Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence visited the British Council office in Colombo on Friday, 12 January for a series of engagements as part of their visit to Sri Lanka.
They were welcomed at the British Council with a traditional dance performance by school children from the Dikhena school. They then viewed the ‘Arches of Awe’ exhibition at the British Council library which has been curated by diplomatic historian and curator George Cooke.
The panel exhibition comprised of photographs of the 21 arches that were erected across Colombo to welcome Their Royal Highnesses Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh during their visit to Sri Lanka in 1954. Dating back centuries, such archways, also known as ‘thoranas’ were found across Asia, including in India, China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam. Often connected to traditional religious rituals, these arches have symbolised good fortune, victories and conveyed greetings to visitors.
This was followed by a meeting with leading Sri Lankan arts organisations who have worked with the British Council to celebrate 75 years of UK-Sri Lanka diplomatic relations in 2023-24. Representatives were present from the Museum of Modern Art (MMCA), The National Trust Sri Lanka, Design Development Corporation, Ceylon Theatres, Scope Cinemas, Agenda14 and The Gratiaen Trust. These partners have delivered many impactful British Council supported projects including:
- Camara Chica filmmaking workshops for young children who have gone on to produce award-winning documentaries on the theme of ‘environment’ (Agenda 14: Colombo and Jaffna)
- ‘A Scottish Artist in Ceylon 1907 Edward Atkinson Hornel exhibition’ celebrating Sri Lankan heritage with an exhibition of photographs shared by the National Trust for Scotland which toured Jaffna, Kandy and will go to Galle and Matara (National Trust Sri Lanka)
- ‘88 Acres’ – an exhibition which celebrates the work of renowned Sri Lankan female architect Minette de Silva, and her links with RIBA (MMCA)
- Creative writing workshops led by award-winning British authors Monique Roffey and Sita Brahmachari for Colombo, Galle and Peradeniya school and university students and teachers (Gratiaen Trust)
- English National Theatre Live screenings of award-winning theatre productions including Life of Pi, starring the award-winning Sri Lankan actor Hiran Abeysekara, and Othello (Ceylon Theatres)
- London’s Royal Opera House has brought world class ballet and opera – and David Bowie – to Sri Lankan cinemas (Scope cinemas)
- The Ceylon Literary Festival in Kandy and Jaffna will feature UK authors Anna Metcalfe and Louis de Bernières (Design Development Corporation)
The Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence were then greeted by enthusiastic young students from the British Council Teaching Centre before being received by Upali Ratnayake (President of the English-Speaking Union in Sri Lanka) and presented awards to previous Public Speaking Competition winners.
They also met with several upcoming fashion designers, each of whom has a strong connection to the UK, or has graduated from a UK university, who displayed their work and spoke about Sri Lankan textiles, garments and the fashion industry. The Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence then unveiled a plaque that commemorated the 75th anniversary of the British Council in Sri Lanka.
Orlando Edwards, Director British Council Sri Lanka said: “We are honoured and privileged to have welcomed The Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence today. Their visit to our Colombo office marks two major milestones for the British Council. In 2024 we celebrate 75 years of the British Council in Sri Lanka as we opened our offices in this beautiful country in 1949. Also in 2024, we mark the landmark 90th anniversary of the British Council which was founded in 1934. Over the last 75 years in Sri Lanka, we have supported countless young people to fulfil their potential through formal and informal educational opportunities, as well as cultural exchange. It was a great pleasure to be able to share a glimpse of some of the life-changing work we do with our esteemed guests.”
Ends
The traditional dance performances included the ‘Thalam’ dance which was performed by an all-boys troupe accompanied by rhythmic drumming to welcome the guests.
The ‘Pooja’ dance performed by an all-girls troupe commenced close to the guest’s departure from the British Council premises on the front lawn.
Arches of Awe will be on display at the British Council Colombo until 26th January, excluding holidays and Mondays. It will be on display in British Council Kandy and British Council Jaffna in the coming months.
For more on the Camara Chica programme, and to watch the six documentaries made by Sri Lankan children on the environment see: https://www.britishcouncil.lk/programmes/arts/c%C3%A1mara-chica
The ‘Scottish Artist in Ceylon’ exhibition is the result of a partnership between the National Trust for Scotland https://www.nts.org.uk/ and the National Trust Sri Lanka https://thenationaltrust.lk/. For more information on the exhibition, see https://www.britishcouncil.lk/programmes/arts/scottish-artist-ceylon-1907-exhibition-photographs
The British Council awarded MMCA and Forensic Architecture https://forensic-architecture.org/about/agency a grant to collaborate in 2020, a result of which has been the current exhibition https://mmca-srilanka.org/on-view/88acres/ which the British Council has supported.
The Gratiaen Trust https://www.gratiaen.com/about was founded in 1992 by Michael Ondaatje, the internationally renowned novelist, poet and essayist of Sri Lankan origin. Funded with his Booker prize money for his novel The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje’s vision was to establish a Trust that would recognise and promote creative writing in English by Sri Lankan authors resident in the country. Roffey wrote about her Sri Lanka adventure here https://www.britishcouncil.lk/about/press/monique-roffey-reflections ; Brahmachari wrote this blog piece https://www.sitabrahmachari.com/blog/sri-lanka-with-the-gratiaen-trust.
National Theatre Live official website can be visited here: https://www.ntlive.com/. Hiran Abeysekara is the lead in Life of Pi, which was the first NTLive screening in Colombo and Jaffna. Abeysekara won an Olivier Award for that performance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiran_Abeysekera. Other NTLive screenings which have taken place include Othello, Jack Absolute Flies Again, and Best of Enemies.
Royal Opera House in Cinemas official website https://www.roh.org.uk/about/cinema. Screenings have included Sleeping Beauty, Ziggy Stardust, Don Quixote and The Nutcraker.
The official website of Ceylon Literary Festival official can be visited here: https://ceylonliteraryfestival.com/ .
Anna Metcalfe https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/fcw/metcalfe-anna.aspx and Louis de Bernières https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_de_Berni%C3%A8res have been invited by the British Council.
The British Council Sri Lanka teaches 4,500 children and adults each week in a variety of unique courses from age 3 and upwards in our busy centres around the island, in Colombo, Kandy, Jaffna and Matara. Read more at https://www.britishcouncil.lk/english
The English-Speaking Union official website can be visited here: https://www.esu.org/
Several of the fashion designers whom The Princess Royal met were educated in Sri Lanka following a course delivered by UK Higher Education Institutions such as Northumbria https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/ for example Lonali https://www.lonali.com/new-page-2. Over 47,000 Sri Lankan students study for a UK qualification in Sri Lanka each year https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/universities-uk-international/insights-and-publications/uuki-insights/scale-uk-transnational-education. This makes Sri Lanka the third largest partner Transnational Education country. Only China and Malaysia have more students studying for a UK TNE qualification.
About the British Council
The British Council is the UK’s international organization for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We build connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and other countries through arts and culture, education, and the English language. Last year we reached over 80 million people directly and 791 million people overall, including online, broadcasts and publications. Founded in 1934 we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body. We receive a 15 per cent core funding grant from the UK government.
For more information on our work in Sri Lanka, please visit https://www.britishcouncil.lk/.
To learn more about our 75th anniversary celebrations in Sri Lanka, visit https://www.britishcouncil.lk/programmes/arts/75-years-uk-sri-lanka-relations.
