Art as a communication medium to bridge human hearts

By N. Choolani Nawarathne

Art can be pointed out as the best way to communicate in a society. Especially in a country like Sri Lanka, with its ancient history, the best bridge to develop inter-societal bonding is communication through art. But the question is whether one can be satisfied with the range of arts used in present day Sri Lanka. Also, the question is how much the education system can produce artists who can develop new routes to creating better understanding amongst people and heal any angst or wounds of past social unrest.

Sri Lanka is a country that has faced various tragedies since ancient times. It is my personal opinion that riots or ethnic strife are unnecessary additions to needless karmic baggage of any nation. 

The root cause for sowing its seeds in society seems to be the lack of a formal communication process between societies based on solid ethics of understanding. How does one create such an understanding? How do we create a sensitive route to communication? What is the role of art and what is art? What is the role of drama or literature or visual art?

Can the identity of a nation be defined narrowly by ethnicity or can it be defined by a general identity. For example, the pre-colonial ancient identification of the nation that had names such as Siwhela or Sinhale. Did it mean that only one ethnicity; the Sinhalese which the nation generally identified with were totally in a vacuum and un-influenced by other cultures? Did names such as Siwhela and Sinhale mean that anyone who came here were ostracised? Was our ancient art narrowly structured to be only representative of a one and only set of persons or was it fluid and all-encompassing while also having solid roots?

Today we look to the liberal model of the West as the perfect model of being but we have forgotten that our ancient monarchs had far reaching foreign policies that were magnanimous to diverse cultures. Anyone who came to this land was absorbed as a citizen of the land. It could be safely said that ancient communication in this country that we call ours was rich and enlivened with art and that there was empathy and compassion communicated through it.

It is no secret that various attitudinal weaknesses in societies affect every corner of the country. Attitudinal weaknesses are built up gradually. One finds however that artistes, whether they are in the realm of theatre or film or drama generally have a low level of fixed views that could transform to communal thinking. This means that exposure to art creates sensitiveness and empathy.

It is not surprising that the education system in Sri Lanka has suffered the same fate as literature over time. Different people have different views on the education system in Sri Lanka. In general, the shortcomings of this education system have been criticised by many, but the number of those who have come forward to correct them has dwindled.

The question is that we are trying to use the same people who emerged from this system to rectify it. Most of the artists of Sri Lanka or elsewhere who have achieved much are those who broke away from the system. One example is Vimukthi Jayasundara. They are today world recognised. Why do we not use artists such as these to rectify an education system that is bordering on the meaningless?

Exams should be aimed at increasing the student's interest in the subject. Not blind competition that encourages rote learning. A country like Sri Lanka needs artistic inquiry in every sphere. Artistic inquiry is linked to the philosophical and to the introspective. A society that has such an inquiry strongly embedded in the system will not produce human robots. The danger of producing such machines like people is that not only will they be useless to society to bring about creative solutions as needed in many respects but will also be a liability as they could be manipulated by diverse entities who may wish to thrive by creating unrest.

This is a major factor influencing the Sri Lankan political process keeps Sri Lanka within an undeveloped mentality. It could be argued that the pre-colonial history of the country cannot be described as being undeveloped. If the education system produces only students who have excelled at memorising and writing exams, then the question is whether the education system is a success. The lack of a creative and mentally stimulating education system in Sri Lanka is a major vacuum linked to the nation’s well-being creation. It is this vacuum that has failed in building up students with the right leadership, creative ability and personality that is directly responsible for the fate of the country today. 

As a Sinhala girl who lived in a Tamil society (in Trincomalee) and equally proficient in both Sinhala and Tamil, I have understood the impact of art and literature on Sri Lankan politics as well as its impact on different societies and cultures, as well as its direct impact on the present system of education. I believe that it was because of the interdependence with the different communities that are based on this land, that we were able to have a rich and interesting fabric of culture that has added to the great Sinhala culture.

Language should be seen as an asset that will be useful to every sphere, from art, literature and business. It should not be viewed through a narrow lens. Mass Communication studies in Sri Lanka have the great potential of encouraging the study of diverse forms of art around the world so as to look in-depth and broaden this subject. Through this, the poetry, art and drama produced within a country in whatever language should be encouraged to be studied by the different citizens of the nation.

NOTE: The writer is a student of mass communication at the Open University of Sri Lanka which introduced the subject of Creative Communication into its Mass Communication study stream five years ago to look at the impact of arts on different epochs of society. She is currently attending a North-South exchange in Jaffna supported by ONUR, facilitated by the Northern Governor Secretariat carried out parallel with the launch of S. Pathmanathan’s (Sopa’s) latest collection of poems, the launch of the drama Heaven with Hell in book form by Jaffna dramatist Kullandai Shanmugalingam and the posthumous re-launch of the book on Asai Rasaiah’s art titled Vimbham. The event is linked parallel to the exhibition of Asai Rasiah’s paintings held at the Art Gallery of the Centre for Performing Arts at Racca Road.