Category Archives: art & allure bewitching
Charlie Chaplin in Bali
Tony Donaldson’s Treasure Trove
Here are two photos of Charlie Chaplin in Bali from my collection.
In one photograph, we see Chaplin in a comical moment as if he is conducting a gamelan orchestra in a Balinese village, possibly Ubud. He could also be dancing in front of the gamelan — for the way his arms and hands are positioned suggest this We can’t say for sure. The gamelan players are clearly enjoying this moment with Chaplin, with lots of fun and laughter. A gamelan orchestra is led by the kendang (drum) player – the nearest thing to a kind of conductor in a gamelan.
African Diaspora across the Indian Ocean: The SIDI Project:
VISIT https://thesidiproject.com/
At Sidi men play drums at t heir communities’annual Urs celebration – Photo copyright by Luke Duggleby for Sidi Project
Few need introductions to the Western movement of slaves from Africa across the Atlantic Ocean. Much has been documented and studied about this horrific part of history. But this wasn’t the only slave route that existed; a far older eastern movement of slaves was forcibly taking people to the opposite side of the world. Between the first and 20th century, beginning with Arabs and the Ottomans, and later continued by the Portuguese, the Dutch, French and the British, an estimated 4 million Africans were taken from their homes, mostly in East Africa, and across the Indian Ocean.
Filed under ancient civilisations, art & allure bewitching, cultural transmission, economic processes, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian religions, Indian traditions, landscape wondrous, life stories, population, religiosity, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, transport and communications, travelogue, world events & processes
Remembering Indian Ocean Slavery through Film: Afro-Sri Lankan Memories
Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya
Whilst the transatlantic slave trade has overwhelmed the historiography of Africa, the forced easterly movement of Africans is only receiving scholarly attention in the twenty first century. Movement of Africans from the Continent is not characterised by the slave trade alone. Not surprisingly, free Africans moved eastwards as missionaries, soldiers, sailors and traders. Forced migration was concurrent with free migration.
Filed under accountability, Afro-Asians, art & allure bewitching, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, female empowerment, heritage, historical interpretation, immigration, Indian traditions, landscape wondrous, life stories, performance, photography, population, religiosity, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, transport and communications, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes
In Search of Archaic Practices & Features in Ancient and Medieval Lanka
Two foreign personnel, one a British man and the other a Taiwanese Chinese lady, have developed a deep interest in Sri Lanka and a considerable äcquaintance”, so to speak. with the land and its peAnswer: perhaps Sigiriya?oples, and have recently sent me these fascinating inquiries on arcane topics. Michael Roberts
ONE: A NOTE from Lewis Bower [i], late February 2021
Have you heard the term “Argyra” before? It was mentioned in Stephanus of Byzantium’s contribution to the geographical dictionary Ethnica to describe a “thriving metropolis” that he came across on his travels of Sri Lanka… Typing that made me feel like I’m on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”.
We’re talking 5th/6th Century AD so I’d be really interested to find out where he was talking about,”
… Answer: perhaps Sigiriya? … Michael Roberts
Filed under ancient civilisations, architects & architecture, art & allure bewitching, authoritarian regimes, British colonialism, Buddhism, cultural transmission, governance, heritage, Hinduism, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, Kandyan kingdom, landscape wondrous, life stories, sri lankan society, the imaginary and the real, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes
Being Aloysian: Reflections from a Galle ‘Boy’ in the Year 1997
Michael Roberts, a reprint
Intrigued by my speech inflections and my appearance, a friend of mine, a teacher in English Literature,[1] made inquiries after my familial background and my ethnic identity within the melange of ethnic groups in Sri Lanka. She learnt that my Barbadian father had related very few stories in his life and times in Barbados and that my sense of West Indianness was muted. This puzzled her. Forced thus into retrospective reflection I now conclude that I lived my youthful life immersed in my everyday activities without much concern for a distinct self-identity of an ethnic sort.
Filed under accountability, architects & architecture, art & allure bewitching, cricket for amity, cultural transmission, education, heritage, historical interpretation, life stories, patriotism, performance, self-reflexivity, Sri Lankan cricket, sri lankan society, tolerance, unusual people, world events & processes
St. Joseph’s in Colombo: Service till the Mountains Disappear
Chryshane Mendis, reviewing Till the Mountains Disappear: The Story of St. Joseph’s College’ authored by Avishka Mario Senewiratne and late Fr. Dr. Stanley Abeysekera
It was well known back in the day that Fr. Stanley Abeysekera was writing a book on College history and through my Grade 09 exhibition project of 2008, I got to know the great man very closely. From then on till I left school in 2013 I constantly dropped by his room and viewed the rare Blue and White magazines with him and earnestly listened to his stories of College. I was sad that his progress on the manuscript had slowed down due to his failing eyesight and when he was finally called to rest in 2015, I thought the book had died with him.
Filed under art & allure bewitching, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, historical interpretation, Indian religions, landscape wondrous, life stories, modernity & modernization, patriotism, performance, religiosity, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
Landscapes around Diyatalawa
Krishani Peiris, with photo-work by Menaka Aravinda, …. a repeat from a presentation in 2013 with a different title
Located approximately 1,331 metres above sea level, Diyatalawa in the Haputale District is well known as a Garrison Town. Though it is not clear as to when the place became a prominent threshold for armed forces, historical records show that in 1885, the British had stationed a garrison in the area. And from that point onwards, Diyatalawa has being able to carve its own niche in the history of Sri Lanka.
Filed under architects & architecture, art & allure bewitching, British colonialism, cultural transmission, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, military expenditure, photography, population, sri lankan society, transport and communications, travelogue, world events & processes
The British in Ceylon: The Camera as Power
In 2011 Godfrey and Amar Gunatilleke sponsored the presentation of a pictorial history entitled Potency. Power & People in Groups, (Colombo, Marga Institute, 2011, ISBN 978-955-582 129-2.
This work was, albeit partially, the presentation of items gathered by Ismeth Raheem and myself for inclusion in the coffee-table book that appeared in the year 200o as Images of British Ceylon (Singapore, Times Edition) — items within segments that were excluded because of financial constraints. Such constraints also meant that the pictures in this booklet were not produced in coffee-table quality. The emphasis was on the interpretations attached to the photographs read in context. While the booklet is still available at relatively low cost, the opportunity is taken here to widen the readership via the reproduction of sections — itself a project inspired by Anura Hettiarachchi’s translation of the work into Sinhala.[a]
Filed under accountability, architects & architecture, art & allure bewitching, British colonialism, Buddhism, centre-periphery relations, commoditification, communal relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, ethnicity, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, legal issues, life stories, modernity & modernization, photography, pilgrimages, politIcal discourse, power politics, religiosity, self-reflexivity, slanted reportage, social justice, sri lankan society, teaching profession, the imaginary and the real, travelogue, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, working class conditions, world events & processes
The 43 Group in Ceylon: Their Story
Rohan de Soysa, copy of a PowerPoint Presentation made to the National Trust of Sri Lanka on September 29, 2016 by Rohan de Soysa transcribed into text format …. with coloured underlining [as distinct from that in black] being emphasis imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi
The Origins: The `43 Group was the first modern art movement in Sri Lanka. It arose because a group of artists felt that the art being practiced and taught at the time was too academic and rigid; nor did it attempt to follow new developments in European art since the early 20th Century. They therefore decided to form a group more open to these new developments but with a distinct Ceylonese stamp and flavour.
Filed under architects & architecture, art & allure bewitching, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, charitable outreach, cultural transmission, democratic measures, economic processes, education, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian religions, Indian traditions, landscape wondrous, life stories, literary achievements, paintings, patriotism, performance, photography, politIcal discourse, religiosity, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, teaching profession, the imaginary and the real, unusual people, world events & processes
