Veteran artiste passes away

Veteran art and sculpture artiste Upasena Gunawardane passed away after a brief illness on Wednesday. He was an old boy of Mahinda College, Galle and graduated from the famous Shanthi Nikethan of India.

Upasena was an acclaimed artiste for temple frescoes and has painted 32 paintings at Jethawanaramaya in India and 22 paintings at the Dalada Maligawa in Kandy. He was awarded the Kalapathi award in 1988 and received many local and international awards. Upasena was one time a member of the Cultural Ministry's advisory panel for paintings, sculpture and handicrafts. He has a career over 35 years in the field of arts and was 75 at the time of his demise.

His remains lie in his residence at 4 1/2, Jayakontha Lane, Kirula Road, Colombo 5. The funereal will take place at the General Cemetery, Borella on Saturday at 5 pm.