This year’s ‘Yathra’ organised by Eco-Friendly Volunteers (Eco-V) saw youth from the North and South getting a firsthand view of the northern environment
‘Vanni Yathra 2018’- a cycling journey by youth from both the North and South highlighted the importance of joint ventures in protecting nature. Launched on June 4 from Kilinochchi, the journey ended in Vavuniya covering over 200 kilometres in nine days.
The team behind the effort- EcoFriendly Volunteers (Eco-V) had previously organized seven such ‘Yathras’ or journeys covering different parts of Sri Lanka. ‘Yathra’ means journey in Sinhala and the participants are called ‘Yathrees’. Bicycles were used for these journeys which have been going on since 2011 with the aim of promoting the ‘poor man’s vehicle’ as an eco-friendly mode of transportation, said Eco-V’s president Kanchana Weerakoon.
Isyar Newton was the leader of VanniYathra 2018. Newton has been a ‘Yathree’ since 2011 (he was 31 then) and took part in the past six such journeys. Newton was an ex-LTTE combatant and very thankful for the opportunity he got to take part in the ‘Kelani Nadee Yathra’ (journey along Kelani river) in 2011 while he was under rehabilitation.
“Kelani Nadee Yathra’ was a turning point in my life. It was the first time that I got to see the beauty of Sri Lanka and got to know youth from different parts of the country. These ‘yathras’ helped me to realize that youth in Sri Lanka are like-minded as we had loads of fun while campaigning for the environment,” Newton said. “I feel 30 years of my life got wasted due to the war and now feel very pro- ductive as I’m now fighting a new kind of battle to protect the environment.”
Newton changed his lifestyle, became vegetarian, stopped drinking fizzy drinks, and now campaigns against environmental pollution and an unhealthy lifestyle.
The ‘Iconic Italian Design Exhibition’ held at the Academy of Design (AOD) in Colombo last month as part of the ‘Italian Week’ drew a diverse audience of diplomats, entrepreneurs, designers, architects, academics as well as young students.
The exhibition that focused on the most iconic elements of Italy’s creative legacy, the leading brands, and the who’s-who of Italian design including industrial design era innovations like the Vespa and legendary designers like Prada that put Italy in the map in terms of creativity, was arranged by the Italian Embassy in Colombo in collaboration with AOD.
The Embassy recognised ‘design’ as one of the most important facets of Italy, considering the influence that design has had in establishing a thriving sector of creative industries in Italy He has participated in many training programmes and became an environmental activist and champion from the Northern Province. “Newton learnt Sinhalese very fast and became the Sinhala- Tamil translator for our programmes. Whenever we had a programme, he that have had a massive impact on the nation’s overall economy.
Italian Ambassador Paolo Andrea Bartorelli, Deputy Ambassador, Allegra Baistrocchi, and AOD founder Linda Speldewinde were among those present at the exhibition. “With the Iconic Italian Design Exhibition, we saw an opportunity to share knowledge on an important global design culture, and make an example of how a powerful creative industry can influence a country’s economy and national identity. It is an inspiring insight that falls very much in line with how we plan to mobilise design, innovation and industry in ways that impact South Asia,” AOD head Linda Speldewinde said.
AOD’s events director, British designer and curator Karen MacLeod stated that Italy’s creative evolution was one of the most fascinating in always travelled from Kilinochchi and early morning at 6 a.m. he would be at our door-step,” Eco-V’s president Kanchana said. “He became “Our Newton” and I’m happy that he did drive his own JourneyVanni Yathra,” she added.
The 15 youth from North led by Newton were joined by 15 from the South led by Chapa Erandi - another young Yathree who emerged through Ruhunu Yathra the world, considering that it is one of the rare few countries where the creative arts received major support from the state and the commercial world for centuries, allowing a thriving creative culture to take root there.
“From as far as the Renaissance era, Italy has had serious support to its creative arts, which makes it a very interesting study in how that kind of patronage would influence a powerful creative economy. Centuries later today, the ‘Made in Italy’ label is still synonymous with superior craftsmanship and design all across the world, which goes on to say what an impact it has had. So, our mission was to highlight the most iconic elements of this amazing creative nation, and how they influenced in establishing Italy’s world famous identity as one of the most potent influencers in the world of design.”