Lonely fishermen post tsunami, Southern Sri Lanka.  Photograph© Chulie de Silva. “For most of history, man has had to fight nature to survive; in this century he is beginning to realize that, in order to survive, he must protect it.” ― Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Both rain-fed and irrigated agriculture form the backbone of rural livelihoods. Ampara, Sri Lanka. Photograph©Chulie de Silva “The frog does not drink up the pond in which he lives.”
- is  an American Indian saying and today on World Water Day (22 March), its time to reflect on this vital resource we often take for granted. Looking at one of the core ...

At 24 years Drik has grown up handsomely and I can well imagine the excitement, preparation going on at Drik now. So, here’s wishing the very best of times in the years ahead and some photo memories of the happy and unforgettable couple of years I spent among great friends at Drik. It’s a quicky A- Z romp through Drik ...

The last swim. Behind the cinnamon stick fence at Siriniwasa, Hikkaduwa. 29 Dec. 2013. Photograph© Chulie de Silva.

Hyde Park brings connotations of London but Sydney too has its Hyde Park and apparently in days gone by this was a venue for speakers.  Last month my stroll through Hyde Park was to see the stunning large scale photographs of the annual “Sydney Life Exhibition.” Here works of the 22 finalists were hung on the sides of the Central ...

Reblogged from Art Blart: Exhibition dates: 15th February - 26th May 2013 NEVER AGAIN! . Many thankx to Haus der Kunst for allowing me to publish the photographs in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image. Eli Weinberg Crowd near the Drill Hall on the opening day of the Treason Trial, Johannesburg, 19. ...

Reblogged from Art Blart: Exhibition dates:  16 February - 26 May 2013 I don't often say this about an artist but OMG, I am in love! Five years before Wassily Kandinsky (he of the book Concerning the Spiritual In Art 1910), before Piet Mondrian and Kazimir Malevich, the images of Carl Jung (The Red Book) and Rudolf Steiner (Blackboard Drawings 1919-1924… Read more… 2,342 more words ...

A flower blooms in monsoon rain. Photograph©Chulie de Silva The flower says Blessed am I Blessed am I Upon this earth… The flower says I was born from the dust Kindly kindly Let me forget it Let me forget it Let me forget. Of dust inside me there is ...

Sunset at Galle. Photograph©Chulie de Silva The sun of the first day Put the question To the new manifestations of life - Who are you? There was no answer. Years passed by The last sun of the last day Uttered the question on the shore of the western ...

by Indran Amirthanayagam The poem reblogged from Groundviews Neem (Margosa) tree at the University of Jaffna Campus. Photo © Chulie de Silva Come soon. The sepalika are growing wild and high. You must see them before you die, before I die. Come soon. The book is finished. The war is done. Yes, I know, I know, boys appear still in ...

Photograph of Steve McCurry from the Magnum Newsletter One of my previous posts the Stilt fishermen of Sri Lanka by Steve McCurry  was so enjoyed by many readers of this blog. The vibrancy, colour of that photograph made many of us feel like they were actually in the sea wading with the fisherman in the foreground. Fishermen, Weligama, South coast, ...

Photograph©Chulie de Silva Ah! what pleasant visions haunt me As I gaze upon the sea! All the old romantic legends, All my dreams, come back to me. Photograph©Chulie de Silva Like the long waves on a sea-beach, Where the sand as silver shines, With a soft, monotonous cadence, Flow its unrhymed lyric lines. … Photograph©Chulie de Silva Photograph©Chulie de Silva ...

Heavenly shades of night are falling, it’s twilight time Out of the mist your voice is calling, “It’s twilight time” When purple colored curtains mark the end of day I’ll hear you, my dear, at twilight time Deepening shadows gather splendor as day is done Fingers of night will soon surrender the setting sun I count the moments, darling, ’til ...

In an era where there was no email and when even an international telephone conversations had to go through an operator the letters from my father- Bennie (Bhasura) Kirtisinghe–were my umbilical cord to the family. I used to get 3 letters a week in the period 1966-1969 from my father.They kept home sickness at bay and I would carry the ...

Reblogged from Art Blart: Exhibition dates: 28th May - 1st September 2013 Fascinating practice! Identity, memory, gender, representation, the body, the subject, felt, text, images, video, gesture, reenactment, concept and performance, all woven together seamlessly like a good wig made of human hair... Marcus Many thankx to Jeu de Paume for allowing me to publish the photographs in the ...

I watched them walk down the road for a long time.  Or at least it seemed like a long time. Mother and daughter Akashi at Hikkaduwa. Photograph© Chulie de Silva The mother and the child the mother held, standing, embracing one another across the road.  I got closer to ask her name — Akashi like the sky. It was but a brief conversation. “She wants ...

Today is Binara Pura Pasalosvaka Poya day the 2557th year, since the passing away of Sakyamuni Siddhartha Gauthama Buddha. It was on a full moon day like today that Lord Buddha consented to admit women in to the Buddhist Order on the fourth appeal made by his stepmother Maha Prajapati Gotami. A damaged and fading frescoe of Lord Buddha and ...

“if you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon, in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned to live” said a FB post by my friend Joe Qian, quoting Lin Yutang. A power outage meant a move into the cool of the garden. And, here was an afternoon, albeit slipping in to an evening of inky darkness, with my avocado tree ...

This is a newsletter I write for Drik, Bangladesh. In a way, it is a part of my Drik Diary. Captured in it are many memories of my colleagues and friends here. The night before Drik Day the place was a hive of activity. The excitement was palpable. I hope it gives you a glimpse of my life@Drik and this ...

“We’re all ghosts. We all carry, inside us, people who came before us.” ― Liam Callanan, The Cloud Atlas “He was my most obedient good son, but he did the most disobedient thing,” my grandmother Pinto Hamy  had lamented, talking of my uncle Vinnie. Born on a day like today 102 years ago on 20 Nov. 1912, Vinnie or Vincent as he ...