Special commendations from Ambassador of Japan to 2 Sri Lankan academicians

Tuesday, 24 February 2015 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Ambassador of Japan Nobuhito Hobo accorded special commendations to Dr. Sunil Ernest Wijesiriwardena and Naganathan Selvakkumaran, two senior academicians of Sri Lanka, at a ceremony held at the Ambassador’s residence on 18 February, in recognition of their outstanding voluntary services towards promoting Japan-Sri Lanka relations. Dr. Wijesiriwardena and Selvakkumaran are among members of the Sub-Selection Committee of the Japan-Sri Lanka Friendship Cultural Fund, and have served on this committee since 1977 on a voluntary basis. They have played important roles in identifying and screening prospective candidates for the Bunka Awards. They are among several other distinguished academicians who have been invited to serve on this committee in recognition of their outstanding competence and vast experience in the fields of culture and the arts.

The Japan-Sri Lanka Friendship Cultural Fund was established in 1993 on the initiative of the Japanese Solidarity Association and the Japanese Commerce and Industry Association in Sri Lanka, in collaboration with the Embassy of Japan with a view to encouraging and promoting individual talent in the field of art in Sri Lanka, particularly mid-career individuals and organisations on the basis of their on-going creative activities in culture and the arts by presenting the Bunka Awards. Over these 21 years, the Fund has presented the Bunka Awards to a total of 118 Sri Lankan artists and organisations. Dr. Wijesiriwardena has obtained a PhD from the State University of Moscow and has been a full time writer, and a highly respected literary, cinema and theatre critic and also served as a member of many panels of judges of arts festivals in Sri Lanka and the International arena. He is a visiting lecturer and consultant to the Universities of Colombo and Kelaniya as well as the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute. He also played a pioneering role in the establishment of the Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts (VAFA) and is a currently a member of its board. From 2005-2012 he served as a permanent member of the ‘International resource group on ethics education’ organised by Arigato Foundation (Geneva- Tokyo) in collaboration with UNICEF and was also invited by the Japan Foundation on a cultural study tour of Japan in 2003. Selvakkumaran is a Bachelor of Law of the University of Colombo and an Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka and currently serves as a Senior Lecturer in Public and International Law, at the University of Colombo. He is also a senior member of many academic management boards as well as other advisory councils and has vast experience in serving on several public commissions.