Celebrating her

The Woman’s Day is here, finally. It is a celebratory occasion for women across the world. For some, of course, this is a day that hardly makes any impact on women who actually suffer from male dominance. For SAARC Cultural Centre, however, the Woman’s Day makes a gesture to celebrate the ladies who ignited the world without complaining about darkness.

The Woman’s Day is about inspiration passed on from the iconic lady artistes to young generation of females, notes SAARC Cultural Centre Deputy Director of Programmes, Kishani Jayasinghe. It is the right day to ‘do something’ to honour the ladies who have ‘done something’ to Sri Lanka’s cultural landscape.

SAARC Cultural Centre Documentation Officer, Mahinda Sumanasekara Pictures by Sarath Peries

SAARC Cultural Centre  Deputy Director of Programmes,  Kishani Jayasinghe

The iconic ladies: Irangani Serasinghe, Nanda Malini, Sumithra Peries, Vajira Chitrasena and Mary Anne David will be honoured at the Lionel Wendt on March 8 at 7 pm. Sri Lanka’s only female president Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga will grace the occasion as the chief guest. The event is open only for the invitees. The invites could be obtained from the SAARC Cultural Centre office.

“We hope they will honour us with their presence. These iconic figures are not just artistes. They are performers too. They are also teachers. Teachers who have shared their knowledge! They have been sharing experience and educating the younger generation,” Kishani says.

A lady or two will deliver a talk on the stage. Another will enlighten the audience with a tale of success and inspiration. In the meanwhile, Thuryaa, an all-female ensemble, will take the centrestage with their performances.

“Thuryaa is really something to celebrate as they are all females. They are a professional group of all young ladies from University of Visual Arts and Performance. They have taken a step towards making it their own theme. We will have four items from them. We are really honoured to have them join us.”

Kishani Jayasinghe observes the whole procedure as a symbolic commemoration.

“Culture matters in everything we do. This is an equal opportunity, whether it is male or female. When it comes to art, we give all the women an opportunity. I suppose we have a traditional Woman’s Day to highlight that theme. As a woman I think we should have a Woman’s Day everyday.”

Anything starts with a conversation, Kishani believes. Our cultural identity, historical accuracy, our responsibility as artistes as citizens is important.

“Let us shake off the carpet and talk about what is current. As long as I am concerned, it gives us an opportunity to evaluate who we are as a society. I am a Sri Lankan woman born and raised in Colombo. We have an artistic license to interpret something in our own. My cultural identity is always Sri Lankan.”

Sri Lanka is a developing country where you will still find people struggling for food and water. In such a case would art and culture flourish? Most critics are quick to cite Sri Lanka as a cultural desert for that matter. Kishani Jayasinghe, on the contrary, opines that the small isle like no other flourishes in culture and arts.

“True, when we have our basic needs, it is easier to listen to the other. It is easier to talk about music. As artists, our job is to try to make it happen. Then people and society can appreciate culture in a better perspective,” Jayasinghe maintains, adding that we are a nation of civilized culture.

It depends on where you look, Kishani stresses in a bid to drive her point home.

“There are many developments. We have our own university for visual arts. We did not have a particular educational institute devoted to promote culture and arts. And now we should do more to bring back that golden age of art and culture,” Jayasinghe notes.

But do we have enough of it? Can we never have had enough of it? Raising those apparent questions, Kishani Jayasinghe emhpasises the need to encourage more arts and culture in a country like Sri Lanka.

Traditionally speaking, we have a natural lenience towards academic prowess. Parents urge children to opt for traditional professions of doctors, engineers and lawyers. Kishani Jayasinghe feels lucky because her family did not force her on any career. Besides, her family had interests in music and other arts.

“We must do what we can do as much as possible. There are great professors and lecturers willing to support culture and arts. There are many academics and university deans who contribute to arts. They are all working hard. I certainly believe I became an artiste because I loved it. My family had a great interest in music and arts. I had the support. I was lucky perhaps. Initial love for arts and music means so much. It encourages us to give more to the people. We will then be able to reach the rest of the regional arts,” Kishani Jayasinghe said.

Mahinda Sumanasekara, Documentation Officer at the SAARC Cultural Centre, recalled the highlights of the Woman’s Day celebrations in 2016. It was a stage play titled as Baawre Mann ke Sapne by Indian director Ramanjith Kaur with the whole cast consisted of female artistes.

“It was a national award-winning all-women theatre production. Kaur had a dream and motive to create awareness about giving formal and systematic theatre training to young girls. It was mostly based on the works of Indian lady authors such as Jhumpa Lahiri, Bulbul Sharma, Abha Lyengaer, Irene Dhar Malik and Lalitambika Antarjanam.

It was totally a different new experience to the Sri Lankan audience. I think that offered a fresh message to the audience in general: Woman’s Day is actually worth celebrating, because their participation in shaping the society is now becoming instrumental,” Sumanasekara said.

The play explored tradition, scepticism, collective responsibilities and individual choice along with other intricate themes of caste and hierarchy relationships.

The art of percussion has traditionally belonged to the domain of men. Thuryaa brings a feminine touch and a definitive beat without boundaries, changing the face of drumming. Embracing rhythm, creating, and mixing art, their quest began within the walls of the University of the Visual and Performance Arts in Colombo, with nine talented undergraduate souls, created by Sithara, the first female percussion graduate of the University. Embracing the essences of Kandyan, low country, and Sabaragamuwa - the tri-tradition of the Sri Lankan percussion art, they mix international percussion music to their presentation. The inspirational and innovative efforts of Thuryaa creates an entertaining and unique cultural performance. 

Scenes from  Baawre Mann ke Sapne staged in 2016

The Baawre Mann ke Sapne team with SAARC Cultural Centre Director Wasanthe Kotuwella,
Professor Maithri Wickremesinghe and former Indian High Commissioner  Y K Sinha