On The Occasion of the Inauguration of the Audio-Visual Campus
2021/2/3
Ambassador's Speech
Hon. Prof. G.L. Peiris, Minister of Education,
Hon. Vidura Wickremanayake, State Minister of National Heritage, Performing Arts and Rural Arts Promotion,
Prof. K. Kapila C.K. Perera, Secretary to the Ministry of Education,
Senior Prof. Sampath Amaratunge, Chairman, University Grants Commission,
Professor Chandrika N Wijeyaratne, Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo,
Professor Ranjan Hettiarachchi, Rector of the Sri Palee Campus,
Academic Staff,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good Afternoon, Ayubowan, Wanakkan, Konnichiwa,
Let me first congratulate Professor Ranjan Hettiarachchi, Rector of the Sri-Palee Campus, University of Colombo and his team of academic staff for bringing life to this project of establishing an Audio-Visual Studio which was once only a proposition on paper not so long ago. On behalf of the Government of Japan, I also express my sincere appreciation to the Hon. Minister Prof. G.L Peiris for all the support rendered towards this end.
I am truly delighted to be here amongst the distinguished guests on this momentous occasion. I had read and heard how mesmerizing this campus is but they say seeing is believing, and for good reason. I am so glad I made the visit here during my posting in Sri Lanka. I am honestly impressed by the campus enveloped by the vastness of rubber plantations coupled with a blissful scenic beauty where calm and solitude abound, but also where much of historic, cultural and aesthetic facets have manifested and flourished. It therefore comes as no surprise to me why from a hamlet school this fine institution has grown leaps and bounds to an established campus over the last few decades.
I wish to also express my admiration and reverence to the late Mr. Wilmot Perera, Founder and Philanthropist of this highly celebrated institution, modelled on Visva-Bharati at Shantiniketan where the Great Bengali Poet Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore sought to inculcate his ideal of humanitarianism through inspiring creative originality and a visual presentation of art and culture. As Chitrasena, one of Sri lanka’s most famous modern dancers, related Tagore’s month-long visit to Ceylon in 1934 for blessing Mr. Wilmot’s Sri Palee to be the most significant “spiritual and cultural advancement in the Island”, Tagore has, in fact, left an indelible mark in the resurgence of the rich cultural heritage and traditions abundantly endowed in Sri Lanka.
Japan also cherishes its own spiritual legacy with Tagore, of soulful interactions between Gurudev and OKAKURA Tenshin, a great thinker and the founder of the most prestigious Tokyo University of the Arts, in the early 20th century. Okakura’s visit to Kolkata in 1902 stimulated deep cultural exchanges between Japan and India, where Okakura’s disciples, among others, taught the Japanese art at Shantiniketan. Both Tagore and Wilmot, as well as Okakura shared a vision that education and culture are imperative to foster aesthetic talents. I am glad to note that such visions, in which the education is in harmony with nature and aesthetic fields for the overall development of humanity, are being passed down today through the leading institutes of respective countries, represented by Sri Palee Campus in Sri Lanka.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Perpetuated by digitization, images have become an integral part of our cultural understanding in the 21st century. Photography, film, videos and documentaries are forms of digital art that have reshaped the cultural dialogue in recent years. The way digital art is created, produced and marketed has transitioned from what it once was, and the impact it has on our society and culture is now far more profound than we can imagine.
It is with this intention that the new Audio-Visual Studio inaugurated today, I hope will help instill students with the basic knowledge and skills to creatively engage in the construction of images, introduce storytelling through visuals and sounds, and empower them with new trends of audio-visual productions with advanced knowledge to understand the grammar of editing.
Japan’s contribution to education enhancements at the University of Colombo is not limited to the Sri Palee Campus alone. Over the long course of our association with the University of Colombo, seminars and guest lectures have been organized in collaboration with various faculties of the university to promote mutual understanding on wide-ranging subjects, while books were donated to the Faculty of Arts through the Japan Foundation, and fellowships were granted to leading educators by the same Foundation as recently as last year. In fact, it was, to my great honour, during the tenure of the Hon. Prof. G. L Peiris as the Vice Chancellor of the University in the late 80s did Japan furnish personal computers to the School of Computing to enhance the IT literacy of the students. It brings us immense pleasure if, through our contribution, we could append further glory to Sri Lanka’s oldest university and the Global Centre of Excellence.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am delighted to learn that graduates of this esteemed campus have made their alma mater proud with many pursuing leading careers not only as performers but also as script writers, producers and editors at renowned broadcasting corporations in the country. I am therefore confident that the students of this campus will best utilize the donated equipment and live up to the expectations set by the distinguished alumni to be the catalyst of change in this digital society.
On this note, I would like to conclude my remarks by quoting the most enlightening line from Gurudev Tagore – which reads; “The highest education is that which does not merely give us information, but makes our life in harmony with all existence.”
With my heartfelt wishes for the further prosperity of Sri Palee Campus, and, last but not least, my sincere congratulations to the Government and People of Sri Lanka on the 73rd Independence Day to be celebrated tomorrow, I would like to conclude my humble remarks.
Thank you very much for your attention.