Meet the youth artistes of Jaffna

Engada Spot in Manipay Jaffna opening the door to art and artists

• Exploring need to integrate art and artistes into economic revival of Sri Lanka

A section of Engada Spot. Jaffna artist Deminthran is the commissioned artist who had done the artwork on this structure

By Surya Vishwa 

Today we go North. You can do it too. Take the bus or train or car or van or bike – or truck or anything that has four or two wheels. Or walk (yes, you can get there on slow foot mode – it will take only a few days!! Maybe we can take heed of the fact that the sages of yore used to walk from Jaffna to Kataragama and back. 

The Harmony page, as part of our Jaffna tourism promotion campaign has been travelling to Sri Lanka’s North consistently (we generally take the bus or train). While in Jaffna, as we also do in other regions of Sri Lanka – we relentlessly seek out youth talent in multiple sectors while identifying policy gaps by speaking to a wide segment of the population (including representatives of institutions such as the district Chambers of Commerce). Our primary commitment is to highlight untold stories of youth entrepreneurship/art/innovation/invention and promote investment for youth talent. Connected to the above the integrated and overarching goal of our media initiative is to support and influence common sense based Sri Lankan policy making which uplift every human to his or her highest potential and raise the bar of Sri Lanka’s rural expertise while integrating district level voices in central government based discourses. 

The Northern Province of Sri Lanka need to ensure a wholesome foundation that will pitch the once war scarred territories into its maximum potential. While focusing on both micro and macro infrastructure related gaps that hinder the ultimate and holistic human potential at district level we have emphasised that Sri Lanka needs to integrate art and artistes into the national economy. In our previous editions we have written on how there is a yawning gap where art and artistes are concerned, where the banking and other financial lending institutions do not formally recognise that painters, musicians, theatre practitioners, poets and novelists etc. etc.), are also contributors of and a core component to the national economy and above all the cultural soul of a nation. The tourism sector will be cemented to mere brick structures if a nation does not nurture its artistes. 

In this edition we continue to communicate the voices of Sri Lankan artists and show how art is linked to the concept of integrated entrepreneurship creation. 

 

Jaffna artist Sinthuja

Engada Spot

We travel about five kilometres away from Jaffna town to Manipay, to one of Jaffna’s iconic youth hangout favourites. It is an art infused café like no other and it is aptly named Engada Spot (translated from Tamil as Our Spot). This is the art dedicated niche we selected as the Jaffna venue for meeting Northern artists. At just eight months of existence, this café – Engada Spot – has no parallel in Sri Lanka. At least a dozen or so artistes of various genre has contributed to its creation, initiated and guided by Karikalan Rishivarman (known affectionately by his friends as Rishi). Rishi is a 28 year old Jaffna based architect who is also an award winning dancer as well as singer. Rishi’s own unique art and entrepreneurship dedicated story will be featured separately in the weeks to come. 

Meet three Jaffna artists

Today at Engada Spot we meet three artists of Jaffna and learn about their commitment to making an economically viable career of their life-passion; art. 

The discussion with the artists was arranged and coordinated by Jaffna based artist Sasitharan Demithran. He also has Information Technology related formal university level qualification and teaches art to children and youth at different venues including his former school Angel International School in Manipay, Jaffna.

This writer first noticed his work in the Jaffna house of Jekhan Arulliah. Jekhan is a well-known encourager of youth entrepreneurship and art and had purchased a striking portrait done by Demithran. The portrait was of an impressionable female face based on a photograph Demithran had seen on social media. 

Let us hear from 25 year old Demithran

“Art has been part of my mind and heart ever since I was a child. Black and white line art is what I do best. Occasionally I infuse colour. I consider myself a logical person and I think this side of me stabilises my aesthetic psyche. I use charcoal, pen and pencils for portraits. It depends on what I am painting. I change my style according to what inspires me. I like departing from traditional themes. Since I am totally self-trained and did not learn art at any institutions, I am totally free to experiment and create my own techniques. I like looking at creating ‘stories’ through art by doing different versions of varied life themes. I am now working on a series of drawings on the theme of love and represented by a rose.

Art by Sinthuja 

Art by Pirunthajini

I have to continue this as a visual story series. I like working on different art based initiatives simultaneously and integrate film making/video creation with visual art. I like to encourage other artists, especially those who live in rural areas and cannot afford to set up their own studios or network with Colombo high society to get foreign support. But as a whole I like to appreciate art of all artists judging them purely by their art. Earlier this year I made a decision that I will chose art over getting a stable job in the IT field. Although I got several well paid offers in IT I stuck to the vow made to myself that I will try maximum to make a professional career out of art. I told myself that if I fail to do this by end of 2025 that in 2026 I will shift to IT. But as soon as I made the pledge to making art my first priority, I started to get support and was commissioned for several art projects. It is still challenging but I am determined to make art my significant most priority. One of the most notable encouragers of my art is Rishi and I have done the art work for several of the concepts showcased at Engada Spot. Jekhan Arulliah supports me as he does others by providing space to exhibit our work at his Arc building which is close to Jaffna University. My art brand is called Demi Art Creations and I believe I have a strong social media presence.”

 

Jaffna artist Pirunthajini

Meet Pirunthajini Pirabakaran

We now meet 32 year old Pirunthnajini Pirabakaran, whose art brand is professionally known as ”Art by Piruntha” featuring vibrant coloured visual representations of Jaffna, it’s landscapes, cultural scenes, occasional wartime recollections, and explorations of diverse personal and community narratives. 

“I recently set up my gallery in Thavady, Kokuvil in Jaffna. I call it a gallery but it is not a big posh or luxury space as artists in large cities would have. I rented a house in Kokuvil to set up the gallery two months ago. Soon I found that there is a leak in the roof. Several of my paintings were damaged during the recent rains. I live in Manipay and I have to juggle my art with my motherly responsibilities. I have two small children and my husband who is in a different sector is the main breadwinner. I explore with a range of creations through water colour, ink, oil on canvas and produces digital creations as well. I was painting ever since a child and I studied art at Eastern University obtaining a degree in Visual and Technological arts. Basically, artists of the North and maybe East also feel isolated and we feel that Sri Lankans are not so interested in our art as foreigners are. The gallery that I started is attracting more foreigners, including expatriate Sri Lankans than locals. They probably obtain information from internet about Northern artists and come to places where their art is showcased. We artists of the North like to appreciate and learn about the work of other artists in the rest of Sri Lanka. But we do not get much opportunities to meet them. There was one of the art lecturers in Eastern University who was keen on interaction between artists and through him I have contacted some Sinhala artists. My request to all policy makers and those who steer the mainstream economy is to consider art as a serious component of the economy. We do not start factories. We start art studios and galleries. This is how we mainstream art into society. If we make a big success of a gallery we can give others employment in it and innovate further. There will be so much opportunity that can be created through art. I have never gone to a bank to ask for a loan but I am very, very sure they do not give loans to artists. My dream and that of other artists, I think, everywhere, whether in Jaffna or elsewhere in the country, is for art to be integrated to the mainstream economy. It is sad that we have to only depend on foreigners appreciating and buying our art and not our own people. It is great that foreign embassies support local artists but the local banking sector and general commercial sector that supports other entrepreneurs with loans must also look at us with the same empathy. Without art it is a dead world. Art is part of everything in life.”

 

Jaffna artist Demithran

Meet Inthuja Anantharajasarma

We now meet 25 year old Inthuja who is a self-made artist and theatre activist exploring cosmological and universe related themes as well as traditional cultural aspects. One of her paintings is of an alien meeting a mother earth being that this writer was first impressed by when seen online. 

“My home town is Puttur and I went to school in Puttur Sri Somaskanda College. I studied theatre in school. Where visual art is concerned I am an entirely self-made artist. I am also a theatre activist at the Semmugam Performing group of Jaffna. I practice perfection in both art forms. From the days I was a little child I was fascinated by colours and shapes and gave life to it. My father was a Hindu priest. He used to do diverse offerings to different Hindu deities and I grew up in this atmosphere. However I developed my own thinking and questioning. I look at stars and trees and the sun and moon and think deeply. One key thing is that I think I am the light. This means humans can represent darkness and light. Artists can project this representation through their work. This means the human soul or consciousness is always linked with one dominant universe related vibration. I think some feel it and that others don’t know they are linked to the cosmos. If we can give the world more and more light through art I think it will be a beautiful world. Overall I consider art as an inner discourse within myself. I will be getting married soon but I want to devote my life to art. I think art has many forms. I create small craft items and small miniature paintings as well. Rishi at Engada Spot supports us young artists a lot. Overall I think all of life is art. I like to dream of a world where art is the main priority of humans. A world where humans are not like machines but are creators and where every sector in the economy prioritises art in its varied dimensions.”

NOTE: This above article is connected to the Daily FT Harmony Page media series to mainstream art and artistes into the mainstream economy. 

 Art by Demithran