This evening, learn how to design a museum at The Bawa Space or why the sathyagrahas failed at ICES. More on communal strife at Lakmahal. Earlier in the day, artists jaw-jaw with philosophers. Sumithra Peiris’ newly restored Gehenu Lamai opens at Scope Cinemas.
Saturday’s treat is Open House, where Colombo’s beau monde bare their homes and brave our grubby feet. Murad Ismail & Channa Daswatte, Chandragupta Thenuwara, Jagath Weerasinghe and others open their studios. Tree whisperer Channa Ekanayake and CoCA’s homes are also highlights.
In the evening, Ruvin not Ruin at Barefoot, the annual diplomats bazaar, and Lakmahal’s sci-fi book club.
On Sunday, Wheels of Modernity, an amble through fin-de-siècle Maradana, from the history and memory kaliya. Vivimarie Vanderpoorten’s translations of Sinhala poetry read at the Expographic bookshop.
During the week, lullabies from the usual suspects at the Ceylon Chamber’s Economic and Investment Summit, Colombo Uni English Dept’s workshop on creativity in the classroom, and Ruwan Prassana’s fiery exhibition at Saskia’s. There’s also the Island Poetry Exchange Xmas Open Mic.
Tavish Gunasena’s ode to the coast of the rising sun continues at Barefoot. Also watch Kannan Arunasalam and Imaad Majeed’s documentaries, brought to you by Himal TV. Don’t forget to rouse your troupe for the Matara arts fest a fortnight away.
What to read
“Nirvana can wait” says Gnanasara. Catch more of his gems in this long-form piece on the rise of Buddhist extremism. It's based on a new book, The Robe and the Sword: How Buddhist Extremism Is Shaping Modern Asia (the title presumably borrowed from Leslie Gunawardene’s Robe and Plough). Read a mini-review in Himal’s Southasia Review of Books, which also features a book on Tamil Buddhism.
Polity covers a story no one else has. A garment worker’s death during her shift at a Brandix factory in Seethawaka. The article claims the JMO’s cause of death was a lie, and the JMO is conflicted, having worked for Brandix before.
Following COVID and the economic crisis, food insecurity nearly tripled. More than half the households in the estates are food insecure, researchers find. Northern farmers face challenges in accessing agricultural extension services. Meghal Perera on fisheries cold-chain adaptation and subversion at the Peliyagoda fish market.
Two Observer Research Foundation papers related to Lanka, one is Anushka Wijesinha’s essay on Indo-Lanka digital connectivity and the other on Indian Ocean ports.
ICES booklets on the experiences of the genderqueer and women with disabilities are out.
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