Rare Exhibition of Paintings in London by a Russian Artist living in Sri Lanka
Shevanthie Goonesekera curated her first major exhibition in London of impressionist paintings by a recently discovered Russian Emigre artist, Alexander Sofronoff. The exhibition was hosted by The Rossotrudnichestvo, the cultural arm of the Russian Embassy in Kensington, London on 6th November 2013 and was supported by the Russian Ambassador, H.E Mr Yakovenko.
Michael Roberts
KYLE JOUSTRA lives in Melbourne and has assiduously pursued his accumulation of data on Sri Lankan lineages for decades. I sought information from him when subject to a vicious personal attack recently. It strikes me that few Sri Lankans are aware of Kyle’s store of information. The initial clarification of his genealogical researches set out below by Kyle is a belated introduction to his capacities and the ‘treasures’ he can root out.
MEMO FROM KYLE JOUSTRA, 14 September 2025
There are those who carry on about my work that I am not a professional genealogist and that I should give all the information free to everyone. If I were to break this down.
Sharika Thiranagama …. Abstract of her refereed article in the American Anthropologist, Vol. 116, No. 2 (JUNE 2014), pp. 265-278 (14 pages) …. where the title reads thus: “Making Tigers from Tamils: Long-Distance Nationalism and Sri Lankan Tamils in Toronto”
This article discusses the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora in Toronto and its relationship to the Tamil separatist group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Taking the case of the Sri Lankan Tamils, oft-cited as the example par excellence of long-distance nationalism, I argue against naturalizing diasporic ethnonationalism to investigate instead how diasporas are fashioned into specific kinds of actors. I examine tensions that emerged as an earlier elite Tamil movement gave way to the contemporary migration of much larger class-and caste-fractured communities, while a cultural imaginary of migration as a form of mobility persisted. I suggest that concomitant status anxieties have propelled culturalist imaginations of a unified Tamil community in Toronto who, through the actions of LTTE-affiliated organizations, have condensed the Tigers and their imagined homeland, Tamil Eelam, into representing Tamil community life. While most Tamils may not have explicitly espoused LTTE ideology, as a result of the LTTE becoming the backbone of community life, Tamils became complicit with and reaffirmed the LTTE project of defending “Tamilness” militarily in Sri Lanka and culturally in Toronto. I suggest that the self-presentation of diasporic communities should be analyzed within specific histories, contemporary conflicts and fractures, and active mobilizing structures.
Rajini Thiranagama Continue reading
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The Thuppahi SITE can pat itself on its bum for featuring the athletic prowess of Tania Murphy nee Van Heer and her son Aidan Murphy over the decades — achievements on the athletic tracks as well as academic fields and moving beyond to a small welfare enterprise in Sri Lanka.
Australia’s gold medal winning team, (left-right) Tania Van Heer, Catherine Freeman, Sharon Cripps and N. Peris-Kneebone, wave to the crowd as they go on a lap of honour (Photo by Tony Marshall/EMPICS via Getty Images)
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Sandagomi Coperahewa, in The Sunday Times, 8 June 2025, where the title reads thus: “Felicitating Lanka’s Foremost Linguist”
I am writing this brief essay in connection with the felicitation ceremony for Emeritus Professor Deshamanya J.B. Disanayaka, the most senior academic and a distinguished figure among contemporary Sinhala scholars in Sri Lanka. The ceremony will be held on 13th June 2025 at 2:00 p.m. at the New Arts Theatre, University of Colombo, with the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka presiding as the Chief Guest. I take this opportunity to reflect on Professor Disanayaka’s contributions to the advancement of Sinhala studies and on my association with him as a teacher, mentor, and scholar.
Here’s what makes Sri Lankan beaches absolutely unique – and why timing is everything. The seasonal secret,
West/South Coast (Nov-Apr): Unawatuna, Mirissa, Bentota East Coast (May-Sep): Arugam Bay, Pasikuda, Nilaveli …………. tip: Most tourists get this wrong and end up with monsoon rains
Michael Roberts
This epic and fascinating TV series serial has brought its curtains down and called it a night [to alter the idiom]. My first intimation of this event was in reading Ed Potten’s account in The Australian 13-14 September 2025 ….but I cannot access this news item because the !@#!$!!! paper demands money for web-access ….even though I receive the print-paper daily.
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Downton Abbey is … {was] ….. a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. It first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United States on PBS, which supported its production as part of its Masterpiece Classic anthology, on 9 January 2011. The show ran for fifty-two episodes across six series, including five Christmas specials.
‘Downton Abbey’ Duo Talk Success And Controversy, But Some Questions Are Off Limits
Tom Branson and Lady Mary return for the final Downton Abbey movie(Image: Rory Mulvey/Focus Features)
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Bunchy Rahuman, whose preferred title is “Galle Fort, New York City and the Cartesian Legacy” ** … with the highlights being impositions by the Editor, who also had the privilege of being a resident within the Fort for twenty or so years from 1938-1960
ESSAY TWO
Do I exceed myself? Cartesian? The Big Apple? – surely not! But I insist, I am here, not to tweak the truth. In Essay One, I said, the street I lived [most of] my Galle, Fort life in was Lighthouse Street. Discerning readers [for a moment I thought to add if any – but my life insurance policy has lapsed!] would note that I said Lighthouse Street formed a ‘Y’ axis line for the [Galle] Fort. Now even math allergic types, have heard of X axis and Y axis as [perpendicular] lines that cross at right angles and sit in the middle of paper sheets populated by tiny squares arranged 10 x 10, within larger squares, all sitting above, below and at each other’s sides in sheets known as graph paper.
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thuppahi
