in front of our eyes? When we remove out micro units from the vast picture of visual world with our Cameras what will become of the inter relationship already existed between that visual world and the parts we removed ....

Staging of Sophoclese' Antigone by the Thomians - a classical exhibition of creative art

Review by Leelamani Haththotuwegama

On July, 15, 16, 17 and 18 at the Chapel of S. Thomas' College, the audiences were treated to as rare an experience as one could get on the English stage, when students of S. Thomas' gave a classical exhibition of creative art of the 'purest ray serene'. I refer to Vinodh Senadeera's production of Sophocles' Antigone. It turned out to be a highly rewarding evening for lovers and students of theatre and classical literature.

From the moment the spectator started walking along the path which was lit on both sides with old-fashioned torches, to the dimly-lit chapel with imposing pillars and archaic looking steps on which little urchins in Grecian attire were lurking, either playing the flute or bearing torches, she/he was put in as ideally receptive mood of sobriety as possible for the fine display of stagecraft that was to follow. Creation of atmosphere and setting was just superb! Or was there a need for any artificial creation of setting for that matter? It was just there for the taking by a clever director. The austere simplicity of the 'natural stage', the chapel steps on which the play was performed, though very much different from the typical ancient Greek theatre which was a huge open arena with an 'orchestra' which was really the dancing place occupied by the Chorus, a platform for the actors, probably raised above the 'orchestra', and a building which served the dual purpose of a retiring place for the actors and a background for their performance: provided the best setting and the ideal theatrical climate for a tragic play like 'Antigone'.

A word or two about the play, 'Antigone' by Sophocles. It's a play set in ancient Thebes. The struggle between two brothers Polynices and Eteocles, sons of Oedipus, for the throne of Thebes, and ends in death of both, forms the background of the play. After Polynices' invading army flees, Creon, the new king of a tottering and unstable Thebes, buries Eteocles with honours, but issues an edict forbidding the burial and funeral rites for Polynices who turned traitor to his country, on pain of death by stoning. Antigone, one of the daughters of Oedipus, is determined, to flout the decree of Creon and bury Polynices even though it means death for her.

Thus 'Antigone' is concerned with the age-old conflict between demands of man-made laws and eternal unwritten divine laws. This universal problem crystallizes in the conflict between Antigone's strong conviction of her duty to religion and family and Creon's belief in his duty to his state and the public. But at the end it boils down to a contest between two stubborn and self-righteous individuals who cling passionately to the principle of right they believe in. But the tragedy of these two characters hinges on Haemon, the lover of Antigone and son of Creon and it is through his death more than that of Antigone's, that the final epiphany and thereby the humbling of Creon occurs.

It is the Chorus which tries to resolve this triangular tragedy by appealing to God's law. The exceptional beauty and the rich lyricism of the choral odes and Antigone's lament alone would have sufficed Sophocles to be remembered as a great tragic poet.

Did the Thomian play rise to the expected tragic stature? Was the cast convincing in their performance? One can say it was good theatre on both counts. There was a fine display of youthful talent with an exceptionally powerful and moving chorus finely choreographed. One can just imagine the daunting task of the director in training the choral odes. The chorus was so clear and exquisite in their utterance and so precise in their movements that their very first appearance on the 'stage' augured well for what was to follow.

They deserve the highest plaudits. So was Creon's role exploited and developed very imaginatively and the young actor rose to the heights designed for him, except for one flaw-the monotonous cadence of his speech which laced his utterances with a sing-song rhythm. However, it was hardly noticeable in his last performance as the audience got lost in the wonder of his transformation from the self-righteous tyrant to the utterly broken and tormented man who was so humble in his self-realization that there was no doubt who the tragic hero of the play was.

It was his acting which transformed the play into the gripping tragedy it is. Strange enough Antigone failed to capture the sympathy of the audience nor grip its attention much. Nevertheless Ismene's character was evoked very convincingly by the young actor who played her role, and managed to draw more sympathy than Antigone. It may be that the director was more concerned with portraying the wilful and self-righteous aspect of Antigone's character. The audience also was treated to the strange spectacle (of course not the spectacle in Greek tragedy) of the dead body of Euridice shaking with laughter! (performance on the 18th) The sentry's role was adequately played. In a performance of this nature, or any dramatic performance for that matter, every role counts and contributes to the sense and essence of the play. Queen Euridice failed to fulfil this expectation.

But there was such a display of creative energies and skills, such a heaping up of the multiple resources of the theatre that one tends to overlook these minor lapses. The production was backed by clever lighting, to cap it all, there was a musical score which was very effective in invoking the tragic atmosphere and setting of the play. All in all St Thomas' College seems to be able to unleash a load of talents, a load of skills, in speech, in choral narration, acting, synchronizing, and choreographing and harnessing it all in a very meaningful way. This is a triumph for youth theatre and for education in the arts.

Serious thoughts presented with a tinge of fun

Upali Ananda's exhibition at Paradise Road Galleries Alfred House Road until August 19.

by Prasad Abu Bakr

His attitude towards a new world of colour is what attracts one's attention at a glance. Upali Ananda has mellowed and varied his palette of colours growing from bright flashy hues within some frames and toning down the same to dowdy levels in others but the artist manages to keep his pictures visually interested through his funny caricatures of events that we all come up against in life at one time or the other.

Love seems to be playing majorly as his select subject presented sometimes with a sense of 'op-artish' approach but what Ananda is most preoccupied with seems to be making advances at his public, screaming at times to 'Stop and read' or 'Love me' or still yet 'Kiss me'. They almost sexually turn on the viewer with child like squabbling with brush and paint on canvas. But they are all innocent in presence unless one looks deeply into certain sensuous overtures made by the artist, cloaked; hiding from his rather dissatisfied thoughts of society and what it stands in ways of materialistic wants within us at large which fails to cure the simplest wants within us. The inability of others to capture the simplest form of love and affection is probably what Ananda is most concerned about, this is evident mostly when one sees him cuddling and carrying his kid around with fatherly love reflecting the importance of such feelings but mostly the simplicity of acquiring them and dispensing them in large measures.

So it is misleading to say that the images Ananda is presenting to the public are mostly of his own frustrations. They are in fact society's shortcomings in the process of trying to 'bite off a large chunk' from what life has to offer. The picture 'I love you, you love me' shows the emotional strains one could cruise through but playfully presented 'We are in love' is another such picture that captures one's attention. At a mature age the artist still remains in an age of frolic, quite playful in his approach which matches the subjects that he is dabbling with, very refreshing one would say.

Upali Ananda holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons) from the Institute of Aesthetic Studies, University of Kelaniya and works as a visiting lecturer at the same University. He has exhibited at a group exhibition titled 'Pancha' in 1994 which makes this present exhibition his first one man effort.

In 1995 the artist was the recipient of the Grand Prix Gold Award at the annual Lalitha Kala exhibition held in Colombo.