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SANGAMAM A festival of South Indian & Sri Lankan Arts Sat 15 Feb - Sun 9 March Watermans 40 High Street, Brentford, Middlesex TW8 ODS Box Office: 0208 232 1010 Click here to view map http://www.watermans.org.uk

The mesmerizing and colourful cultural delights of South Indian and Sri Lanka are set to enchant audiences in West London when Watermans - London's premier venue for Asian arts - hosts a fortnight celebration of stunning performance, music, theatre and film. Key events include: UK premiere of Lester James Pieris latest film, Mansion by the Lake, new production by Sri Lankan born actor Redley Silva, an evening with Manickam Yogeswaran and an audience with celebrated Sri Lankan author Romesh Gunesekera.

AN EVENING WITH TAMIL CLASSICS FEATURING
Manickam Yogeswaran
Sat 15 Feb, 7.45pm (Theatre)
Tickets £12 / £10 concs.

Now based in London, Tamil musician Manickam Yogeswaran is Sri Lankan born. A musician of exceptional calibre, Manickam's music crosses boundaries and his contribution to and promotion of Tamil music and Raagam has been outstanding.

Since debuting as a singer in Sri Lanka in 1978, he has sung Tamil and Carnatic music in devotional and concert settings as a soloist and as part of Tamil Classics. Apart from singing and recording in a variety of traditional contexts, he has championed Tamil as featured vocalist in a variety of multi-cultural music ensembles including Germany's highly- toasted Dissidenten, the Jocelyn Pook Ensemble and the predominantly western classical 'big voice band' The Shout under the direction of composers Richard Chew and Orlando Gough.
Historically, he was the first ever Tamil vocalist to sing in a major Hollywood film as part of Jocelyn Pook's soundtrack for Stanley Kubrick's 'Eyes Wide Shut' and has also contributed to the soundtrack of Spike Lee's latest movie 'The 25th Hour' (music by Terence Blanchard).

DR DUNSTAN PERERA - A LIFE IN PHOTOGRAPHY
Sat 15 Feb - Sun 9 March, 12pm to 9pm (Gallery)
Free Admission

In today's fast-moving world of digital imaging, one photographer remains keen to hang on to the traditional methods.

Sri Lankan born Dr Dunstan Perera is fascinated with the old school ways of photography and has always believed that the camera can be used in the same way as an artist uses a sketchpad. In 1988 Perera created his own unique method of printing. The Heliochrome process is totally unique. It allows the user to produce prints in monochrome or colour on watercolour paper, plaster or cloth. Each print is individually appraised; hand crafted and nurtured as a piece of fine art.

ARTIST'S TALK
Thur 27 Feb, 6.30pm-8.30pm
Tickets £2

The enigmatic Dr. Dunstan Perera will be talking about his distinguished career as an artist and inventor of the unique Heliochrome process. Can you use new media to create works of art? Perera thinks not. Join him for what promises to be an emotional and highly charged discussion.

REDLEY SILVA - TWISTED THINGS
Mon 24 - Wed 26 Feb, 7.45pm (Theatre)
Tickets £10 / £8

Twisted Things is a new play by Sri Lankan born actor Redley Silva. Based in London for the past thirteen years Silva arrived as a refugee and eventually received British Citizenship. Silva's play focuses on his experiences in both Sri Lanka as an actor and resident and those in Britain. The play fuses both traditional storytelling and modern western theatre techniques.

AN EVENING WITH ROMESH GUNESEKERA
Fri 7 March, 7.30pm (Studio 1)
Tickets £3

Celebrated author Romesh Gunesekera will be reading extracts from his latest novel Heaven's Edge (Bloomsbury). Gunesekera was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka and came to Britain in the early 1970s. His first novel Reef, was shortlisted for the 1994 Booker Prize. His other books, Monkfish Moon, a collection of short stories, The Sandglass.

CHITRA SUNDARAM - MOHAM & OTHER TALES
Sat 8 March, 7.45pm (Theatre)
Tickets £12 (£10)

Sundaram explores the precision, power and grace of Bharatnatyam to create a compelling theatrical experience for both newcomers and seasoned audiences alike. Inspired by a medieval Shaivite Teveram poem about a young girl who abandons all for love, it is elegant, deconstructed and unusually accessible.

MANSION BY THE LAKE (WEKANDA WALAUWA)
Directed by Lester James Pieris
Sun 9 March, 2pm to 5pm (Cinema)
Tickets £10 (£7.50)

The internationally acclaimed veteran of Sri Lankan cinema's newest film is a story set in 80s Sri Lanka. A Sinhala film in theme and style projecting the shifting world, focusing intimately on the family. The film stars Probodha Sandeepana and Malini Fonseka, Ravindra Randeniya, Wasanthi Chathurani, Sanath Gunathilake, Iranganie Serasinghe, Senaka Wijesinghe, Elson Divithuragama and Ranjith Rubasinghe. The film was produced by Chandran Rutnam and Asoka Perera.

OTHER SCREENINGS

THE TERRORIST
16 February
Loosely based on the assassination of former Indian prime minister Rajeev Gandhi, this sensual film looks at he life of a would - be suicide bomber working for an unnamed nationalist movement.

THE WARRIOR
In a timeless feudal India, a man who has lived by the sword makes a decision to change his life, whatever the cost.

DEATH ON A FULL MOON DAY
Sat 22 February
An elderly blind man refuses to accept the compensation offered by the army for the death of his son. He insists that his soldier son is still alive, despite evidence to the contrary. This modern day classic of Sinhalese cinema has been compared to the work of the legendary Satyajit Ray.

DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL
Sun 23 February
When required to do jury service, Susiwal, a wealthy middle-aged company director realises that he knows the defendant, who he met twenty five years earlier. She is now a sex worker on trial for the murder of a client. Susiwal is faced with a number of dilemmas, and finds that whatever he does, his life will never be the same.

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