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# Where to go and what to read
- URL: https://www.examiner.media/where-to-go-and-what-to-read-20/
- Published: 2026-02-20T07:30:22.000Z
- Updated: 2026-02-20T07:30:22.000Z
- Author: The Examiner
- Tags: Diary, maintag-Diary, Week-07-2026

Still morose about the Galle Literary Festival’s cancellation? The Matara Arts Festival [kicks off](https://mataraforarts.com/?ref=examiner.media) today. Galle anyway smelt a bit too much of sunscreen, and [FILTH](https://sangam.org/taraki/articles/2006/12-08%5FFestival.php?print=sangam&ref=examiner.media) \- Failed in London Try Hong Kong. Ofc this is all sour grapes to console ourselves. 

Tonight, Rajitha Dissanayake brings [*Ape Gedara Gini Thiyaida*](https://mytickets.lk/events/69647e392ba877269c74ba3e?ref=examiner.media)to the venerable Elphinstone. It’s already been postponed once, so don’t miss it. Soul Sounds returns to their convent roots and, on Saturday, primly entreats the Almighty to [order their steps](https://mytickets.lk/events/6979a5fe8017f81d850e5515?ref=examiner.media). Curado [blooms](https://www.instagram.com/p/DUzprWHCC6Y/?igsh=YTJkcWQwdXlya2xmv&ref=examiner.media) on Park Road with Yuwantha Yasas’ love buffet exhibition. On Sunday, Schokman’s nubile [art auction](https://www.instagram.com/p/DUsajGHjwMr/?igsh=MWZ4ZzVobjgwMWlmNg==&ref=examiner.media). 

Monday has clever academics telling us how to be [resilient entrepreneurs](https://x.com/sasialse/status/2023722570022088889?s=46&ref=examiner.media). Why do they never invite Pettah merchants to speak at such things? We also have intelligence for you: Mind Adventures’ sold-out Poison is having an extra show. So far only the waitlist have been invited. But…

This week the Bawa Trust is Gandhian: restoring [landscapes](https://www.instagram.com/p/DU4veG%5FAvVC/?igsh=bWx6czB6Y3dtcDZ5&ref=examiner.media) with *Swadeshi* plants on Tuesday, and [urban home gardens](https://www.instagram.com/p/DU7U7PsAhFF/?igsh=aXVtem5meTE0ZXg5&ref=examiner.media) on Thursday. 

*Sotto arte* throughout the week, [silent strokes](https://www.instagram.com/p/DUubU%5FmgMQF/?igsh=bjM2ZmV5b2MyYWhv&ref=examiner.media) vs [sound of silence](https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ref=examiner.media#inbox/FMfcgzQfBspgLhKdGCMTGzLbtpxqzHQb), at Radicle and Paradise Road. The French [navel gaze at their Lady](https://www.instagram.com/p/DUp8fVUD-pE/?igsh=cmNuZHdyd3I3bjE5&ref=examiner.media): their notre dame can’t be ours, *non? noh?* And next month, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce morphs into Hii magazine with a [diplomats night](https://www.instagram.com/p/DU5TeAqEcXs/?igsh=eDd6d2phbW9ueXh2&ref=examiner.media). 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/56/2b/562b4f8e-9dd1-43bb-a213-bc1615650661/content/images/2026/02/data-src-image-580aa689-3e72-4a21-93dc-6325a56d301a.png)

Saskia Pintelon’s Welcome To The Madhouse' (2024) and 'Perfection Takes Time' (2025)

*What to read*

Swastika Arulingam inherits the Old Left’s debating prowess. Her [Shan Memorial Lecture](https://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/?p=87062&ref=examiner.media) was quite parliamentary. 

Of course no one can silence Swastika, but neither can they the 81 year old Saskia Pintelon. The Indian Express reviews her [exhibition](https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/delhi/2026/Feb/16/saskia-pintelons-delhi-exhibition-speak-of-beauty-identity-and-being-seen?ref=examiner.media) in Delhi. “What is written is often not said, and what is said is often never written,” she observes. Her painting does both. 

Ganananth Obeyesekere argued “Väddas could become Sinhala Buddhists and Sinhala Buddhists could become Väddas”, says R.S. Perinbanayagam in his [review](https://polity.lk/the-creation-of-the-hunter-the-vadda-presence-in-the-kandyan-kingdom-r-s-perinbanayagam?ref=examiner.media) of the great man’s book on the Veddhas. 

Finally a public library donation [drive](https://www.instagram.com/p/DUuxAxXDD9J/?igsh=YjBiMmFvdTk5enNu&ref=examiner.media), no better way to save your books from the *veeyas*.