By Ifthikar Cader

Date: Tuesday, December 15
Venue: Harold Peiris Gallery, Lionel Wendt Theatre
It’s not often that a niece gets the privilege of being able to write about her youngest uncle but it did happen. Humbled by his success with his recent exhibitions over the years, Ifthikar decided to share his new collection to all art enthusiasts barely nine months after his most recent exhibition.
He paints primarily because, quite simply, it is what gives him the greatest thrill and pleasure. Happily he discovered that his paintings also resonated with people, and that he was blessed with the luxury of being paid for doing something he enjoyed!  It therefore seemed the best thing to do when he retired from business in 1993 aged 55.

Born in Colombo on May 10, 1938 and educated at S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia, Ifthikar chose to explore the education systems in the UK and finished his education at the London School of Economics (University of London).

The exhibition will have around 45 plus paintings for a preview and reception for invitees in the Harold Peiris Gallery at the Wendt on December 14 and thereafter open to the public on December 15.
Sri Lanka (Ceylon) is an island of extraordinary beauty and it is no small wonder then, that he mostly enjoys painting its magnificent landscapes directly from nature.  Getting into the nitty gritty of how he paints, (not all are exposed to this) he begins by accurately measuring and drawing the outlines of the main shapes lightly blocking in their values, edges and colours, starting from top to bottom, background of sky and distant objects through middle ground and finally what is close up in the foreground. 

He then proceeds to build up details generally finishing the prominent shapes with the correct colour, values and edges that he sees. For him, it is an intensely satisfying experience to lay down the paint with brush and painting knives and watch the picture evolve and translate into what he had in mind. To me it sounded like a History, Maths, Geography and Physics lesson were all thrown into this one subject! His mission is always to strive for excellence and attempt to convey the passion and emotion the subject has evoked to the best of his ability. And, he sure does just that!

He developed a life-long passion for painting as a teenager watching and being inspired by his brother Ashy Cader’s water colour creations. He experimented and soon turned to oil colours in the early fifties which has since remained his preferred medium. He had no formal training but benefited substantially from the opportunities he had visiting the famous art galleries in England and France during his student days, and later on his frequent business tours to UK, France, Italy, Holland and also one visit to Boston, USA in 1984 which were all equally inspiring he said.

But the opportunity to paint fulltime happened when he retired from business prematurely in 1993. He started to paint seriously and had the first of several exhibitions in 1996 that sold many paintings and launched a successful professional career.

He paints in the realist-impressionist style and prefers to paint plein-air landscapes. He has been inspired by the great French Impressionists especially Monet, Pissarro, Corot and Post-Impressionists Cezanne, Gauguin and the Dutchman, Van Gogh, and Spaniard Sorolla.
Realist and Impressionist American painters who have also influenced him include Sargent and one of the world’s greatest living artists, Richard Schmid.
Having been privy to his new collection, I am honoured to remain his niece.

Last Bus Eke Kathawa: An extraordinary play that built a close relationship between the audience and the actor was popular in the English theatre as well with its translation by Ruwanthi de Chickera and played by Gihan de Chickera. It was also performed in a number of countries.

Duwana Un Dennek: The latest addition to the Sihina Rangahala series, it is a tragy-comedy.
The other plays are also centered on very intimate and sensitive subjects. Over the past few years, Dhananjaya has been experimenting in search of a more proactive and sensitive style of theatre. This series is a successful result of that experiment.

The drama series is reproduced with the original cast since there is a growing demand for Dhananjaya’s plays. Dhananjaya practices his theatre in both Sri Lanka and Australia.

The history of the field of fine arts is studded with professionals in the field of education as well as music directors and singers and the wealth of performers in the field of fine arts have come through the institute. Although its history is full of events such as variety features, research and development it has never produced an art festival at university level. Taking the cue from this the Student Council and the Faculty Student Council decided to produce this event. While the event has been scheduled to take place in December, it will include, variety shows, dance creations, visual arts, lectures and workshops.

Concurrent to this festival a pre concert to collect funds in aid of the up coming event will be held on December 2 at 5:30 p.m. at the Open Air Theater, Vihara Maha Devi Park, Colombo.
Sanath Nandasiri, Victor Ratnayake, Nanda Malinee, Rohana Beddege, Amarasiri Peiris, Amara Ranatunge, Dayaratne Ranatunga, Sunil Edirisinghe, Neela Wickramasinghe, Malkanthi Nandasiri, Somathilaka Jayamaha, Rashmi Sangeetha, Jagath Wickramasinghe, Samantha Perera, Sandya Kanthi Illeperuma, Nelu Adhikari, Kapila Poogalarachchi, Indika Upamalee, Uresha Ravihari, Kolitha Bhanu Dissanayaka, Nimantha Heshan and Ravindra Alagiyawanna are billed to take part in this musical extravaganza.

A mixture of musicians comprising of the faculty lecturers, great musicians from outside will join together with the students to perform at this show.
Backdrops for the concert to be performed by students will be created by student of the Visual Arts Faculty. The sale of tickets prior to the show will be arranged by the organizers and on the day of the show tickets will also be made available at the gates.

Ladies’ College Old Girls’ Association

Grand Centenary Banquet

Monday, December 14, 2009

Cinnamon Lakeside
7 p.m.
Available from the School Office
and committee members
A Gala celebration of 100 years of the OGA not to be missed

Date: Monday, November 30
Time: 5 p.m.
Venue: Gamini Dissanayake Auditorium of the Mahaweli Centre, No. 96, Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha, Colombo 7
The illustrated public lecture is on “Sinhalese Impact on Myanmar Culture, Religion, Literature, Art and Architecture” by Dr. Hema Goonatilake organised by the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka. All are welcome.

Until December 13
Dream Weaver, an exhibition of weaving by Marie Gnanaraj, at the Barefoot Gallery Colombo, 704, Galle Road, Colombo 3. Gallery hours: Weekdays: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Weekends: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Until December 7
Goodwill Hardware, an exhibition of paintings by Koralegedara Pushpakumara, the second of the six exhibitions of the Theertha Pradarshana Wasanthaya – 2009, at the Theertha Red Dot Gallery, 36 A, Baddegana Road South, Pitakotte. Gallery hours: Monday to Wednesday 10:30 a.m. 5 p.m.; Sundays 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Closed on all public and mercantile holidays.

November 29
An exhibition of paintings featuring Pala Pothupitiye’s latest artwork organised by the Theertha International Artists’ Collective at the Red Dot Studio Show, at the Theertha Art Guesthouse, Baddegana Rd. South, Pitakotte, 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Contact the artist on 0773847118

Date: Monday, December 1
Time: 7 pm
Venue: Ladies College Chapel, Colombo 7
Christmas with Philharmonic is a Service of Carols with the Colombo Philharmonic Choir. All are welcome. Entrance Free.

Date: Saturday, December 5
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Venue: Al Makthoom Auditorium, Zahira College
The 15th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Zahira College Colombo Group of ’80 will be presided by the President of the G’80 Alavi Mukthar.

Date: Friday, December 4
Time: 5:30 p.m.
Venue: Gangaramaya, Hunupitiya, Colombo 2
The Sri Lanka-Thailand Society will hold a Bodhi Pooja and Pirith Chanting under the patronage of Thinakorn Kanasuta, Ambassador of Thailand and Madam Kanasuta to invoke blessings on Bhumibol Adulyadej, the King of Thailand in connection with his 82nd birthday.