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The culture of Sri Lanka has been influenced by many things in the past, but has managed to retain much of its ancient, rich aspects. Mostly it has been influenced by religion and colonization by the Dutch and the British.
Throughout the past centuries Sri Lanka has been going through a dramatic make over. A vast majority of the Sri Lankan community were only influenced by their own traditional food and nothing more. But due to economical growth and intense competition in developed countries, companies have taken themselves overseas to developing nations in an attempt to achieve a positive global presence. Consequently, this method has caused a major ripple effect in countries such as Sri Lanka like never before. In some major cities the influence of western culture is being increasingly felt with the introduction of major fast food brands such as McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Kentucky Fried Chicken as well as the appearance of major clothing brands such as Levi and Bench, which until recently could only be found as copies.
Art and craft
Many forms of Sri Lankan arts and crafts take inspiration from the Island's long and lasting Buddhist culture which in turn has absorbed and adopted countless regional and local traditions. In most instances Sri Lankan art originates from religious beliefs and are represented in many forms such as painting, sculpture and architecture. One of the most notable aspects of Sri Lankan Art are cave and temple painting such as the frescoes found in Sigiriya and religious paintings found in temples in Dambulla and Temple of the Tooth Relic in Kandy. Other popular forms of art have been influenced by both natives as well as outside settlers. For example, traditional wooden handicrafts and clay pottery are found around the hill country while Portuguese-inspired lacework and Indonesian inspired Batik has become notable.
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials, typically stone such as marble, metal, glass or woo or plastic materials such as clay, textiles, polymers and softer metals. The term has been extended to works including sound, text and light. Found objects may be presented as sculptures. Materials may be worked by removal such as carving or they may be assembled such as by welding, hardened such as by firing, or molded or cast. Surface decoration such as paint may be applied. Sculpture has been described as one of the plastic art because it can involve the use of materials that can be moulded or modulated.
Sculpture is an important form of public art. A collection of sculpture in a garden setting may be referred to as a sculpture garden. Many different forms of sculpture were used in Asia, with many pieces being religious based on Hinduism and Buddhism (Buddhist art) and Greco-Buddhist art. A great deal of Cambodian Hindu sculpture is preserved at Angkor; however organized looting has had a heavy impact on many sites around the country. In Thailand, sculpture was almost exclusively of Buddha images. Many Thai sculptures or temples are gilded, and on occasion enriched with inlays. See also Thai art.
Bronze is the most popular metal for cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply a "bronze". Common bronze alloys have the unusual and desirable property of expanding slightly just before they set, thus filling the finest details of a mold. Their strength and lack of brittleness is an advantage when figures in action are to be created, especially when compared to various ceramic or stone materials. Casting is a manufacturing process by which a liquid material is poured into a mold which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape and then allowed to solidify. The solid casting is then ejected or broken out to complete the process. Casting may be used to form hot liquid metals or various materials that cold set after mixing of components. Casting is a 6,000-year-old process
Art is the process of deliberately arranging symbolic elements in a way that influences and affects the senses, emotions, and intellect. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations and modes of expression. The meaning of art is explored in a branch of philosophy known as aesthetics and even disciplines such as history and psychoanalysis analyze its relationship with humans and generations. The term art was used to refer to any skill or mastery. This conception changed during the Romantic period, when art came to be seen as "a special faculty of the human mind to be classified with religion and science". Generally, art is made with the intention of stimulating thoughts and emotions.
The second and more recent sense of the word art is as an abbreviation for creative art or fine art. Fine art means that a skill is being used to express the artist's creativity or to engage the audience's aesthetic sensibilities. Often, if the skill is being used in a common or practical way people will consider it a craft instead of art. Likewise, if the skill is being used in a commercial or industrial way, it will be considered Commercial art instead of fine art. The purpose of works of art may be to communicate ideas, such as in politically, spiritually or philosophically motivated art to create a sense of beauty to explore the nature of perception for pleasure or to generate strong emotions.
The culture of Sri Lanka has been influenced by many things in the past, but has managed to retain much of its ancient, rich aspects. Mostly it has been influenced by religion and colonization by the Dutch and the British.
