Midweek Review
Why social science viewpoints are necessary for addressing multistranded crisis in Sri Lanka

by Kalinga Tudor Silva
The current crisis in Sri Lanka is multi-faceted with economic, political, and social aspects impinging on one another. The economic and political crises are the ones that are more visible as reflected in queues, scarcities, and mass mobilisations against the ruling establishments, issues that demand urgent attention and action. Underlying these seemingly fire-fighting emergencies are the need for understanding the root causes of the multi-stranded maladies, the need for preventive action based on sound policies and socially sensitive and well-informed crisis intervention strategies that are driven by objectively assessed actual needs of affected people and the resources available to tackle them rather than political motivations driven by short-term gains of one kind or another for the decision makers at the top and the need to accommodate those in the inner ring as against the competent personnel who may be more capable of addressing the actual needs on the ground by virtue of their skills and training. Social Sciences inclusive of Economics, Political Science, Sociology, Social Anthropology, Psychology, Education, Demography, Geography, Management, Law, and Social Work must be utilized in full and appropriate transdisciplinary blends in identifying and implementing required preventive action and immediate crisis responses in order to make sure that we will see the end of the crises at hand, do not remain entangled in them forever and better prepared when the next crisis hits us.
If there is any lesson to be learnt from the ongoing stalemate, it is that decision making at the level of policy formulation in matters such as development, public finance, local or foreign investments, technology transfers, governance, environmental conservation and economic recovery, must involve not only the elected leaders and the designated officials who may be largely guided by common sense understanding of issues and exigencies within the systems in which they operate, including demands by diverse stakeholders such as those with vested interests, but also experts in relevant fields with a proven track record, analytical skills, intellectual integrity, autonomy and a capacity to stay above the competing pressures from diverse stakeholders in order to pursue common good and the needs of future generations (e.g. climate justice, need to safeguard the commons) as against the urgent needs of those currently preoccupied with accessing the scarce resources available. Social Sciences have the knowledge base required to sort out matters and guide crisis responses and policy directives and also a capacity to generate suitable new knowledge where the existing body of knowledge is inadequate.
Economics and related disciplines including Business Studies and Management must be deployed to understand and respond to the escalating debt crisis, rebuilding of foreign currency reserves, overcoming commodity scarcities and more careful and rational administration of public funds. Rebuilding legitimacy of the state, cleaning up the political process, enhancing public accountability and broadening parameters of democratic participation to include youth, women, professional groups and disadvantaged social groups require critical inputs from Political Science, History, Sociology, Demography and Public Administration. Responding to the unfolding social crisis inclusive of unemployment, indebtedness, bankruptcies, overseas labour migration, social tension, malnutrition, depression, suicide attempts, substance use and crime calls for variety of expertise from a range of disciplines such as Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Law and Public Health. While none of these disciplines will have ready made quick fixes to the complex problems the country is facing at present, we must realise that the problems at hand cannot be tackled by handpicked ‘yes’ men with no sound understanding of the issues involved.
Mechanisms for Harnessing Social Sciences
Different countries follow different modalities to harness Social Sciences for national development. For instance, publicly funded state institutions such as the Social Science Research Councils consisting of leading scholars in each field are used in countries like USA, UK, India, and the Philippines to support independent social research by eminent scholars on priority global/national issues and help establish a valid evidence base to be used in scientific as well as public discourses. Social Science think tanks are also set up and mobilised by the universities, foundations, civil society organisations or even political parties for advocacy and decision-making purposes. For instance, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is one such think tank committed to global peace and sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation in the US. Similarly, the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation in Germany is linked to the Christian Democratic Union (centre-right), and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation is affiliated with the Social Democratic Party (centre-left). In these instances, the respective social science think tanks may be influenced by ideologies, and particular political agendas, but there is a clear recognition of the perspectives and positions from which they make a case one way or the other and this may influence the application of the relevant ideas by the specific actors. It must be mentioned here that the relevant think tanks serve to not just reiterate and justify the actions of the respective political parties, but also change and reorient them in line with available evidence about the changing circumstances.
The absence of any credible mechanism to support and utilise Social Sciences in socially relevant ways exploring their full potential must be identified as an important factor contributing to the larger social crisis currently unfolding in Sri Lanka. Against this background, there are vastly different rhetorical and largely unsubstantiated claims about vital issues such as incidence of poverty and malnutrition, educational disruption, suicides and the patterns and the extent of substance abuse in the country with neither the state nor civil society seeking to establish valid and reliable data bases that help monitor the relevant outcomes as against the policies and interventions pursued. Instead of recognizing and addressing social issues, injustices of one kind or another and social grievances fueled by unemployment, hopelessness and sense of disadvantage to be countered deploying appropriate social policies, the overwhelming tendency has been to resort to arbitrary action, violence, state repression and outright manipulation in response to episodic waves of social resistance by avalanches of disaffected people in the north and the south. This has not resulted in long-term peace and stability or lasting development in the country as we know very well at this point in time. This is why required Social Science inputs are absolutely necessary for identifying and addressing the bottlenecks and real issues in society.
Towards Socially Responsible and Publicly Accountable Research and Public Action
In Sri Lanka the expanding Social Science community should strive towards addressing issues of vital public interest in their research, advocacy, and dissemination of study results in whatever fora available. The policy failures we have repeatedly seen in Sri Lanka are largely due to the failure of the people in power to recognise potential contributions from sciences in general, including Social Sciences and the failure of the scientists to come forward and exert their due influence through advocacy and public debates in mass media and social media. Many of the social issues swelling up from the ground level go undetected or under detected until they explode after reaching a crisis level as there are no trained social workers, counsellors or other actors providing care and guidance in establishments such as universities, schools, workplaces or even institutions like prisons, drug rehabilitation centres, elderly homes, or services catering to international migrant workers.
Absence of any public institutions that systematically collect, disseminate, and analyse social data and conduct public opinion polls have added to the volatility of the situation. Traditional support mechanisms through family and kinship alliances, neighbourhood associations, charity and philanthropy or even religious institutions have been undermined due to the ongoing processes of social transformation and they have not been replaced by a cadre of well-trained professional care givers with adequate resources available to the people concerned. The result is accumulation of grievances on a massive scale feeding into mass protests and social tsunamis of one kind or another. While economic recovery and social stabilisation clearly need appropriate social policies and programmes, addressing larger issues of social injustice and clearing obstacles for upward social mobility in ways to be identified through applied social research, trained social scientists such as social workers can also play a useful role in providing social care to supplement and strengthen existing social support mechanisms that help people cope with diverse problems they face.
There is also a clear need for the Sri Lankan Social Science community in and outside the country to forge alliances and collaborations, come forward to reflect on, comprehend and respond to the multistranded and multilayered crisis at hand and contribute towards expanding the frontiers of knowledge in the relevant fields in terms of addressing the vexed problems confronting all of us. This may require not only new approaches to overcome the economic and other obstacles the country is facing, new ways of practicing our disciplines and innovative educational initiatives where the teachers and students are pushed towards finding viable and effective remedies for the problems at hand. The existing body of Social Science knowledge may not have all the answers to the problems we are facing but this is where new knowledge and innovative remedies must be identified, introduced, and assessed.
While resource limitations and unsettled conditions in the country may pose serious challenges for social research in Sri Lanka presently, we must bear in mind that some of the key advances in Social Sciences were made in post-war Europe and North America and more recently post-Apartheid South Africa in situations not dissimilar to what we are going through at present. Knowledge production for understanding the world around us as well as knowledge production for tackling urgent human problems remain within the remit of Social Sciences in diverse fields ranging from Applied Economics to Applied Anthropology. With a long history of cultural heritage and established scholarship, democratic governance firmly established despite numerous challenges and reversals throughout the post-independence period and a rich heritage of biodiversity and cultural unity and diversity, a considerable repair work must be done, and we should all come forward to think ahead and outside the box to address the mounting challenges we face as a country. Social Science thinking must pave the way for forward looking social policies on the part of state agencies as well as progressive social movements geared to democratic reforms, broad-based development of a sustainable nature, and rational and optimum use of public resources in publicly accountable ways for advancing the common interests of all citizens in the country,
(This essay was initially published as the editorial of the Sri Lanka Journal of Social Sciences Volume 45, Number 1 published by the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka on December 5, 2022).
Midweek Review
Vanni war and killing of Gazan civilians at food distribution sites

Hundreds of Palestinians died in the recent past while trying to obtain food in the Gaza strip. Al Jazeera, in a 05 July, 2025, online report, quoted the Gaza Health Ministry as having stated that at least 743 Palestinians had been killed and more than 4,891 wounded while seeking humanitarian aid at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) distribution sites.
Al Jazeera pointed out that GHF is a project backed by the US and Israel. The international media have reported that GHF staff used live ammunition and stun grenades against those desperately trying to get some food against the backdrop of punitive Israeli blockade. It would be pertinent to mention that GHF came into being in May this year for the sole purpose of operating Gaza food distribution sites. GHF is a private organisation, fully backed by the US and Israeli Defence Forces (IDF)
Reportage of the ongoing violence at GHF sites emphasised that the whole project that had been cleared by the US and Israeli governments undermined the Gaza population. In other words, the so-called humanitarian project aided the overall US-Israeli strategy meant for Gaza where over 50,000 perished in Israeli attacks so far.
There is also a serious allegation that wheat flour, provided by the US for distribution among Palestinian refugees in Gaza, is spiked by Israel with prescription opioids.
Unparalleled Hamas attack on Israel on 07 October, 2023, triggered a spate of comments on Sri Lanka’s war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) that was brought to a successful end in May 2009. But, no one, so far, has bothered to compare the barbaric situation in Gaza and how Sri Lanka, with limited resources, dealt with a complex and difficult situation in a far more humanitarian way in order to minimise casualties among Tamil civilians.
Sri Lanka sustained offensive action over a period of two years and 10 months but throughout this period the wartime Mahinda Rajapaksa government ensured the proper distribution of humanitarian aid. The plan involved the Colombo-based diplomatic community, the UN, as well as other reputed international groups, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and the World Food Programme (WFP).
In addition to the above-mentioned grouping, President Rajapaksa directly involved India in the humanitarian project, thereby giving New Delhi direct access to the war wounded. In fact, if the wounded LTTE cadres sought transfer from Puthumathalan to the India-run emergency medical facility at Pulmoddai, about 55 km north of Trincomalee, in a ship carrying ICRC flag they could have done so.
Swamy’s comment
M.R. Narayan Swamy, discussed the similarities of Sri Lanka’s conflict and the ongoing Israel-Gaza war. New Delhi based Swamy, who had served the UNI and the AFP during his several decades long career, discussed the issues at hand while acknowledging no two situations were absolutely comparable. Swamy currently serves as the Executive Director of IANS (Indo-Asian News Service) and he dealt with the Gaza war soon after the Israeli invasion.
‘How’s Hamas’ attack similar to that of LTTE?’ and ‘Hamas’ offensive on Israel may bring it closer to LTTE’s fate dealing with the issues involved. Let me reproduce Swamy’s comment: “Oct. 7 could be a turning point for Hamas similar to what happened to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka in 2006. Let me explain. Similar to Hamas, the LTTE grew significantly over time eventually gaining control of a significant portion of Sri Lanka’s land and coast. The LTTE was even more formidable than Hamas. It had a strong army, growing air force and a deadly naval presence. Unlike Hamas the LTTE successfully assassinated high ranking political figures in Sri Lanka and India. Notably LTTE achieved this without any overt direct support from any country unlike Hamas that received military and financial backing from Iran and some other States. The LTTE became too sure of their victories overtime. They thought, they could never be beaten and that starting a war would always make them stronger. But in 2006 when they began Eelam War 1V, their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran couldn’t have foreseen that within three years he and his prominent group would be defeated. Prabhakaran believed herding together tens of thousands of hapless Tamil civilians as a human shield during the last stages of the war would protect them and Sri Lanka wouldn’t unleash missiles and rockets. Colombo proved him wrong. They were hit. By asking the people not to flee Gaza, despite Israeli warnings, Hamas is taking a similar line. Punishing all Palestinians for Hamas’ actions is unjust, just like punishing all Tamils for LTTE’s actions was wrong. The LTTE claimed to fight for Tamils, without consulting them, and Hamas claimed to represent Palestinians, without seeking the approval for the Oct. 07 strike. Well, two situations are not absolutely comparable. We can be clear that Hamas is facing a situation similar to what the LTTE faced shortly before its end. Will Hamas meet a similar fate as the LTTE? Only time will answer that question.”
Of course, as Swamy said two situations are not absolutely comparable. The IDF invaded Gaza whereas the Sri Lankan military battled terrorists on home soil. While referring to Hamas being an Iranian proxy, Swamy conveniently forgot how India set up a massive terrorist project in Sri Lanka in the early ’80s. It ended up with the LTTE assassinating Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991, a year after India pulled out its Army from Sri Lanka where over 1,300 officers and men perished in the hands of those who had been trained by India.
Let me get back to humanitarian operations here, particularly during the 2008-2009 period. Whatever those who cannot bear up the LTTE’s annihilation say now, Sri Lanka can be proud of how the displaced population was treated. Of course there had been instances of excesses on the part of the government security forces and police but that was never the state policy.
Vanni humanitarian project
Against the backdrop of continuing killing of hungry Palestinians waiting to collect food, we can examine a high profile operation carried out by Sri Lanka to provide food for the Vanni population during the war. President Mahinda Rajapaksa ensured that those who had been trapped in the war zone received not only food but the best possible medical care in spite of the raging battles.
The President never hesitated to involve foreign governments and international organisations in the Vanni humanitarian project. Regardless of the military reporting some elements positioned themselves within the international grouping involved in the humanitarian work that provided support to the LTTE, the government continued to involve international groups. Unlike the controversial Gaza humanitarian operation, Sri Lanka never handed over the mission to the private sector.
Contrary to accusations that Sri Lanka waged a war without witnesses, the ICRC had been in Puthumathalan till the second week of February 2009 but even after their pullout the governmentled system ensured the evacuation of those wounded in the LTTE-controlled areas and continuously ensured food and other essential supplies to the war zone. The operation involved the ICRC and the WFP.
As the Army advanced further into the fast dwindling LTTE-held territory, the ICRC international staff, who had been in the Vanni, west and east, throughout the offensive, were evacuated by ship flying the ICRC flag on 10 February, 2009. ICRC ships evacuated hundreds if not thousands of wounded civilians, as they were held by the Tigers at gun point as a human shield, beginning 10 February, 2009, till 09 May, 2009, the last voyage before the conclusion of the war. On 16 occasions, ICRC flagged ships arrived at Puthumathalan during this period, ICRC international staff were allowed to visit Puthumathalan each time the vessels came.
Would a country perpetrating genocide, as Canada alleged, allow ICRC international staff to visit Puthumathalan, permit transfer of the war wounded out of the battle zone or positioned Indian medical relief team between Puthumathalan and Trinomalee? Actually, if Velupillai Prabhakaran and his family wanted they could have given themselves up to the ICRC at Puthumathalan and brought the war to a faster conclusion. Instead, Prabhakaran sought to negotiate an arrangement that allowed him to survive while the armed forces were prevented from achieving their final objective. The wartime Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and three service commanders, Vice Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda, Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka, and Air Marshal Roshan Gunetilleke, were solidly behind the President.
Visit to Pulmoddai
The writer was one of the few journalists allowed to observe the transfer of people from Puthumathalan to Pulmoddai from a SLN Fast Attack Craft (FAC) positioned off the Puthumathalan coast, in the last week of April 2009, and then visited Pulmoddai where the wounded were handed over to the Indian medical team based there. That had been a very worthy move on the part of President Rajapaksa. The deployment of an Indian medical team to treat the wounded countered lies propagated by various interested parties. Those who faithfully believed in the LTTE’s invincibility couldn’t bear up the beating the group was receiving at the hands of the Sri Lankan military. Admiral of the Fleet Karannagoda’s memoirs ‘The Turning Point’, the English version ‘of Adhistanaya’ is a must-read for those interested in the Sri Lanka conflict. Published by Penguin Random House, India, the book dealt with the overall Navy’s role with the focus on the destruction of the LTTE’s floating warehouses that hastened the collapse of the fighting cadre. How the US provided specific intelligence to destroy four floating warehouses in September and October 2007, against the backdrop of the Army depriving the Navy of an opportunity to listen to LTTE communication, due to petty rivalries, is perhaps the most single significant help provided by a country by way of intelligence.
Having liberated Kilinochchi, in January, Sri Lanka intensified operations on the Vanni east front. Amidst the collapse of LTTE defences, Sri Lanka in February 2009 requested India to send an emergency medical team to Sri Lanka and the actual deployment took place at Pulmoddai on March 09, 2009. Following our request, New Delhi established an emergency field hospital where a 62-member Indian medical team worked until the conclusion of operations. Over 3,000 people, who had been wounded during the battles, were treated by the Indians over a period of two months and soon after the conclusion of the war, the team moved to Menik Farm refugee camp where the group treated over 25,000 people by the second week of July 2009. India pulled out its team by the end of August 2009. By then, Sri Lanka stabilised the situation and, contrary to some claims, the LTTE couldn’t revert to hit-and-run attacks.
The small group of journalists was allowed into the Indian medical facility. At the time of our visit, more wounded were brought in by the ICRC flagged ship.
UN report
The UN Secretary General’s Panel of Experts (PoE) report acknowledged that altogether 2,350 tonnes of food had been delivered to Mullivaikkal, from 10 February, 2009, to 09 May, 2009, and 14,000 wounded civilians and their relatives evacuated during this period (Paragraph 108).
The government knew of the danger in some of them disappearing but still they were allowed into the south.
The ICRC made a bid to bring in supplies and evacuate the wounded on 15 May, 2009, but couldn’t do so due to heavy fighting. The bottom line is that the ICRC had access to Puthumathalan till 09 May, 2009, just 10 days before the SLA killed LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.
Sri Lanka’s continuing failure to set the record straight, in spite of having all required information/evidence is a mystery. In fact, successive governments never bothered to examine WikiLeaks revelations and use them to clear the country’s name from wild accusations of war crimes, emanating from the West, in support of the separatist cause. In one leaked document alone, a top ICRC official was quoted as having said that the Army paid a heavy price for taking civilian factor into consideration during the final phase of the offensive.
International organisations, including the UN, had access to the Northern and Eastern provinces. The bottom line is that the ICRC operated in Vanni east till late January 2009, though the UN pulled out of Kilinochchi in September 2008. However, the PoE report admitted that UN international staff were allowed entry to the Puthukkudiyiruppu Hospital, following the 29 January-04 February, 2009. artillery barrage directed at the facility by the Army.
Wartime MP Mano Ganesan had been one of those who alleged that Sri Lanka received the blessings of the international community to conduct a war without witnesses. Let me discuss the MP’s allegation, taking into consideration the PoE report on Accountability in Sri Lanka.
During high intensity battles in the Vanni east, the only permanent hospital functioning in that region was at Puthukkudiyiruppu. Regardless of government denials, that hospital had been hit repeatedly by artillery, including Multi Barrel Rocket Launchers (MBRLs) during the 29 January-04 February, 2009, period. There is absolutely no point in denying that fact. But it would have been more a scare tactic to speed up the end of the fighting, as if the SLA had wanted, it could have easily flattened the hospital with MBRL fire.
According to the PoE report that had been officially released on 31 March, 2011, the SLA granted UN international staff access to the hospital, damaged due to attacks during 29 January- 04 February, 2009. The report also disclosed that there had been two ICRC international members at the hospital when it was hit on 04 February. (Paragraph 91).
Therefore, there is no basis for MP Ganesan’s malicious claim that Sri Lanka conducted a war without witnesses. The UNSG’s report also acknowledged that LTTE cadres, who had been wounded in fighting in the nearby frontline, were brought to the Puthukkudiyiruppu Hospital where the organisation maintained a ward for them. (Paragraph 94).
The international community never gave Sri Lanka the go ahead for an all-out war in 2006. In fact, Western powers constantly put pressure on Sri Lanka to continue negotiations in an obvious attempt to help the Tigers, regardless of grave provocations by LTTE terrorists. There couldn’t be a better example than the assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, at his Bullers Lane residence, in August 2005. The assassination had been carried out just four months before the presidential poll, regardless of the Norway arranged Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) that was really meant to destabilise the country in the guise of working for peace.
LTTE surrender
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk appeared to have ignored Sri Lanka’s efforts to provide relief for all affected parties, including the ex-LTTE, as soon as the war was brought to an end.
The Tamil community immensely benefited from the post-war rehabilitation of the ex-LTTE cadres. The government rehabilitated nearly 12,000, while child soldiers were simply released. But the likes of retired Supreme Court justice C.V. Wigneswaran brazenly sought to take the shine out of Sri Lanka’s genuine efforts to bring about reconciliation, by falsely claiming that the Army poisoned over 100 ex-LTTE combatants held in rehabilitation camps. He ended up with egg on his face but he never bothered to acknowledge his blatant lie. Sri Lanka never pursued the matter. Wigneswaran lie is far worse than unsubstantiated allegations, propagated by various interested parties, as he once was a member of the country’s apex court. We can imagine how he dispensed justice as a sitting judge in the lower courts for decades, even prior to being elevated to the highest court.
Sri Lanka should have used the high profile post-war IOM (International Organisation for Migration) project to help ex-LTTE, as well as members of the breakaway Karuna faction, to prove her efforts. Unfortunately, Sri Lanka never had a cohesive plan to counter lies. The situation remains the same as interested parties continue to humiliate the warwinning country. Let me end this piece by underscoring the importance of establishing the total number of ex-LTTE and members of other violent groups who received citizenship in the West. They are now all over the world. General Secretary of the British Tamil Forum (BTF) V. Ravi Kumar is an ex-LTTE cadre from Jaffna. Australian-born Adele Balasingham, widow of the late LTTE theoretician Anton Balasingham, lives in the UK. What is Turk’s position on this woman, who, while wearing the LTTE uniform, handed over cyanide capsules to female LTTE cadres, some of whom were child soldiers? Perhaps Sri Lanka should raise the issue as part of its overall defence against wild war crimes accusations still being dished out against the country from the West.
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Midweek Review
‘Masterpiece: The Origin and Evolution’ – II

(Part 1 of this article was published in Midweek Review on 25 June 2025.)
French sculptor and painter Marcel Duchamp say, “a Masterpiece is created by the viewer, not by the artist”. He highlights the idea that the interpretation as well as deriving meanings of art are subjective and embedded within the viewer’s experience, rather than being solely determined by the discretion of the artist. Former Director of the Louvre Museum Henri Loyrette once stated, “It became evident that it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to articulate a definition of masterpiece that could be accepted universally”.
In terms of body of work, three conducive elements exercise a significant influence over recognising and positioning a creative work in the realm of art as a ‘Masterpiece’.
Firstly, a work of Art which showcases technical and artistic innovation is indelible from history books and capable of earning substantive accolades from the spectators. These conditions entitle a work of Art to continue to endure as a ‘Masterpiece’.
Created in 1872, Impressionist painter Claude Monet’s ‘Impression Sunrise’ is a work of art which received universal recognition as a ‘masterpiece’ for its innovative artistic and conceptual approach and technical amelioration. The ‘Name’ of this artistic tradition derives from the title of Monet’s ‘Impression Sunrise’. The name was coined by French art critic and journalist Louis Leroy, referring to the Impressionist style in a derisory manner at the first Impressionist exhibition in Paris in 1874. Monet’s ‘Impression Sunrise’ was accompanied by remarkable technical advancement which resulted from research in Optics. Eugene Chevre, a French chemist, discovered that optical illusions could be created by placing certain colors next to each other. Taking advantage of this finding, Impressionists combined visible, short and thick brush strokes with glowing vibrant colors to create a sense of light and darkness, movement of objects and sense of distance.

Tomoko in Her Bath
Another key example of the innovative application of technical and artistic developments is D.W. Griffith’s silent cinematic anthology ‘The Intolerance’. Released in September 1916, with an enormous production cost of 2.5 million dollars, it is considered to be a bold step by a filmmaker in the history of creative filmmaking. Despite the movie’s commercial failure, considering its narrative style, sophisticated editing techniques, innovative cinematography, expensive costume design, massive set designs and 3000 extra cast, it consistently receives appraisal and recognition as a benchmark in film history. Many European and Soviet filmmakers drew inspiration from its unconventional editing and historical storytelling. In 1989, the American Library Congress recognized ‘Intolerance’ as “a film with lasting social and cultural significance”.
Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein’s silent film ‘Battleship Potemkin’ (1925) continues to be recognized as a cinematic ‘Masterpiece’ and persists as one of the greatest even to this day for its groundbreaking editing technique. The ‘Soviet Montage Theory’ developed by Eisenstein highlights the power of editing to create meanings and evoke audience’s emotional response. The essence of the theory suggests the juxtaposition of distinct shots to create a new meaning or effect, often conveying a specific meaning or emotion more powerfully than the individual shots alone.
Secondly, an artistic work with a strong emotional appeal tends to endure, transcending the spatial and temporal boundaries as a Masterpiece. A work of Art which evokes strong emotions in the human mind never fades away from the person’s emotional sphere. Profound human dynamics depicted in an artistic composition prompt the spectator to reflect on their own personal human dynamics. A work of art interacts with the viewer using a visual language. This enables the viewer to perceive and interpret the ideas as well as emotions that might be difficult to articulate through words.
The poignant historical photographic essay ‘Tomoko in Her Bath’, captured by American photojournalist Eugene Smith, manifests a strong emotional statement of profound love, tenderness and compassion between a mother and her child who is severely paralyzed and deformed, being bathed in a bath tank . The photographic composition, reminiscent of Michelangelo’s Pietà, reveals the traumatic story of Tomoko, who lived in the Minamata fishing Village in Japan and was crippled by mercury poisoning after consuming contaminated fish. The fish were contaminated with tonnes of industrial wastewater containing mercury dumped into the marine area of Minamata Bay by a chemical factory between the period of 1932 and 1968. Smith’s artistic and symbolic expression of the dimensions of human suffering caused by the devastating industrial pollution elevated this powerful image to the status of a ‘Masterpiece’.
The aesthetically expressed subliminal human conditions in cinema continue to endure in the human sphere, transcending all boundaries. They provide a strong catalyst for the viewer to be companionate, empathetic and humane towards the ‘other’. One such example is the outstanding cinematic expression Red Beard (1965) by Akira Kurosawa, who reflects the importance of empathy and compassion to the greatest extent possible. Kurosawa’s incomparable humanistic approach in this movie contemplates a simple humanist gesture of kindness that could give solace to humans who are bereft of attention, love and respect. This in turn awakens a profound sense of compassion and sympathy in the viewer.

The Green Mile
“I am always hungry, so are my siblings. I wish I was a horse. Horses eat grass; we have plenty of that”. These heart-wrenching words were from the outspoken little one called ‘Chobo ’in the movie. The character of ‘Chobo’ who is driven by hunger steals food for him and his family, reflects the magnitude of human suffering, helplessness and the depth of human misery in a poverty-stricken social backdrop. The weight of the humanist theme of the movie enables the viewer to deeply immerse and resonate with the narrative and characters, which eventually ensures the cinematic expression lasts as long as a ‘Masterpiece’.
Another cinematic creation which delves deeper into themes such as compassion, injustice and empathy is Frank Darabont’s ‘The Green Mile’ (1999), which signifies the importance of being humane towards the ‘other’ at any moment in life. The execution of wrongly convicted ‘John Coffey’, a man with a physically imposing figure and a childlike gentle soul, by electrocution is one of the most powerfully constructed and poignant scenes in cinema history. This scene made the audience deeply saddened and sustained a lasting impact on the human mind, making ‘The Green Mile’ stay among the most emotionally impactful movies of all time.
Thirdly, the ‘Creative Excellence’ reflected by a Work of Art holds authority to declare itself a ‘Masterpiece’. Such ‘Masterpieces’ shine bright as ‘Artistic Exceptions’. These exceptional works have a unique way of initiating an impressive conversation with the viewer using their iconic visual language enriched with aesthetic elements. These extraordinary pieces of Art possess a certain charisma to attract the viewer while allowing the viewer to find meanings and insights through interpreting them over time. Some of the prime examples found in the global realm of art include ‘David’ by Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa’ (1503-1506), Johannes Vermeer’s ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ (1665) and ‘Guernica’ (1937) by Pablo Picasso. And powerful cinematic expressions such as ‘Doctor Zhivago’ (1965) by David Lean, a movie based on the novel by Boris Pasternak of the same name ‘Doctor Zhivago‘ (1957), ‘The Mirror’ (1975) by Andrei Tarkovsky, Terrence Malick’s ‘The Tree of Life’ (2011) and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” (2023) continues to carry a powerful artistic charisma and enduring influence and considered masterpieces, regardless of critical acclaim or widespread criticism. These masterpieces often inspire prospective artists, while remaining inimitable and irreplaceable. The confluence of the extraordinary creativity of the artist and the unparalleled creative appeal reflected in the work elevate it to the state of eternity. The visual language of artistic creations, which is considered eternal, encompasses multiple inherent ambiguities. They evoke mystery, enigma and sense of wonder in the viewer and never allow the viewer to interpret or comprehend it extensively. The intriguing and enigmatic portrayal of visual symbolism in such masterpieces reflects the hidden mysteries of human nature which trigger curiosity in the spectator.
Leo Tolstoy, in one of his diary notes on May 17, 1896, writes ” the principal aim of art, if there is art, and if it has an aim, is to manifest and express the truth about man’s soul, to express those mysteries which it is impossible to express simply by speech. From this spring’s Art. Art is a microscope which the artist fixes on the mysteries of his soul and shows to people those mysteries which are common to all”.
The meaning of ‘Masterpiece’ evolved through temporal stages, from a term devised within Craft Guilds in the 12th century to a modern definition encompassing a wider range of creative genres in the subjective space. The possibility for a work of Art to reign in authority as a masterpiece is determined by the amplitude of recognition, appreciation and its ability to resonate deeply with the viewer’s artistic and emotional perceptions, otherwise it is bound to fade into oblivion. The creative work’s visual power is a crucial factor for fostering an interrelationship with the viewer. This interrelationship could last for centuries. British historian and broadcaster Kenneth Clarke, in his 1979 book’ What is a Masterpiece’, mentioned the “extraordinary fact that they can speak to us, as they have spoken to our ancestors for centuries”.
by Bhagya Rajapakse
bhagya8282@gmail.com
Midweek Review
Steadfast Helmsman

Deshamanya Bradman Weerakoon,
Whose absence will be keenly felt,
Chose simplicity as his forte,
And skipped the glare of cheap publicity,
Instead worked silently behind the scenes,
And placed duty above self-glorification,
A quality that served him in good stead,
During that fateful year of 1983, for instance,
When he ensured Sri Lanka’s sustenance,
But this about him was most striking –
He served the state to the best of his ability,
But was not at the behest of Political Masters.
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Search for survivors after Houthis sink second Red Sea cargo ship in a week
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Features6 days ago
Going through Colombo Medical School
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Sports5 days ago
Liverpool team join family of Diogo Jota, brother for funeral in Portugal
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News6 days ago
Nestlé Lanka inspires environmental awareness through nationwide schools art competition
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Business3 days ago
Maldives HC expresses deep concern over growing disconnect with Sri Lanka
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Business1 day ago
Putting SL’s culinary talent together for the ‘Oympics of Gastronomy’