Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka (/sriːˈlɑːŋkə, -ˈlæŋkə/ or ⁱ/ʃriː-/;Sinhalese - ශ්‍රී ලංකාව, Tamil Ilaṅkai), officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and known from the beginning of British colonial rule until 1972 as Ceylon (/sᵻˈlɒnˌ seɪ-ˌ siː-/), is an island country in South Asia near south-east India.

Sri Lanka has maritime borders with India to the northwest and the Maldives to the southwest. Its documented history spans 3,000 years, with evidence of pre-historic human settlements dating back to at least 125,000 years. Its geographic location and deep harbours made it of great strategic importance from the time of the ancient Silk Road through to World War II.

A diverse and multicultural country, Sri Lanka is home to many religions, ethnic groups, and languages. In addition to the majority Sinhalese, it is home to large groups of Sri Lankan and Indian Tamils, Moors, Burghers, Malays, Kaffirs and the aboriginal Vedda. Sri Lanka has a rich Buddhist heritage, and the first known Buddhist writings of Sri Lanka, the Pāli Canon, dates back to the Fourth Buddhist council in 29 BC. The country's recent history has been marred by a thirty-year civil war which decisively ended when Sri Lankan military defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009.

The arts

The arts represent an outlet of expression, that is usually influenced by culture and which in turn helps to change culture. As such, the arts are a physical manifestation of the internal creative impulse. Major constituents of the arts include literature – including poetry, novels and short stories, and epics; performing arts – among them music, dance, and theatre; culinary arts such as baking, chocolatiering, and winemaking; media arts like photography and cinematography, and visual arts – including drawing, painting, ceramics, and sculpting. Some art forms combine a visual element with performance (e.g. film) and the written word (e.g. comics).

From prehistoric cave paintings to modern day films, art serves as a vessel for storytelling and conveying mankind's relationship with its environment.

Definitions

In its most basic abstract definition, art is a documented expression of a sentient being through or on an accessible medium so that anyone can view, hear or experience it. The act itself of producing an expression can also be referred to as a certain art, or as art in general.

Baryshnikov Arts Center

The Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) is a foundation and arts complex opened by Mikhail Baryshnikov in 2005 at 450 West 37th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The top three floors of the complex are occupied by the Baryshnikov Arts Center, which provides space and production facilities for dance, music, theater, film, design and visual arts. The building also houses the Orchestra of St. Luke's DiMenna Center for Classical Music.

History

The building is a 50,000 square foot complex which includes three theatre spaces. Ground was broken on the complex, then known as 37 Arts Theatre, as a commercial venture in July 2001. Construction was halted for a while but resumed after September 2001. The first artist in residence with the BAC was Aszure Barton in May 2005, and the administrative offices opened in November 2005. The 37 Arts Theatre was launched in 2005 with the Off-Broadway revival of Hurlyburly starring Ethan Hawke and Parker Posey, followed by In The Heights and Fela!, prior to their successful Broadway runs. Since then, the complex has presented artists including Laurie Anderson, Tere O’Connor, Molly Davies, William Forsythe, Lucy Guerin, Foofwa d’Imobilité, Toni Morrison, Benjamin Millepied, Richard Move, Maria Pagès, Mal Pelo, Lou Reed, Pierre Rigal, Meg Stuart and Donna Uchizono. The Wooster Group is the BAC's resident theatre company.

ARTS

ARTS may refer to:

See also