Noticing the unnoticed

Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation Graphic and Animation Unit head Shirani Nanayakkara talks about her creative skills and passion for drawing cartoons 

“Happiness expressed in a person’s face when they observe something gives me complete satisfaction of being an artist,” says Shirani Nanayakkara who is organizing her debut solo art exhibition Dhyana. Shirani is currently working as the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation’s Graphic and Animation Unit head. Tracing the path she took, she said that she joined SLRC in 1983, as a very first member of the Rupahavini Graphic unit leaving her job as an art director at a well-recognized advertising firm. “I took up the job at Rupavahini for half of the salary I was receiving at the advertising company. Television media was novel in the country and I succeeded at being one of the very first people to join,” Shirani recalled how proud she was to accept this challenge eagerly.
Shirani was born in Badullawala, a small beautiful village between Kithulagala and Yatiyanthota. She believes that the aesthetic feelings in her were nurtured by the soothing environment of her childhood. Starting her primary education from Hakbellawaka Primary school she moved into Tholangamu secondary school and then to Ruwanweli Central College for her Advanced Level. Although she showed more skills and talents in drawing, she was selected to study science subjects. However, she managed to attend the art classes of late artist Amaratunge Kahawatta to improve her skills.

She recalled the Graphics and Animation Unit 30 years ago when there were no computer facilities or sophisticated technological equipment. “Everything was hand-drawn, even the name lists presented after teledramas,” she recollected. She explained why a cartoon artist must master skills to express emotions in face of a moving sketch. “Person who has the talent to depict the intended emotions successfully in a moving two dimensional picture can be considered as a successful animator,” she emphasized. “Creativity is the most important element in cartoon then and now. It will be the most important thing in the future as well, that whatever the cartoonist does, the cartoon must be able to grab the attention of its audience,” she said.

Today there are sophisticated tech equipment and advanced computer software to develop cartoon. Shirani grasped the technology fast that she adapted herself to the new trends. “Unlike today, there weren’t many opportunities to study the subject. I was motivated by the thought of creating better cartoon, therefore I studied on my own,” she said. In 2009 she was appreciated with a Rupavahini State Award for the best animation cartoon. The award winning cartoon was Lamayinta Nisi Thena Demu (Give children the right place).

She said that although local animation cartoons are in a developing state and a very high state compared to where it began, overall they lack creativity. She identified that this happens because the talented artists don’t show much enthusiasm to joining the cartoon field. “A graphic artist can’t create a good cartoon if the person is not a skillful artist,” she iterated. “If more artists look forward to put their efforts in making cartoon, future of the cartoon industry will not be bleak,” Shirani iterated.

She also mentioned that local cartoon animations, if well developed, will be more effective in sending a message to the child. “Local productions are more familiar to us that the characters are built upon our own society. It will be more effective in conveying a message of patriotism and building up a sense of appreciating local things in a child,” she pointed out.

Among her drawings, the majority consists of watercolor portraits. She said that this being the main method, she would experiment with any art medium or method in painting.  She enjoys sketching human figures the most, yet among her drawing are exceptional sceneries too.  Her eye gives attention to the isolated persons in crowds, the ones usually go unnoticed in a crowd. Shirani pays attention to their expressions and emotions that she sketches their emotions. All her paintings have a story to tell. “I see a story in everything I see. It’s just that I only have time to draw only a very few selected,” she said.

She mentioned her husband, Susantha Nanayakkara also with much affection. Susantha is a specialist in set designing. “I learned what fine art is after I got married to him. He was my teacher who he taught me to become a professional artist,” she said adding “If not for his help and motivation this art exhibition would not become a reality.”

Dhyana Art Exhibition will be declared open at 4 pm on Friday May 22 at Lionel Wendt Art Gallery. The exhibition will be held on May 23 and 24. “This is a very special event for me and this is the first time I am holding a solo exhibition. I have attempted to collect drawings from a long time. It didn’t work out because my drawings were never good enough for me. Only a carefully selected collection of my paintings will be exhibited at the event,” she said reiterating that personal satisfaction comes first in completing a drawing.

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Voice behind ‘Dosthara Honda Hitha’

Interview with artiste Parakrama Perera

Not many will recognize Parakrama Perera by his name. Not many will recognize him from his picture on this page. Yet, for someone who has watched early Rupavahini cartoons dubbed in Sinhala, his voice will not be unfamiliar. ‘Puru puru, Maalu katta dan api wada pataaan gannayi yanne’ , ‘Bibili nagina belikatu...’ – these phrases, with their unique voices, are forever etched in our minds. It was Parakrama Perera who voiced these characters. He was the Poos Lokka in Pissu Poosa, Doctor as well as Chaw-Chaw in Dosthara Honda Hitha and Captain Hadock in Tintinge Weera Kriya. This would suffice as introduction, but these are just a few characters he voiced, loved by thousands.

Born and raised in Suduwella, Colombo 10, Parakrama started his journey as a child artiste in Children’s programs of Lama Ranga Pitaya at Radio Ceylon, since one of his relatives took him there, to make his childhood dream come true. As a child Parakrama loved listening to radio and wished one day he could visit Radio Ceylon to observe how the voice he listens to through radio comes to his house. Later he received the opportunity to work as a dubbing artiste under veteran Titus Totawatte. As a young artiste he was able to gain recognition for his talents through Madol Doova Radio Drama, playing the role of Jinna. Kuhubuwo, Nandi Wishala, Handiye Gedara and Landesi Dupatha were among the popular radio dramas he contributed to, early in his career.

“I enjoyed playing the roles of Handiye Gedara Nawarathnam and Vandabona in Jiljona and Vandabona very much. Both stories were loved by their listeners and those characters were highly appreciated,” he recalled. “Taking part in radio programs during this period was like attending a university. Veterans like Karunarathna Abeysekara, Chithrananda Abeysekara, Prabha Ranathunga, Nanda Jayamanne, Siril Rajapaksha, Madawala S Ratnayake, Sugathapala de Silva and Dayananda Gunawardana were our gurus. They guided us so well that we were able to build our careers.”

He first met Martin Wickramasinghe following an invitation to visit him at his home as an appreciation for a job well done in voicing Upali and Jinna in Madol Doova radio drama. Rohana Siriwardana, whom Parakrama mentions as his ‘mango’ friend in the field, played the role of Upali.

His late colleague Premakeerthi de Alwis was a sensitive topic for Parakrama. “He called me Para,” he recalled. “Although I was not as competent as he was in presenting programs, he chose me as his partner in the second studio for some of his programs. It brings me to tears when I recall how good this man was to me.”

Taking about Prem actually brought Parakrama to tears. “His mother and mine were good friends and I remember an incident where we all went on a trip to Kataragama,” he recalled an incident when he accidently erased a news making picture Premakeerthi took.

During this period Premakeerthi was a journalist for the Visithura Newspaper. He captured a picture of a janitor who was on his ways to clean a toilet with a bucket of water. He does an incomplete job. Knowing this, another follows him with another bucket of water. Prem noticed this and was able to capture this after waiting for a long time. “He asked me to hold on to the camera and went away. I didn’t know how to operate the camera but I wanted to try to take a picture of our mothers cooking for us. Unfortunately, I have pressed the button while the same film was on, and Prem’s news picture was destroyed. I thought this would ruin our trip. But he was a sensitive man, he understood my immature need,” he said.

It was on Premakeerthi’s suggestion that Totawatte invited Parakrama for Rupahavini dubbing. Apart from Pissu Poosa and Dosthara Honda Hitha, he voiced Captain Hadock in Tintin, and other notable characters in Gulliverge Suvisariya, Situwara Montha Kristho, Nothradamaye Kuda, Malgudi Dawasa, Oshin and Senehase Ayithiya. He also mentioned his colleagues Saman Athawudahetti, Karunathilaka Handuwala and Rohana Siriwardena, Geetha Kanthi Jayakodi and Neranjala Sarojini with much affection.

He also spoke highly about Athula Ransirilal, who follows in the footsteps of Titus Totawatte. “His commitment to the field is extraordinary. It’s a blessing to have such people or else the quality of dubbing as well as the field itself would collapse,” he said. He went on about how the hard work of Ransirilal had enriched the locally produced cartoons. He specifically mentioned the recent cartoon programs Kumara Gee, Sunil Gee as well as Tomiya saha Kitiya, Andarege Katha and Pancha Thantraya. “These cartoons are created and produced locally. Therefore, I believe that these are better for our children as it brings out Sri Lankan essence,” he iterated. “It’s nice to see Sri Lankan productions on television. We have been watching foreign cartoons for a long time,” he added.

He also spoke about the new dubbed Asian television dramas telecasted in Rupavahini. “All these are carefully selected dramas with great story value. It is no surprise that people love these,” he said adding that they are now working on another new drama named Siri meti Siththarawi which is woven around a Korean legend who lived in the 16th Century.

Although he was a voice artiste, his fulltime career was at Colombo Municipal Council. He retired from his job as a supervisor recently after a service of 42 years. A felicitation ceremony was held two years ago, to appreciate his service to the CMC as well as a dubbing artiste. He currently works as a consultant to the voice training institute, ‘Voice of Sri Lanka’. “Voice training is essential for an artiste. But for a person who doesn’t have an inborn talent this will be a difficult task,” he said. He also said that the demand for skilled voice artistes are now less compared to the era in which the field was established. “New technology allows unskilled people to come off as skilled,” he said, expressing his grief over the lack of demand.

He pointed out that the recognition a voice artiste receives is less compared to the recognition received by actors. “People don’t recognize us when they see us, they barely remember our names. Satisfaction comes with the love they express for the characters we voice,” he said. If the voice artiste has not done an exceptional job, the audience would not fall in love with the characters they voice.

Pics by Ravindra Dharmathilake

Blurred brush strokes

Interview with veteran cartoonist Bandula  Harischandra

The main reason Sri Lankan artists, painters or cartoonists don’t get their due place in society is because they don’t stand together, opined veteran artist Bandula Harischandra, one of the pioneer cartoon storytellers in the country, in an interview with The Nation. “It’s a shame as well as a great disadvantage that artistes of our country are reluctant to stand together. If they do, the situation would have been very different,” he added.

Bandula Harischandra was born on May 24, 1940 in Keselwatta, Panadura. He received his early education at Sri Jana Dharmaduta Vidyalaya, Keselwatta. He said that no one, including himself, was aware of the fact that he had a hidden talent for sketching. “At the school art class, I wasn’t considered a good painter until one of my teachers saw a portrait I did,” he recalled. One day in his classroom he drew the portrait of his school manager, whose picture was hung in the new school building. Harischandra just copied the image he saw during a class, which was not painting, by the way. His subject teacher noticed the distracted boy and checked his notebook to see what kept him so preoccupied. The teacher was surprised by what she saw and immediately took him to the principal, who was highly impressed by the drawing too. “If I didn’t draw the picture of the school manager on that day, I would never have become a professional artist. I would be someone else,” he said adding that this drawing was the turning point of his life. Harischandra was just 12 years old then.

The impressed principal saw potential in this young boy and introduced him to National Arts Front (Jathika Kala Peramuna)Treasurer HBP Jayawardane. The official was an eminent art teacher as well as a painter and a highly skilled sculptor. “My friend Lionel was also a talented sculptor. Both of us were given a letter to go and meet Jayawardane Master. We didn’t know what waited us, but anyway we followed the principals’ orders,” Harischandra recalled. Under, the guidance of Jayawardane Master both Bandula and Lionel studied drawing, painting, pottery painting and sculpture.

“He helped me immensely to hone my skills. He was happy about my work and eventually offered me a class to teach, which I was very happy to take up,” Harischandra reminisced. He also mentioned how he held a successful art exhibition with his friend Lionel.

Day by day the number of students grew and eventually it was proposed that they move the class to Panadura Town, to a more spacious location. They moved the class to a building near the Panadura Hospital and formed the art institute, ‘Panadura Lalitha Kalayathanaya’, in 1959. “Music classes were conducted by Mudunkotuwa Master and dance classes by Ms. Miranda Hemalatha. It was a successful institute,” he said. Later, another art teacher joined him to conduct classes as the number of students was too much for him to handle by himself. This turned out to be Henry Tennakoon, who was the creator of Samaja Samayang, the famed cartoon strip published in Lankadeepa.

Tennakoon encouraged Harischandra to draw cartoon strips and coaxed him into joining Lake House. He introduced Harischandra to MA de Silva, then Dinamina Editor. This meeting resulted in Harischandra joining Lake House to do a series of picture stories based on Jathaka Stories. Later the stories he drew for Dinamina, Silumina, Navayugaya and Sathuta became extremely popular among the readers. So far he has created over 170 local and foreign picture story books including 12 stories created on his own. Bandula became the first artist to do picture stories in color. His story Nala Damayanthie published in Silumina is considered to be the first color printed cartoon story.

Among his most popular picture stories are Nala Damayanthie, Rahas Hasna, Sinbad, Helen, Thani Tharuwa, Veediya Bandara, Dewasmitha, Pandukabaya and Sinhala Deshaya. Later he followed a two-year course in painting at the Sri Lanka Jathika Kalayathanaya (Hewood) and obtained an Advanced Diploma in Art. He has submitted many articles to various newspapers and published a book on art titled Deepa. He has also served as the chief artist and manager for Camillus Publications.

He is also reputed for his paintings for UNESCO posters, leaflets and books. The reputation he earned in creating book covers is also renowned. He has also contributed in creating a number of Sri Lankan stamps. He has worked with the Sri Lanka Philatelic Bureau for over 25 years. Harischandra is also an artist who contributes to painting Vesak lanterns. “I have also completed drawings in Kaluadamulla Viharaya in Ambalangoda and currently completing the drawings of Borella Sri Lankaramaya,” said Harischandra.

He pointed out that there were several reasons behind the downfall of Sri Lankan picture story industry. According to him, contrary to popular belief, emergence of the television is not the main reason. “Once these stories started becoming popular among the readers, people started establishing more picture story papers. Competition was high and some reputed artists kept switching from paper to paper following the highest bid for their work,” he said. Harischandra added that this led to confusions in the readers that they no longer knew which paper to read. “Some stories were halted in the middle; some were continued in other papers. Eventually the readers got frustrated,” he emphasized.

Harischandra expressed his grief saying that the National Art Gallery is abandoned without anyone reaping benefits. “When we were young there were many exhibitions at the Kalabawana. We used to go whenever there was an exhibition. Today it’s literally abandoned,” he lamented. “The art exhibitions currently held there don’t make sense to the ordinary people sometimes,” he said adding that modern art is not something everyone can enjoy at the same level.

“I’m not saying that modern art is hopeless. It is a good form of art. Yet, it fails to speak to the hearts of the local people. Not everyone enjoys a few brush strokes on a canvas,” he iterated. “If they can exhibit local paintings or traditional art once in a while, it would attract a larger audience,” he said.

He also said that enthusiasm for art and painting dropped because of lack of awareness. As he explained, authorities who are supposed to support artistes overlook the painters. “They only concentrate on performing arts like dance, music or acting. Painting is not given its due place. It is as if they don’t consider painting an art form,” he said.

He reiterated that this lack of importance bestowed on artists is a setback in tourism. “Although we don’t have a habit of buying paintings, it can be sold more easily than other forms of arts to foreigners,” Harischandra pointed out. “Yet no one is willing to promote this aspect of art,” he added.

As mentioned before, Harischandra believes that these drawbacks can also be reduced if the artists stood together. He explained that they tried to do just this once by forming the Lanka Kala Sangamaya. Exhibitions held and the programs conducted by this association were highly successful, he said. “Yet unfortunately, the enthusiasm could not be maintained,” he said. “If a program can be formed and maintained for the development of the artists, I believe that it will promote Sri Lankan art and artistes better,” he said.

Pics by Chandana Wijesinghe

The child in her still lives

Renowned storyteller and artist Sybil Wettasinghe believes that art is the best method of communication

“Next month I will be eighty seven years old. I prefer to be alone. My children are worried that I live upstairs alone. But quietness is something amazing. I admire it and it helps me live in my own world. I’m not worried to be alone at all,” said Sybil Nenda, most beloved aunt of Sri Lankan children.

It won’t be an exaggeration to say that many generations grew up with her stories and wonderful illustrations. Although she is in her late 80s and a beloved grandmother, the child in her still allows her to believe in tree nymphs and fairies. “When my grandson was about three years old he owned a red car and he had a habit of leaving it outside after playing. One day, I told him not to leave the car outside, that someone will steel it. He said, ‘No, no Achchi Amma that won’t happen’ and he related a story to me about how the little red car is protected by a nearby mango tree.”

Later she drew this story with illustrations and published a book. She asked her grandson to take the book to his preschool teacher and show her that this is a story which he related. “He returned home with a sad face and I asked why,” she recalled. This is what the child had said.  ‘No Achchi Amma, teacher told me that you are a foolish person. She said that mango trees cannot help little cars’,” Sybil Nenda enacted the dialogue. “What’s the point of learning child psychology if a teacher cannot understand how a kid thinks? For a child every inanimate object is alive. I was able to explain and satisfy my grandson, but this is how a child’s creativity is destroyed when they are young. They should have their time in the fantasy world. Why be in a hurry to introduce him or her to the real world?” Wettasinghe said. “A child must be told stories and he should be given opportunities to create on their own.”

Kalakeerthi Sybil Wettasinghe was born in 1928 and spent the first seven years of her childhood in the village of Ginthota, situated in the suburbs of Galle. Sybil was the second in a family of five. Her family moved to Colombo where she enrolled in Holy Family Convent. Her father was a building contractor. Her mother had been very emphatic that her children get a good education. While her family was in Ginthota she attended Ginthota Buddhist School.

At the age of 17 Wettasinghe joined Lankadeepa newspaper. In 1952, Sybil joined the much-coveted Lake House publications where she became the main illustrator of the Janatha newspaper. Her entry to Lake House gave access to an entire network of newspapers and she wrote and illustrated for the Sunday Observer, Silumina, Daily News and Sarasaviya. In 1955, she married Don Dharmapala Wettasinghe, a former Chief Editor of Lake House Newspapers.

Her living room was mostly decorated with bookshelves, old photographs of her and her family and her paintings. In a corner she sat in a rocking chair, her head on the headrest. Roald Dhal’s books had a special place in her bookshelves that each bookshelf had at least one Roald Dhal book. “Oh, I love Roald Dhal. I read his books like a child and I think I like all his books,” she said. “I recently read one of his books on a day I had fallen sick and I got over my sickness just by reading it. His work is fantastic,” she said adding, “But my favorite books are of Khalil Gibran.” However, her book collection includes many books by many authors from all over the world.

“We were sent to school at the age of three. There weren’t any preschools during this period. I wrote of all my experiences in the book, Child in Me. The original cover for my book was me sitting on my grandmother’s lap,” she said. “A Japanese lady read my book and immediately wanted to translate the story for their children.” Sybil Nenda got up from her rocker to search for the Japanese translation. The cover of the book showed a little girl seated near a bamboo tree. She had redrawn the pictures to suit Japanese culture. “My books are apparently very popular there. This year too, we are working on two books. Usually they don’t work on two books by the same author. But they like my work very much,” she said with obvious satisfaction in her work.

She is currently illustrating Labu Gediye Thovilaya for the Japanese. “They like our rural, folk environment. I was surprised to see their enthusiasm for our environment and literature.” She moved on to her other books. “Hoity the Fox was published over 30 years ago. But still, it’s the number one when it comes to sales. This was translated into Japanese, Korean, Swedish, Norwegian, and Chinese apart from English. It’s a different twist, where three Gama Hamines fool a fox.” Kuda Hora (The Umbrella Thief) which was originally published in 1956 has been translated into Japanese, Chinese, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, English, Korean and Tamil.

During her career, she has won much international acclaim and her children's stories secured awards both in Europe and Asia. In 1965, her story Vesak Lantern won an Isabel Hutton Prize for Asian Women writers for Children. Her first book Kuda Hora was chosen for the Best Foreign Book Award in Japan in 1986. In 1987 it won the Japanese Library Association Award as the most popular children's book.

Wettasinghe, returning to her chair spoke further about Japanese children’s literature. “They promote fantasies in children’s literature. When I was working at Lake House, when I was about 24 years old, I wrote Duwana Rawula (Run Away Beard). When I took it to a publisher, he started scolding me that I write foolish stories,” she laughed. “But then when my book Kuda Hora won the best book award in 1992 in Japan, the Japanese seemed to be thrilled about the way I write. They admired the descriptions of unseen things, where as our people promote realistic stories for children. A child’s imagination will develop only through fantasies, not realities. That is why Hans Christian Anderson’s thousand odd stories are still much loved by children. Sri Lankan people still do not understand this.” She sighed.

She recalled her childhood. “My childhood was storybook perfect. I have written most of the incidents in Weniyan Kalu Weniyan. I simply can’t forget the environment of my village. I was there until I was eight years old. I walked along a footpath in the forest on my way to school. There was a bamboo tree near the school with a white sandy plain. A tributary of Gin Ganga flowed by closely. It was a magical place,” she still remembers every small detail about the place. “I wanted to be there on my own, but that was impossible since no one would let me be there alone. I was just three or four years old. We get to come to this place during the school break, but then the other students were also there. It was not as quiet as I wanted the place to be.” Little Sybil badly wanted to be there alone and fretted herself mapping out a plan.

“Do you know what I did as a child?” she asked. “If a child wants to do something, he or she will definitely find a way. Back then I wore gold gypsy earrings, most of the girls did. I removed one of my earrings and hung it on the bamboo tree and returned to class. My beautiful class teacher noticed that my earring was missing and she came close to me and whispered, ‘one of your earrings are missing. Isn’t it? Would you be a good child and go look for it before others go out for break?’ Like a tortoise put into water, I ran to the sandy plain, put my earring on and sat near the bamboo trees. I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of fish swimming in the lake and the birds chirping.” She described the incident as if it happened yesterday, as if the memories are imprinted in her mind. “I believe that this is how I started loving and admiring nature. I still appreciate the environment around me.”

The room which she uses to do her drawing and write her stories has a picturesque view at sunset with tall bushy tress. “I put bananas out of the window next to the table I work.  Squirrels and birds come to eat the bananas and I get to observe them ever so closely. When the Demalichchas (Babblers) come squirrels and other birds go away. They are all scared of Demalichchas. When Demalichchas leave, others slowly come back. I love to be a part of their world.”

“Today, children don’t get to experience nature or whatever natural luxuries I used to have. They leave early for schools, school vans come to their doorstep, then they come back, have lunch and go for tuition. They don’t have time to associate with nature. This is why I wrote about my childhood to let them experience what I experienced back then and to let their mothers know how important it is to let their children associate with nature.” Sybil dedicated the book The Child in Me saying, ‘The love and peace cultivated in my heart as a child, has remained throughout my whole life. With this love I warm-heartedly present, ‘The Child in Me’, to everyone, young and old.’ Yet she said that her old village has also transformed now that there are no women who wear clothes like the women in her books, or men with long hair.

Sybil said that she wasn’t motivated to draw during her school time since the art classes were boring. “In our art class, the teacher puts a king coconut and a glass of water and asked us to sketch it. What child wants to draw a king coconut on a table?” she asked. “I was not interested in it and they thought I was bad at art. I wanted to draw from imagination.”

Sybil believes that art is the best method of communication. She describes it as a universal language which anyone can understand. She gave two of her personal experiences to prove what she said. “When I was very small we went to visit one of our relatives during Avurudu season (New Year). I was so hungry, but no one seemed to be interested in eating. They were busy talking. There was a slate and a piece of chalk on a table. I took this and sketched a very thin girl whose tummy was shrunk from starvation. Luckily my uncle saw my drawing and exclaimed, ‘This child is hungry. Someone give something for her to eat.’ Then, I understood how important art is at conveying messages to others.”

She also spoke of a recent incident. “Once I went to Berlin on a scholarship. The family I lived with couldn’t speak English. On the first day, my guide left me there promising to come and pick me up the next morning. They didn’t know how to communicate with me so I tried something else. I drew a cow, a glass and a saucer and they understood that I wanted milk. Then I drew a picture of the Buddha and put a question mark. When I showed it to the mother of the family she said no and came with a picture of Jesus. Like this we started communicating. When the guide came back we were talking through pictures and laughing. She was surprised since we couldn’t speak to each other. When she asked my accommodators they’ve told her ‘She is fantastic, she talks through pictures.’

At Holy Family Convent she learnt hymns. Eager to sing little Sybil made sure that she sang these songs at home so that her mother could hear. “I am a Buddhist and my mother who didn’t know a word of English didn’t know that I was singing hymns. She appreciated my vocal skills. However, there weren’t any restrictions on learning about other religions. We had all the freedom we wanted and I believe this is why we respect other religions today. Unfortunately there are restrictions for children today in learning other religions where they are limited to learn only their religion of birth. Then they become insensitive and disrespectful towards other religions.”

She also believes that this respectful attitude towards other religions helped her to illustrate the children’s bible. Her illustrations for bible stories have a Sri Lankan uniqueness where Jesus has dark hair, angels have no wings and even the fishermen look like our fishermen from Negombo. “If children get their rightful freedom to create things and learn things without strict restrictions, they would not become insensitive. They should be understood at their level, to give solutions to their problems,” she said.

Pics by Chandana Wijesinghe

Playing the watchdog’s role

Cartoonist Thalangama Jayasinghage says cartoonists must use satire to drive home the message that politicians are being watched and an artist has a responsibility to guard the Wellbeing of the society

 

Thalangama Jayasinghage’s characters Palamalla and A-Thuma are no strangers to the contemporary Sinhala newspaper readership. Jayasinghe, who is attuned to what’s happening in the country, even after his retirement decades ago, continues to alert people on the political as well as the social situation of the country through his cartoon column daily. Last week, he launched his two new cartoon collections, Palamalla and A-Thuma. So far, he has created over 70 cartoon stories for newspapers including Silumina, Dinamina, Janatha, Sarasaviya and Tharuni. He drew his first cartoon story Chithra for Dinamina in 1954 and joined the Dinamina editorial in 1957. He worked as the editor of the Madura newspaper from 1980 to 1998. Jayasinghe is not only a cartoonist and a painter, but also a poet, a novelist and a short story writer. The script of the famous Sinhala film Sapta Kanya was also written by this artiste of many talents.

Jayasinghe is one of the most elderly veterans among the Sri Lankan artists. Although he is in his late 70s, he still actively participates in the field as a freelance cartoonist and writes poems for Lanka Witthi newspaper; a London based Sinhala newspaper. “Only a very few artists can tell you about the situation of Sri Lanka during World War II. I am one of them,” he reminisced. Born on July 5, 1936, Jayasinghe was the youngest child in the Thalangama South Buddhist Mixed School, when he got admission for his formal education. “We lived in Battaramulla during my childhood. Our home was located right in front of Isurupaya; the Ministry of Education,” he said. “The period of World War II was hard for everyone. It was a time when people were forced to eat Bajiri, not many today can speak about the experiences during that era,” he added.

He recollected how he became enthusiastic about learning how to draw. “We didn’t have any Art teacher at school. All the subjects were taught by the class teacher in the primary classes. We used to call her Guruthumi and one day she asked us to draw a water pot,” he recalled an incident from his third grade class. “We all drew and she checked all the books, one by one. When she saw mine, she lifted the book, so everyone in the classroom could see and said, ‘See this water pot of Jayasinghe’s,’ and laughed. What I had drawn was not a water pot, but a pot we use for cooking.” Little Jayasinghe was embarrassed, but he longed to learn art skills from his friend, Ariyadasa. After the class, Ariyadasa showed him the differences between the two types of pots and showed him how to draw. “He was my first art guru,” reminisced Jayasinghe.

Ariyadasa was older than he, although they were in the same class. He had owned a book full of tattoo designs and had copied them on to his friends’ arms and back, using a carbon pencil, so they could imitate the village rascals. “I also used to get him to draw tattoos on me. Watching him draw boosted my interest to learn how to draw,” he said.  He also recalled how art master Samaranayake who joined his school when he was in grade seven, helped him to improve his skills.

“We didn’t have much color printed pictures to see during the early 1940s. Samanarayake master used to bring me pictures and show how the colors were used and how those paintings were drawn.” It was Samanarayake master who identified his talent and encouraged him to draw more.

Jayasinghe passed his Senior School Certificate (SSC) Examination when he was just 14 and joined the School of Art, Now a department of the Visual and Performing Arts University, in 1951. “I believe I was capable of passing the exam at once at a young age because of my father’s influence. He was an educated man who’s Sinhala and English were of high standard,” he recounted how he loved to listen to his father reading out from books he maintained at his small private library. “Although he was educated, my mother couldn’t read. My father used to read out novels, so all of us could hear. He had books from WA Silva to Piyadasa Sirisena in his private collection.” He also said that he used to enjoy the Mudalali cartoon series published in Dinamina Newspaper which his father used to buy as a habit.

Jayasinghe had to leave the School of Arts prematurely following his father’s sudden death. As he was the eldest in the family, he was automatically held responsible for his family’s wellbeing. Therefore he joined an advertising agency in 1955. “My first salary was 125 rupees,” he laughed. By 1957 he had become an Art Director at another advertising agency. “By this time I’ve being earning 350 rupees per month. Although it was a good financial situation during this period, I wasn’t satisfied with the job. This is when Lake House published a paper advertisement asking for artists. I applied for it with much enthusiasm,” he recalled.

Although there were more than 60 applicants, he was selected for the post, making his wish come true. “Mr. Denzil Peiris recognized my talent. I received a telegram, on the same day I went for the second interview, for which 10 of the selected people were called up,” he said. Although his salary went down from 350 rupees to 250 rupees again, he agreed to start working for Lake House. Although he was fond of the job at the newspaper, he became stressed with the financial limitations and his enthusiasm waned. He became lethargic that his editor Denzil Peiris noticed his lack of enthusiasm.

“One day he called me into his office and challenged me to leave, saying that I am not pulling my weight. I explained to him how hard it was for me to adjust to the salary. He knew what I was going through and told me to be patient. Within a year my salary was doubled,” he said.

Although his main responsibilities were performed as an artist, he also worked as a journalist. He mentioned how independent the journalists were during this era and how it had a positive influence on the quality of work. “People in the newspaper industry were more humane back then. They knew how they should treat employees, Mr. Denzil Peiries is just one such example.” He pointed out that this freedom does not exist in the present context of the industry. “Today it’s all about meeting deadlines and minimizing the expenditure. Human feelings and compassion don’t count,” he lamented.

In addition he spoke about the responsibilities of a political cartoonist. “He should always keep in mind the wellbeing of the society. When the message is given through satire people grasp it quickly and they grasp it well,” he iterated. “The cartoonist should be bold enough to identify the strongest point and be creative with it to pass the message,” he said. He took an example from his own carrier.

“In the 1950s my political ideologies were different from the government of that period. People were financially oppressed. Goods were not available in the market even for those who had money. We went through a lot of hassle even to get one packet of milk powder for the kids. Yet, I couldn’t portray this frustration on a Lake House newspaper as it was a government newspaper,” he explained. He chose to portray his frustration in the Siyarata newspaper published by the United National Party under a different pen name. “Those cartoons were very strong and voiced the true concerns of a frustrated father as well as a citizen. I knew that it was working because of the unexpected responses I received,” he added.

He mentioned how surprised he was at getting complimented by the Manager of the Maharagama Sarasavi Book Shop. “He didn’t know that I am the cartoonist. I was just going through some other newspapers. He came to me and told me to buy Siyarata saying, ‘You have to see this newspaper, if you want to see the best cartoon.’ I was happy,” he said.

He further mentioned that the cartoonists weren’t appreciated until recently. “I believe we should be thanking Mr. Bandula Padmakumara for starting to readout the political cartoons on his morning show. Before that the cartoonists weren’t given due recognition,” he pointed out. Jayasinghe believes that other media establishments have also taken the responsibility in highlighting the cartoonist. “People eagerly await the cartoons now. They have started to recognize the power of cartoons,” he reiterated.

Cartoonist: Voice of common man

Pic by Chandana Wijesinghe

 Since the cartoon strip ‘Horizontal’ hit The Nation in late 2011, the skinny man wearing the ragged sarong, carrying the tattered bag was no stranger to The Nation’s readers. Creator of this strip as well as the daily and weekly cartoon strips of the Rivira, Asanga Indunil Weerasekara says becoming a cartoonist was everything he wished for, since he knew how to hold a pencil. “I’m lucky to be able to fulfill my childhood dream, not everyone gets that chance,” he said. “Self satisfaction comes with the territory.”

Asanga obtained his primary education at Anuruddha College, Nawalapitiya. Although he has been keen on drawing cartoons since childhood, it took him many years to become a cartoonist. But he always took the lead when it came to creative work and drawing at school. During this period Asanga took part in numerous arts and poster competitions and won countless awards. However, his parents were not happy about his choice of profession, and did not approve of him continuing his studies of the arts.

Looking back, he said that their decision did not inflict on him any harm. “In fact following their advice helped me,” said Asanga. He studied math for Advanced Level. “After completing school I was chosen for a course of survey and draftsmanship. In 1992 I moved to Colombo from Nawalapitiya and started my career in the field of house construction. By that time I had followed professional courses in draftsmanship, quantity surveying as well as AutoCAD,” he said. He also recalled the motivation he received from his art teacher at school, Mahinda Punchihewa.

His debut book cover was for a children’s book; Nelli Kele Yaluvo written by Lal Jayasundara. He was still employed at a private organization as a Draftsman when he started drawing illustrations for children. “When I was introduced to Mr. Peliyagoda Dayananda; editor of the Bindu children’s newspaper of Upali Group of Companies, he invited me to join Bindu as a freelance artist. He is the person who first recognized how my talent would become useful in the newspaper industry.” In 1997 he joined Bindu as a freelancer and later became a full timer after resigning from his career in draftsmanship. During this period he got the opportunity to make contributions to various children’s publications. He has contributed illustrations for more than 200 children’s publications by now.

In 2006, he joined the Rivira Media Corporation on the invitation of former Rivira Editor-in-Chief, Upali Tennakoon. “I joined Rivira as a professional newspaper artist. With years of service I was able to fulfill my childhood dream of becoming a cartoonist.” He became a cartoonist with the inauguration of the Rivira daily paper. He still continues his cartoon strip ‘Thiras’ in both daily and Sunday Rivira newspapers.

During his first year of service as a cartoonist, he was able to win a certificate of merit at the Sri Lanka Journalism Award Ceremony. He also recalled how he was invited to start the cartoon column ‘Horizontal’ for The Nation in 2011. “I started drawing for The Nation on the invitation of Editor-in-Chief, Mr. Malinda Seneviratne,” he said. While continuing ‘Horizontal’ he also colors the Mahasona which now appears in the Lens section each week. Apart from his duty as a cartoonist, he wrote a series of articles titled ‘Sihina Vimana’ (Dream Palace) for Rivisarasi; the tabloid of the weekend Rivira, using his knowledge and past experiences as a draftsman. “It was very successful and I continued it for more than two years,” he mentioned. He also published this article series as two books; Sihina Vimana and Dreamed Palace.

Asanga followed a course on oil paintings conducted by Mohan Grero Foundation, under the prominent artist Somaratne Gomas. In 2006, one of Asanga’s paintings was placed first at the international art competition ‘Art for Air’ organized by the Better Air Quality (BAQ) 2006 conference held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Drawing for children may look like a straightforward and easy task. But on the contrary, Asanga pointed out that it’s anything but easy and plays an essential role in aiding a child’s development. He also said that drawings are a marvelous way to convey a difficult story in a child’s perspective. “A child’s eye first catches drawings and colors before letters. Therefore any form of art, such as drawing, painting or sculpting can be used to hone a child’s intelligence.

He explained how illustrations in children’s books can be used to trick children into reading books. He rebuked some children’s book illustrators for not following the proper guidelines when drawing for children. “This happens because there is no system to monitor these books. Anyone can do whatever they want,” he pointed out. “I have seen children’s books carry illustrations which represents hatred or anger. I believe that it is inappropriate to illustrate such feelings since these illustrations penetrate a child’s mind,” he opined.

Political caricatures are equally complex. Overweight politicians with big noses, skinny commoners or funny haired women, convey a very strong message through sarcasm. “A cartoon may convey a complex political issue, in a simple and humorous manner, which would otherwise take hundreds of words to explain,” says Asanga. He pointed out that political cartoons are a good tool to make a point about issues and flaws in the system.

Images get ingrained in the mind of a person more effectively than words. Political cartoonists capitalize on this power and to drive home a point. Political cartoons should be able to produce a strong reaction in people making them understand the underlying message, he explained. “A political cartoonist’s responsibility is usually to promote social welfare or wellbeing,” he iterated.

Asanga was inspired by the work of the American Israeli political cartoonist Ranan R. Lurie. “I find his work influential. I have always been interested in his work and studying his work enhances my skills too,” he said.

He explained his daily routine of creating a cartoon since he started working with the Rivira daily newspaper. “Usually I read all the newspapers in the morning listen to the radio and watch news on television and select the most compelling news story. The leading news story cannot always be portrayed in a cartoon. I pick a story which can easily be made into a cartoon,” says Asanga. Even though many new technological tools are available for drawing cartoons Asanga said that he still prefers to draw by hand. “I draw the outlines and scan it. I apply colors and fine-tune the cartoon using the computer. I don’t like to depend on technology very much.”

According to Asanga keeping up with both local and global current events is the secret to being a successful political cartoonist. Asanga reiterated that a cartoonist should have a sound knowledge of fields such as literature, sports, art and economy other than the political setting of the country. “Political cartoons rely on drawing skills more than any other form of cartoons, but being a good cartoonist does not mean that he or she could be a political cartoonist,” he added.

As Asanga explained, another golden rule is to not fear criticism. “The cartoonist must have self censorship. Even though there is no system to judge a cartoon before it gets published, the cartoonist should refrain from humiliating the person whom he illustrates,” he reiterated. Talking about the ethics of a political cartoonist Asanga said that it all depends on individual cartoonist. “A cartoonist must not humiliate a religion, a community or a specific group. He must learn to deliver the intended message without causing harm,” he added.

According to him a political cartoonist should be fair to both sides of a scenario he or she depicts. “Also they should always be mindful about the injustice to the common man. A cartoonist can become their voice, to remind the ruling party of their plight,” he added.

http://www.nation.lk/edition/fine/item/25108-interview-with-artist-asanga-indunil-weerasekara-giving-life-to-stories-through-cartoons.html