Pathivukal

!
 !

ThirumaRaik kalaamanRam: Peace festival Jaffna        ' '    .         .      : www.cpartsteam.com .  1965  .       ,        . , ,      ,                 ,       .              .

Who we are?

Thirumaraik kalaamanram: Women Peace The Centre for Performing Arts was founded in 1965 as a Theatre group in Jaffna under the name of Thirumarai Kalamanram with the aim of using the arts as a tool to promote social awarencess among youth by involving young people in positive activities. Youth were brought together from villages and towns so that they could be formed into a cohesive family of artistes where the ingrained barriers of creed, gender and caste could be overcome. Additionally, it was hoped that the young people would be inspired to use their individual energy and talents for the broader goal of service to the community.

In late 1980's changed conditions due to the war in the North/East and the devastation to many communities caused CPA to expand its activities and open new branches in the North and East. In addition to its original name, it took on a new one, Centre for Performing Arts, reflecting as it did the expansion of programs into a wider set of fields and communities.

In 1992 CPA opened a Coordinating Office in Colombo to expand the work in southern Sri Lanka, taking an additional name in the process: Ranga Kala Kendraya. Since then the Colombo office has become the Coordinating centre for branch programs all over Sri Lanka as well as in a dozen cities overseas.

Currently the Colombo Coordinating Office is the hub for the regional and national programs, information and public relations, fundraising and program development and overall coordination. 2002, reflecting the increased scope of work, CPA improved its structures and registered with the Ministry of Social Services as an NGO.

Our Director

Rev. Professor Saverimuthu Rev. Professor Nicholapillai Maria Saveri (N M Saverimuttu born at Ilavalai in Jaffna. He did his priestly studies in Rome and was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1962. It was while he was working in Urumpirai, a small village parish outside Jaffna that he established Thirumarai Kala Manram ( later named as Centre for Performing Arts and Ranga Kala Kendraya) in 1966 as a small drama group. His aim was to inculcate human and humane values through cultural activities, and to identify and foster literary and artistic talents both in individuals and groups. He staged a Passion Play in Urumpirai in 1967 with 250 actors and even today the annual Passion Play occupies an important place in CPAs wide repertoire of events.

Later, in India, he earned the title of Vidvan/Pulavar for his studies in the Tamil language. Thereafter, he joined the University of London and earned his Masters and Doctoral degrees.

As a research scholar, he carried out extensive research that resulted in many valuable works on Christian and Hindu studies. His proficiency in Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, French and German helped him immensely to carry out his research with great fervour.

In the early nineties, with the aim of creating an atmosphere of peace and reconciliation in war-torn Sri Lanka, Fr Saveri expanded the activities of the Centre for Performing Arts( CPA) to other parts of the country by organizing intercultural and inter-regional exchanges among children and youth of all communities.

Today, CPA is the only organisation of its kind that has a wide network of District Centres, Children as Zones of Peace (CZOP) Units and Youth as Zones of Peace (YZOP) Units in several parts of Sri Lanka, touching the lives of thousand of children, youth and adults.

In recognition of his services, he was awarded the Catholic Media Award on World Communication Day 2004.

Vision
Our Vision is a Global Community of Artistes who celebrate cultural
pluralism and strive to make the world.

Mission

CPA Works with partner organizations and a global community of artistes through the arts to:
Promote peace, justice and equality in the Global Community
Protect and nurture the rights of children
Protect and empower women through social enlightenment and education
Identify and encourage artistes to become ambassadors for social improvements and global peace
Act as catalyst for reconciliation between communities in conflict in Sri Lanka
Educate communities in primary health care and social development programmes

Our Work...

Special Activities

National level Theatre Workshops which bring together artistes from different districts.
Strategic Planning and Review Meetings.
Training the Trainers and Administrative Staff.
Bi-annual Meetings to enable coordinators to exchange experiences on the one hand and to offer an opportunity for donor partners to meet workers from the grass-roots level on the other.
Publication of bi-annual and quarterly magazines that focus on matters cultural, social, literary and philosophical, and a bilingual quarterly produced by CZOP which allows expression to children and youth on themes based on peace.
Overseas Centres: There is a strong international network of CPA Centres/Units which, while supporting CPA in Sri Lanka, also spread the message of peace through their own cultural activities.

Programme Activities

Indentifying and encouraging artistes
Organizing multi-religious Celebrations and common Cultural Festivals
Organizing educational, arts and cultural Seminars, Excursions, Exhibitions and Concerts
Giving special training for children and youth in Drama and Theatre
Conducting Peace Education and Peace Camps
Organizing Sports Events
Researching traditional arts and archiving for posterity

Contact Details...

Head Office:
238, Main Street, Jaffna, Sri Lanka.
Tel/ Fax : (94)-21-2222393
E-mail : cpajaffna@sltnet.lk

Coordinating office
19 5/6, Milagiriya Avenue,
Colombo -04, Sri Lanka.
Tel : (94)-1 2597245 Fax : 2556712
E-mail : saveri@dynanet.lk
www.cpartsteam.com

Batticaloa
No-04, Cassi Street
Batticaloa.
Tel : 065-2222498

Vavuniya
195/1, Station Road,
Vairavapulliyankulam,
Vavuniya.
Tel : 024-2220564;024-2221043

 ........ www.cpartsteam.com

:   , antonipillai@hotmail.com