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Special Report |
LAST UPDATE April 10, 2007
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| March 15, 2007 |
Sri Lanka – Japan Peace Festival |
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| Participants and guests gather for the Peace Festival in Colombo, Sri Lanka |
On March 14, 2007, Peace Boat and the Weeramantry International Center for Peace Education and Research, WICPER, sponsored the Sri Lanka–Japan Peace Festival, a celebration of peace through cross cultural understanding, dance and music. It was a gathering of local and international NGOs and a chance to support civil society organizations working with Peace Boat in exchange and partnership programs. |
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| Judge Weeramantry making a speech at the opening ceremony of the Sri Lankan – Japan Peace Festival |
The opening ceremony speech was made by Judge Weeramantry, founder and director of WICPER and former president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) who once stated, in a judgement of illegality of nuclear weapons, that “the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is illegal in any circumstance whatsoever.” Around 550 people attended the Peace Festival, half from Sri Lanka and half from Peace Boat. |
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| The girls from the Sri Yasodera Young Girls Home perform a traditional Sri Lankan dance |
At the festival the girls from the Sri Yasodera Young Girls Home were present. Peace Boat has had an existing partnership exchange program with this home for the last two years. On this particular visit a few volunteer Global English/Espanol Training (GET) teachers along with participants spent a day at the Girls Home before coming to the festival together. In addition to this exchange programme, Peace Boat provided assistance for girls directly affected by the tsunami at the end of 2004.
Against a sunset backdrop, all attendees enjoyed traditional song and dance from Sri Lanka such as Kandyan dancers with elaborate costumes, masks and headdress. During their dance sequences, both the up-country and low-country styles of dance were presented. |
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| Peace Boat participants dance the soran bushi |
Peace Boat participants performed some traditional dances like the soran bushi, a dance from Hokkaido, Japan based on the movements of local fishermen from that area. For some audience members this was the first time for them to see traditional dance and music from Japan. |
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| Local handicrafts and saris are sold by Sri Lankan NGOs |
Local and international NGOs had booths selling Sri Lankan handicrafts and the national dress, sari. Participants enjoyed rummaging through the different stalls in the market like atmosphere created at the Peace Festival. |
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| Students sign and write peace messages on an art poster |
Peace Boat participants also set up a booth to distribute information about the campaign to preserve and promote globally Article 9 of the Japanese constitution (the peace clause) and collected signatures for a petition. The Peace Festival was a success and it gave Peace Boat participants a better understanding of Sri Lankan culture through the exchange and the arts. |
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