Saturday Nov 02, 2024
FT
Saturday Nov 02, 2024
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Art in all its forms is what entwines us to each other and the depths of our consciousness. How we cook our food, how we dress, what we write and read, what we like to look at and hear – as beautiful scenery, clothing attire, visual paintings, films, different genre of music are all within the realm of mankind’s ascension within the ladder of aesthetics of life which changes from landscape to landscape. All of this makes our experience on this earth diverse, beautiful and all the more interesting. Appreciating diversity creates an open mind and the opportunity to get introduced to the lifestyle similarity and different traditions of nations and people help in fostering a world that is empathetic.
Art and the creation of it is rooted in the vicissitudes of multifarious factors that are rooted in aspects such as belief, habits and heritage of societies that are linked to their natural terrain, faith and the exposure to the kaleidoscope of life in all its hues.
As a testimony to how art, culture and heritage can be both a poetic as well as economically significant experience for nations, today we feature Ajai V. Singh, Founder and Managing Director of Colombo Fashion Week, Board of Directors – Commonwealth Fashion Council, London who is an integral part of the Responsible Fashion Movement and the College of Fashion & Design who this year was part of initiating the Colombo Literary Festival.
In this interview the key take can be how we can focus on the positive angles of any society, ignore the negative and move on as empowered citizens to bolster the confidence of many others. This interview is a follow up to the featuring of the Ceylon Literary and Art Festival held in February this year which pioneered the Future Writers Program to set a backdrop to identify, boost and recognise emerging literary talent under the guidance of veteran writers. Ajai V. Singh was one of the key pillars of initiating the Ceylon Literary and Art Festival with support from HSBC and Dilmah Tea.
In this discussion Ajay shows how his passion for literature, music, art and films was seamlessly joined in his mind with his love for art in attire that we call fashion. Literature, music, art and films belong to intangible cultural heritage of nations and forms the blueprint of soft power which successful nations craft into their economic framework.
The Harmony page features this interview in respect for Ajay’s intense contribution to boost the economic framework of art in a conjoined form and as proof to explain that knowledge and art have to be integrated in how we pass it on to the next generation. While polarised and crammed theoretical knowledge only breeds excellent exam takers and massive joblessness (and joylessness), an infused and integrated canvass of diverse interests can liberate the mind in youth towards designing the limitless possibilities of creation as Ajay Singh has shown Sri Lanka and the world. This interview is also part of our series to contribute to mainstreaming art and artistes into the economy which we started two years ago and we will over the next weeks follow up with a specific detailed interview with Ajay on the significance of fashion for poverty alleviation and sustainability of the planet.
Following are the excerpts of the first segment of the interaction with Ajay V. Singh:
Q: Please describe your professional and personal background that made you interested in areas such as fashion and literature?
A: Growing up I had two passions in life; fashion design and football. Since the age of 14-15, I wanted to pursue both. I wanted to be a professional footballer. I studied and lived in Sydney before moving to Sri Lanka as an expat in the mid-nineties. I did my Masters in Sydney and Bachelors in New Delhi.
I have always felt a deep connection with Sri Lanka.
Over the years the influence of soft power has interested me.
By God’s grace CFW became the voice and backbone of the fashion design industry of Sri Lanka and in the last 22 years 85% of designers you see today are the product of its design development system. After all these years we wanted to expand this experience and structure to create the platform for Literature, Music, Art and Films.
Q: What are 10 of your favourite books and why?
A: For the last few years The Futurists and Quantum Physicists have grabbed my interest. The books I have enjoyed in the recent past are;
Q: You are the founder of the annual Colombo Fashion Week which is now an iconic event in Sri Lanka. Please explain how you came to start it and the results overall from this endeavour.
A: Since I had a deep rooted interest in fashion and at that time there was not much happening in the fashion industry, I had an idea to introduce a hybrid system to develop and promote fashion through a platform that became CFW. Every year we would give ourselves new goals and then try our best to pursue. First five years nothing came out of it. It was really hard work. However by 2007 it gained traction. Then the new generation got inspired. Kids wanted to be in fashion, fashion schools started opening, fashion retail started as fashion consumers grew. We then started focusing on creating a sustainable ecosystem. We started the emerging designer program, CFW Accelerator to support a designer’s journey.
We are one of four fashion weeks in Asia which are over 20 years old. We are also seen as South Asian Fashion Week. Along with that we also initiated another thought leadership platform called Responsible Fashion Summit.
We introduced Responsible Meter as a garment evaluation tool. It’s one of the first one in the region that focuses on Micro and SME designers.
Q: This year you along with likeminded others such as Ashok Ferrey initiated the Colombo Literary Festival in collaboration with HSBC and Dilmah. Can you explain your decision to get into this area?
A: The HSBC Colombo Literary and Arts Festival was created to expand the art and culture footprint of Sri Lanka with inclusion of the young generation. Hence, youth is the key focus of this initiative. The other goal is to enhance Sri Lanka’s soft power and make it attractive for international travellers and investors. A flourishing network of creative industries is a sign of a progressive society and business environment. This builds the overall profile of the country and helps promote art and culture. We plan to build this into one of the best art and culture platforms in the region, which will encourage the youth to be inspired and participate. This also hopes to reverse brain drain.
Q: Sri Lanka is a country clearly underestimated by the politicians running it for its natural resource and human resource capacity. Can you please elaborate your experiences in the past two decades working in SL?
A: Every land has its own challenges and opportunities. I try to remain focused on the opportunities and use the challenges to sharpen me. Success needs challenges and opportunities. Sri Lanka has tremendous potential. People need to take ownership and drive. Excellence and entrepreneurial spirit is a very important ingredient.
When I started CFW no one gave it a chance.
Yes, Sri Lanka needs to improve structure and system but that develops as we go on.
