A country bereft of art will be like a desert - PM

Shirley Wijesinghe

The country’s art should be modernized without tarnishing its oriental image and it should not be an adoption of Western or any other type, said Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka.

Prime Minister Wickramanayaka stated this at the ceremony held yesterday for awarding scholarships to the successful candidates of the first year students of Diploma in Drama and Theatre conducted by Tower Hall Theatre Foundation.

“Today the freedom of the people is being withheld by some elements. We had to perform our dances to their tune. No more performances will be staged to their tune,” he said, referring to the conflict. PM said that the country would be converted to a desert if its art performances fade away. Inhuman acts will increase in society.

The rights of the people will be affected. “Today the decline of every aspects of country art is prominent and well-known. But proposal for National Drama and Theatre School will pass one milestone by recognising this Diploma level course which has been extended to follow a university degree of Aesthetic Education at the Open University of Sri Lanka.”

A medical insurance scheme for students who follow the courses of Drama and Theatre school without any contribution of the students was promised by the Prime Minister at the occasion.

The scholarships were presented by present veteran Drama and Theatre Artistes of Sri Lanka to mark the contribution made by Professor Sarachchandra, Bastian Jayaweera Bandara, Charles Dias and John de Silva.