George Keyt remembered
 NALAKA
GUNAWARDENE and VINDANA ARIYAWANSA
This year marks the 110th birth anniversary of George Keyt, who is
considered to be one of Sri Lanka’s most distinguished modern painters.
He is one of the few painters of Lankan origin whose works have been
sold at leading auction houses in London and New York.
He was born in 1901 and educated at Trinity College, Kandy. He was
one of the artists who set up the ’43 Group. His work is now scattered
in different parts of the world in private collections and art
galleries. Many exhibitions of his work have been held in various Indian
cities, London, other European cities and in North America.
  We
start with three questions about Keyt.
1. Keyt’s dominant style is influenced by Buddhist and Hindu
cultures, as well as the modern painting tradition of cubism. He has
also said that he was influenced by his contemporary, a French artist
known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship.
Who?
2. In addition to being a painter, George Keyt was also a poet. He
outlined his perceptions and practice as a painter in a few notable
essays on the vision of the painter. One of his most notable literary
works was the translation of the Gita Govinda, the 12th Century Indian
poem, into English and Sinhalese. He illustrated these translations with
his own line drawings. Name the Indian poet who wrote the original Gita
Govinda.
3. Artist George Keyt, although born to a Dutch Burgher family and
raised a Christian, developed an interest in both Buddhist culture of
Sri Lanka and the Hindu culture of India, both of which influenced his
work. Name the Buddhist temple in Colombo that in the 1930s invited him
to paint on its wall murals on the life of the Buddha.
4. On June 6, 2011, the Kokavil Multi Purpose Transmission Tower
which caters to the entire Jaffna peninsula’s telecommunication,
television, radio and defense transmission purposes was commissioned by
President Mahinda Rajapaksa. In which district of Sri Lanka is this
174-metre tall tower located?
5. Hailing from Brazil, she is currently the world’s highest paid
supermodel. During her modelling career, she has been the face of
countless global campaigns for leading global brands and graced the
cover of many globally circulating magazines.
She also has a long-standing and passionate commitment to social and
environmental causes, which began years ago when she spent time with an
Indian tribe on the Xingu River in the Amazon Rainforest.
  In
2008, she returned to her homeland and with her family, launched Projeto
Água Limpa (Clean Water Project) in her hometown of Horizontina. Who is
she?
6. The film I, Robot, starring Will Smith, was released by Twentieth
Century Fox in 2004. It was inspired by a collection of nine science
fiction short stories by a well known American author, which were first
published in book form in 1950 after the stories had originally appeared
in popular science fiction magazines between 1940 and 1950. Who wrote
these stories, thus making a major contribution to human-robot
relationship?
7. “Every time I finish a book, I think it’s crap. And sometimes it
isn’t.” This recent remark was made by one of the finest fiction writers
in English in the world today. Born in India and now living in Britain,
much of his fiction is set on the Indian subcontinent. His style is
often classified as magical realism mixed with historical fiction, and a
dominant theme of his work is the story of the many connections,
disruptions and migrations between the Eastern and Western worlds. Who
is this author, who has won many awards including the Booker of Bookers,
for the best novel among the Booker Prize winners for Fiction awarded at
its 25th anniversary (in 1993)?
8. She was born in 1746 when the Dutch were ruling coastal areas of
Ceylon, and was named Dona Isabella Koraneliya. She overcame many
prevailing prejudices against women to emerge as a leading poetess of
the time, and was particularly noted for having her ability to write and
recite impromptu Sinhala poetry. While her personal life was tumultuous,
her literary accomplishments are recognized and appreciated even today.
By what name is this poetess better known?
9. The words ‘Tsar’ and ‘Kaiser’ were both historically used to
identify the monarch or emperor, in various European traditions and
countries. Both these terms have been derived from which term in ancient
Roman history?
10. In the ceremonial opening at the Olympic Games, the host
country’s sportspersons and officials always march the last in March of
Nations. Which country traditionally always leads the March of Nations?
 11.
A seat belt, sometimes also called a safety belt, is a safety harness
designed to secure the driver or passenger of a vehicle against harmful
movement that may result from a collision or a sudden stop. The seat
belt was invented in the early 19th Century and has been improved in
design by several persons over the years.
The first modern three point seat belt patented in 1955 and first
introduced as a standard feature in motor cars produced by which
European motor car manufacturer in 1959?
12. The seat belt, though introduced in the 1950s, remained an
optional item in its first few years. But studies showed how it
significantly enhanced passenger safety. Which Australian state was the
first in the world in 1970 make it mandatory for all vehicle users to
wear three-point belts, front and rear?
13. This Russian author of fiction and essays is best known for his
novels
Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov. He is
often acknowledged by critics as one of the greatest and most prominent
psychologists in world literature. He once said, “The degree of
civilisation in a society can be judged by observing its prisoners”,
after having been a political prisoner in Siberia for four years. Who is
he?
14. Queen Elizabeth II of Britain is the constitutional monarch of
sixteen (16) independent sovereign states in different parts of the
world as at mid 2011. This includes the United Kingdom, of course, and
several island states in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean, as well as
three developed countries. All of these countries consider the Queen as
their head of state while they have their own elected heads of
government (a Prime Minister). One of these three developed countries is
Canada. Which are the other two?
15. Taking five wickets or scoring a century in a 50 over One Day
International cricket match is no easy task. One cricketer took 5
wickets and scored a century in the same match to become the only man in
the cricket history to do so. He achieved this against Bangladesh in
2005 by scoring 112 not out and taking 6 wickets for 31 runs. Who is he?
Answers will be published next week.
Last week’s answers
1. William Gladstone (1809 - 1898)
2. William Cowper (1731 - 1800)
3. Eric Arthur Blair (1903 - 1950), better known by his pen name
George Orwell
4. Bill Gates
5. Vangelis
6. Professor Carlo Fonseka
7. Prelude to Space
8. Albert Chin?al?m?g? Achebe, popularly known as Chinua Achebe
9. Pele
10. Alexander Popov
11. Lars Von Trier
12. Ray Charles (1930 - 2004)
13. Agatha Christie
14. 2061
15. Rev S (Sikkim) Mahinda Thera (1901 - 1951)
His original name was Pempa Tendupi Serky Cherin
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