Development in Art

The case of Sinhala Cinema

Often, development is considered the preserve of politicians, economists and planners. But what about artists, poets, novelists, dancers and singers? Is their work captured in the world of development? Or do they dwell in their own worlds? Is the idea of development reflected in art? If so, what kind of development is that? How do artists capture and manifest development? Is their imaginings different from the mainstream development idea? We explore these questions with the hope of discerning the subtle insights, imaginations, frustrations and anger on development reflected in art. We examine whether theres reflexivity between development and art in our quest to reimagining development. For starters, we look at Sinhala Cinema. We hope to bring together a group of participants who will also be the key resource persons. Among them will be: artists whose works have directly or indirectly portrayed development, art critics and cultural activists. Joining them will be development practitioners and policy makers - who also have an active art-life - to reflect on how they navigate between the worlds of development and art.

Tuesday 11th December, 2012 2.00 to 5.00 pm Mihilaka Medura, BMICH, Colombo 7
This is a Parallel Session organized under reimagining evelopment: An Ideas Exchange to be held on 11th and 12th of December at the above venue. You can either attend the entire Ideas Exchange or the Parallel Session. For details of the Ideas Exchange, visit: http://cepa.lk/symposium2012/ Attendance is only by prior registration. If you are keen to attend, email: reimagine@cepa.lk or call 011-4690200

11th and 12th December 2012 at Mihilaka Medura, BMICH