Colomboscope 2013 kicks off this month

Colomboscope 2013, organised by Standard Chartered Bank in association with the British Council and the Goethe Institut will be held on 22 to 24 March at the Park Street Mews. All literary events and feature films will be in the Chequerboard – the air conditioned warehouse with the black and white floor. All other arts events will be in the Brick Studio – the warehouse with the bare brick walls.

Tickets priced at Rs. 500 for numbered events are available at the Park Street Mews restaurant – 50/1 Park Street, Goethe Insitut and British Council. All gourmet lunches and Dinners will be held at the Park Street Mews restaurant. Tickets priced at Rs. 4,250 and Rs. 5,000 are available at the venue. The program is as follows:

Friday, 22 March

Festival opening (free event) in the Chequerboard.

6 p.m. to 6.15 p.m.: Incredibly short speeches by the festival sponsors – Anirvan Ghosh Dastidar (CEO – Standard Chartered Bank), Bjoern Keitels (Director – Goethe Institut), Ashok Ferrey (Festival Curator) and Tony Reilly (Country Director – British Council).

6.15p.m. to 7.30p.m.: Announcement of Gratiaen Prize Shortlist for 2012 – judges’ comments, self-introductions by short-listed authors, readings. Compeered by Nafeesa K. Amiruddeen. Followed by drinks.   

Saturday, 23 March

Venue: Chequerboard

The Kaduwa (9 a.m. to 9.40 a.m.) – free event: Does English serve to unite or divide? English-Singlish-Tinglish – how far should we go with the indigenisation of the language? Sumathy Sivamohan, Shermal Wijewardene and Malinda Seneviratne air their views. Moderator Shyamalee Tudawe wields the sword.

Event 1 (10 a.m. to 10.40 a.m.): Anjali Joseph in conversation with Tony Reilly. The prize-winning author of ‘Saraswati Park and Another Country’ talks to the Country Director of the British Council about her writing life.

Event 2 (11 a.m. to 11.40 a.m.): My Life in Robes. Two men and a woman in robes – a Christian priest, a Buddhist monk and a Muslim lady – talk about what those robes mean to them – how they serve to define their identity and how they change the way others perceive them. Moderator Jill Macdonald.

Event 3 (12.45 p.m. to 1.30p.m.): Lunchtime Concert: Some Musical Fun. Concertmaster Lakshman Joseph de Saram and the Chamber Music Society of Colombo perform Mozart Divertimento K. 522.

Gourmet lunch (12.15 p.m. to 1.45 p.m.) with Carolin Emcke.  

Event 4 (2 p.m. to 2.40 p.m.): Songs from Across the Water. Four poets – three of Sri Lanka’s finest – Holocaust poet Anne Ranasinghe, Ramya Jirasinghe and Vivimarie Vanderpoorten – and T.S. Eliot Prize nominee Sean Borodale, on expressing identity and alienation through their work.

Event 5 (3 p.m. to 3.40 p.m.): Flying on the other Wing. Minoli Ratnayake talks to Carolin Emcke, Rosanna Flamer-Caldera and Koluu about sexual identity and living the alternative lifestyle in modern-day Sri Lanka, and to film-maker Asoka Handagama about the portrayal of it on film.

Free event (4 p.m. onwards): At the Chequerboard, featuring book launches and readings.

Free event (6 p.m. to 8 p.m.): Screening of Asoka Handagama’s Flying with one Wing, followed by Q&A with the director, curated by Anoma Rajakaruna, at the Chequerboard.

Dance recital (6.15 p.m. to 6.30 p.m.): Martha Graham – The Resurrection by Seneka Abeyratne at the Brick Studio (free event).

Dance recital (7 p.m. to 7.45 p.m.): ‘ONENESS’ – a performance by nATANDA Dance Theatre, Choreography by Kapila Palihawadana at the Brick Studio (free event).

Gourmet dinner (8 p.m. to 9.30 p.m.) with Kaveri Lalchand.

Free event (9.30 p.m. to 11.30 p.m.): Rock concert featuring Out of Time.

Throughout the day: Art exhibition curated by Annoushka Hempel at the Brick Studio (free event).

Sunday, 24 March

Venue: Chequerboard

Fifty Shades of Gratiaen (9.30 a.m. to 10.10 a.m.) – Free event: Former Gratiaen judge and nominee Neluka Silva talks to last year’s winner Madhubhashini Disanayaka Ratnayaka and this year’s short-listed hopefuls – about Sri Lanka’s top literary prize for English writing, and what a win might mean to their writing career.

Event 6 (10.30 a.m. to 11.10 a.m.): Sean Borodale in conversation with Smriti Daniel. T. S. Eliot Prize nominee, poet Sean Borodale, talks to journalist Smriti Daniel.

Event 7 (11.30 a.m. – 12.10 p.m.): Who Counted the Bodies? Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya of the Sri Lankan Army and Rajiv Wijesinghe, in conversation with war reporters Carolin Emcke and Julian West, about the problems of war reportage: Who exactly assigns the numbers in an environment where facts and figures can be massaged equally vigorously by both sides? Moderated by Savithri Rodrigo.

Gourmet lunch (12.15 p.m. to 1.45 p.m.) with Sean Borodale.

Event 8 (1 p.m. to 1.40 p.m.): Eshantha Peiris in Concert. One of Sri Lanka’s most gifted pianists, with his own selection.

Event 9 (2 p.m. to 2.40 p.m.): In the Driving Seat. Three very different women writers – Anjali Joseph (Saraswati Park, Another Country), Sharmila Kantha (Just the Facts, Madam-ji, A Break in the Circle) and Yasmine Gooneratne (The Sweet and Simple Kind) – talk about what exactly drives their work. Is it plot, character or genre? Or is it just plain good writing? Moderated by Mrinali Thalgodapitiya.

Event 10 (3 p.m. to 4 p.m.): Kaveri Lalchand tells tall tales, weaves stories and spins yarns with a dramatised performance of writing from there and here.  

Free event (4 p.m. to 4.45 p.m.): Free event. Children’s Book Launch Party: ‘Ryan to the Moon’ – an adventure packed journey of a young boy, trying to save his parents from an evil dragon. Written by Eranda Ginige, illustrated by Ruwangi Amarasinghe. A fun-filled party with animated storytelling, activities for kids, gifts, prizes and surprises.

Free event (5 p.m. to 5.45 p.m.): Book launch of ‘Thus, She Grew’ by M.T.L. Ebell and Algy at the Chequerboard.

Free event (6 p.m. to 8 p.m.): Screening of Prasanna Vithanage’s ‘August Sun’, followed by Q&A with the director at the Chequerboard. Curated by Anoma Rajakaruna.

Dance recital (7 p.m. to 7.45 p.m.): ‘Absence’ by Floating Space Theatre Company (Ruhanie Perera, Jake Orloff, Iromi Perera). A theatrical experiment with installation that confronts the voice of a woman and the experience of being displaced. (Playing time 40 minutes followed by post-show discussion – free event).

Gourmet dinner (8 p.m. to 9.30 p.m.) with Anjali Joseph.  

Free events (8 p.m. to 10 p.m.): Street bands and food carts.

Throughout the day: Art exhibition curated by Annoushka Hempel at the Brick Studio (free event).