CPArts Activities in October -November 2007

Accomplishment of CPArts

Governor’s Award for our Director, Rev.Fr. N. M. Saveri

The yeoman service and zeal of the founding father and Director of CPArts Professor N M Saveri, was recognised and rewarded through the bestowal of the Governor’s Award of the Ministry of Education, Cultural Affairs and Sports of the Northern Provincial Council, Trincomalee, for the year 2007.

In and through the efforts of CPArts, Fr Saveri has been able to make highly significant contributions in the fields of Arts and Culture across Sri Lanka, creating a massive groundswell of goodwill and harmony amongst diverse communities, across diverse socio-economic situations. This work of CPArts under the guiding hand of Fr Saveri is a huge peace building factor in Sri Lanka today.

The Northern Provincial Council also made another award for the book entitled “Kol Eenum Kotram” – a folk play written by J Johnson Rajkumar, Deputy Director – CPArts. Mr Rajkumar currently serves at Holy Family Convent, Jaffna where he teaches Drama and Theatre. He is a talented artist, author and playwright who has enjoyed international exposure in his chosen field.

Top Honour for CPArts Deputy Director Sepali Ranasinghe

Her legacy of work embodies the best of what CPArts sets out to achieve – her efforts to serve society through the arts earned for Mrs Sepali Ranasinghe the prestigious “Desabimani Kala Vibushana Acharya Award” bestowed by the South Asian Social Service, Welfare and Cultural Foundation and the Sarasavi Awards Organisation, which was presented to her at the glittering Sarasavi Awards Festival held last month.

Sepali joined CPArts in the year 2000 and played a lead role in setting up our Centres in the South of Sri Lanka.

Click on for pictures

Our Director as Chief Guest at Bharatha Natya Arangetram, Oslo

Rev Fr N M Saveri accepted the invitation to be Chief Guest at the Bharatha Natya Arangetram of Miss Maria Ragavarthini, which was held in Oslo on the 13th October 2007.

The occasion gave Father an opportunity to brief the audience on the goals, efforts and accomplishments of CPArts, particularly in respect of bringing peace and reconciliation to a torn nation.

Maria is the daughter of Doctor and Mrs Joseph Soosi and she was trained by her mother Margaret at the Salangai Narthanalaya School of Indian Classical Dance in Oslo.

Book and CD Launched in Canada

“The Jeweller’s Shop” – a story originally written by the late Pope John Paul II in Polish and later translated into English by Boleslaw Taborski, was translated into Tamil by our Director Fr N M Saveri (titled “Nahai Aham”) and launched at a ceremony held in Ontario, Canada in November 2007.

Also, a new version of the Journal of Siddhanta CD series (Kodikkavi and Venavennpa) was launched at the same ceremony.

The Principal of Mahajana College, P Kanagasabapathy was the Chief Guest.

Amidst a gathering of other distinguished invitees, several cultural items were performed.

Those present also felicitated and congratulated Fr Saveri on being the recipient of the Governor’s Award presented by the Governor of the Northern Provincial Council, Sri Lanka recently.

Click on for pictures

CPArts Celebrates International Children’s Day

Programmes were held across 20 CPArts Centres across the island to commemorate this day so special to CPArts.

CPArts in collaboration with other community based organisations brought together children from the different districts and provided them a forum to exercise their rights to dance, sing, perform drama and to just enjoy wholesome fellowship with their brethren from different communities and cultural backgrounds.

Little Buds Bloom

This was the theme for a peace camp conducted from the 9th to 10th November 2007 at the Chinthana Centre, Nainamaduwa, Wennapuwa Sri Lanka.

Participants were children who came together irrespective of caste, creed or race – they numbered 180 in all. They were brought together from our 20 Centres.

These meets are tremendous opportunities for kids to mingle…those from conflict areas with those who are blessed to come from relatively peaceful environments.

The programmes conducted at the camp involved Games, Group Work in Art, Handwork, Children’s Drama, Song and Dance. To encourage them to develop and enhance their own creativity, the children were encouraged to perform a play or a dance item to depict village life from their own background.

The kids really took to the event, singing and dancing until 2am each day.

It was also plain to see how important such programmes are proving to be in terms of relieving or at least lessening the stress and trauma many of these kids experience as a result of the ongoing North-Eastern conflict.

Click on for pictures

Training and Building Capacities of our Directors

On the 6th and 7th of October 2007, the Board of Directors of CPArts met to discuss and adopt a range of measures aimed at training and building capacities to achieve certain defined objectives for CPArts.

A key decision was also taken to decentralise programme management at the Centre’s offices in Colombo and Jaffna, entrusting the function to six cluster regions. In the process CPArts was able to identify the need for Deputies and Additional Deputies to be incorporated into our HR infrastructure to facilitate the maintenance of high levels of service to the Organisation and its objectives as set out in its Mission and Vision statements.

This meeting set out to –

Understand Policies and Directives to the CPArts Team of Deputies and Additional Deputies
Define the responsibilities of Cluster Centre Leaders and the Cluster Centres themselves
Develop CPArts Activity and Financial Reporting Systems
Develop systems for organising and conducting CPArts’ national events

The Quest for Peace and Harmony….Our Children’s Theatre Teachers Meet

Forty teachers drawn from twenty CPArts Centres representing a cross section of culture and ethnicity met in Colombo from the 22nd to the 24th of October 2007 to undergo training, share experiences and build bridges of understanding amongst themselves.

The meeting provided a great learning opportunity for the participants to instruct and guide children in the vital areas of peace building, humanism and living in harmony with others. Special training was also provided to help them learn how to communicate effectively and with empathy, with children in a post-war and/or post-disaster environment.

Instruction was built around a variety of topical issues such as Communicating with Children, especially those affected by adverse situations, Expressive Therapy, Play as Therapy, Arts as Therapy, Drama as Therapy and Story Telling (Narration) as Therapy.

Resource persons included Mrs. Kohila Mahendran, Retired Deputy Director of Education, Writer, Dramatist and Senior Counselor, Mr. Kusal Nandana Gunasekara, Visual Artist, Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts, Visarada Sudath Samarasinghe {Director of Aesthetic Education, National Institution of Education and Mrs. Genova Atputham, Additional Deputy Director CPArts.

Click on for pictures

Report by CPArts Team

		CPArts Activities in October -November 2007




HOME / ARCHIVE
	Accomplishment of CPArts Governor’s Award for our Director, Rev.Fr. N. M. Saveri The yeoman service and zeal of the founding father and Director of CPArts Professor N M Saveri, was recognised and rewarded through the bestowal of the Governor’s Award of the Ministry of Education, Cultural Affairs and Sports of the Northern Provincial Council, Trincomalee, for the year 2007. In and through the efforts of CPArts, Fr Saveri has been able to make highly significant contributions in the fields of Arts and Culture across Sri Lanka, creating a massive groundswell of goodwill and harmony amongst diverse communities, across diverse socio-economic situations. This work of CPArts under the guiding hand of Fr Saveri is a huge peace building factor in Sri Lanka today. The Northern Provincial Council also made another award for the book entitled “Kol Eenum Kotram” – a folk play written by J Johnson Rajkumar, Deputy Director – CPArts. Mr Rajkumar currently serves at Holy Family Convent, Jaffna where he teaches Drama and Theatre. He is a talented artist, author and playwright who has enjoyed international exposure in his chosen field. Top Honour for CPArts Deputy Director Sepali Ranasinghe Her legacy of work embodies the best of what CPArts sets out to achieve – her efforts to serve society through the arts earned for Mrs Sepali Ranasinghe the prestigious “Desabimani Kala Vibushana Acharya Award” bestowed by the South Asian Social Service, Welfare and Cultural Foundation and the Sarasavi Awards Organisation, which was presented to her at the glittering Sarasavi Awards Festival held last month. Sepali joined CPArts in the year 2000 and played a lead role in setting up our Centres in the South of Sri Lanka. Click on for pictures Our Director as Chief Guest at Bharatha Natya Arangetram, Oslo Rev Fr N M Saveri accepted the invitation to be Chief Guest at the Bharatha Natya Arangetram of Miss Maria Ragavarthini, which was held in Oslo on the 13th October 2007. The occasion gave Father an opportunity to brief the audience on the goals, efforts and accomplishments of CPArts, particularly in respect of bringing peace and reconciliation to a torn nation. Maria is the daughter of Doctor and Mrs Joseph Soosi and she was trained by her mother Margaret at the Salangai Narthanalaya School of Indian Classical Dance in Oslo. Book and CD Launched in Canada “The Jeweller’s Shop” – a story originally written by the late Pope John Paul II in Polish and later translated into English by Boleslaw Taborski, was translated into Tamil by our Director Fr N M Saveri (titled “Nahai Aham”) and launched at a ceremony held in Ontario, Canada in November 2007. Also, a new version of the Journal of Siddhanta CD series (Kodikkavi and Venavennpa) was launched at the same ceremony. The Principal of Mahajana College, P Kanagasabapathy was the Chief Guest. Amidst a gathering of other distinguished invitees, several cultural items were performed. Those present also felicitated and congratulated Fr Saveri on being the recipient of the Governor’s Award presented by the Governor of the Northern Provincial Council, Sri Lanka recently. Click on for pictures CPArts Celebrates International Children’s Day Programmes were held across 20 CPArts Centres across the island to commemorate this day so special to CPArts. CPArts in collaboration with other community based organisations brought together children from the different districts and provided them a forum to exercise their rights to dance, sing, perform drama and to just enjoy wholesome fellowship with their brethren from different communities and cultural backgrounds. Little Buds Bloom This was the theme for a peace camp conducted from the 9th to 10th November 2007 at the Chinthana Centre, Nainamaduwa, Wennapuwa Sri Lanka. Participants were children who came together irrespective of caste, creed or race – they numbered 180 in all. They were brought together from our 20 Centres. These meets are tremendous opportunities for kids to mingle…those from conflict areas with those who are blessed to come from relatively peaceful environments. The programmes conducted at the camp involved Games, Group Work in Art, Handwork, Children’s Drama, Song and Dance. To encourage them to develop and enhance their own creativity, the children were encouraged to perform a play or a dance item to depict village life from their own background. The kids really took to the event, singing and dancing until 2am each day. It was also plain to see how important such programmes are proving to be in terms of relieving or at least lessening the stress and trauma many of these kids experience as a result of the ongoing North-Eastern conflict. Click on for pictures Training and Building Capacities of our Directors On the 6th and 7th of October 2007, the Board of Directors of CPArts met to discuss and adopt a range of measures aimed at training and building capacities to achieve certain defined objectives for CPArts. A key decision was also taken to decentralise programme management at the Centre’s offices in Colombo and Jaffna, entrusting the function to six cluster regions. In the process CPArts was able to identify the need for Deputies and Additional Deputies to be incorporated into our HR infrastructure to facilitate the maintenance of high levels of service to the Organisation and its objectives as set out in its Mission and Vision statements. This meeting set out to – Understand Policies and Directives to the CPArts Team of Deputies and Additional Deputies Define the responsibilities of Cluster Centre Leaders and the Cluster Centres themselves Develop CPArts Activity and Financial Reporting Systems Develop systems for organising and conducting CPArts’ national events The Quest for Peace and Harmony….Our Children’s Theatre Teachers Meet Forty teachers drawn from twenty CPArts Centres representing a cross section of culture and ethnicity met in Colombo from the 22nd to the 24th of October 2007 to undergo training, share experiences and build bridges of understanding amongst themselves. The meeting provided a great learning opportunity for the participants to instruct and guide children in the vital areas of peace building, humanism and living in harmony with others. Special training was also provided to help them learn how to communicate effectively and with empathy, with children in a post-war and/or post-disaster environment. Instruction was built around a variety of topical issues such as Communicating with Children, especially those affected by adverse situations, Expressive Therapy, Play as Therapy, Arts as Therapy, Drama as Therapy and Story Telling (Narration) as Therapy. Resource persons included Mrs. Kohila Mahendran, Retired Deputy Director of Education, Writer, Dramatist and Senior Counselor, Mr. Kusal Nandana Gunasekara, Visual Artist, Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts, Visarada Sudath Samarasinghe {Director of Aesthetic Education, National Institution of Education and Mrs. Genova Atputham, Additional Deputy Director CPArts. Click on for pictures Report by CPArts Team