Last week our grade went on our annual Week Without Walls (WWW) trip with OSC. For our grade and the grade below, this WWW consisted of a number of smaller trips being organized with all the students picking which one they wish to go on. The trip that I picked was the HeART of Sri Lanka trip, where we travelled to Kandy and the surrounding region to experience the rich culture and nature present as well as find inspiration for the creation of our own creative pieces. While on the trip we journaled our experiences through the use of our art journals, in which we could write reflections on our experiences as well as express our creativity through art.
Day 1: We left OSC very early in the morning, which involved getting up before 5am. It was awful. We arrived at Kandy by train from where we boarded a bus and visited the temple of the tooth. There we were able to look at the abundant culture and art on display, using them as motifs for artistic inspiration. During this time I was able to start a pencil sketch of my surroundings; a side view of the main temple from the view of a corridor (image 6 & 12). After our artistic time at the temple, we were all very hungry and Ms Eagle treated us to pizza. Needless to say fresh pizza was a good consolation for the early start that morning. That night we stayed at a hostel called Helga’s Folly hotel, an interesting artsy hotel and another amazing place to explore for artistic inspiration. The perfect atmosphere for our murder mystery game organized by Ms Eagle and casted by Jed Bishop.
Day 2: The next day we attended a batik making session at a batik studio. The workers there demonstrated the whole process they go through when making the colorful batiks, after which we had the opportunity to express our own artistic inspiration by designing and making our own batik cloth. Later that day we visited Laki Senanayake’s studio where we ate lunch and spent the afternoon looking at the interesting sculptures and architecture of his houses on the property. During this free time I decided to try some water coloring, creating a colorful artistic representation of an old statue I found on the garden next to the pond (image 7). That night we arrived at the next accommodation, Back of Beyond, arguably my favorite hotel at which we visited during this trip.
Day 3: During the morning and afternoon we visited Polonnaruwa Ancient city, where we hired bikes and explored the various temples and shrines scattered throughout the large area. The culture and history provided by the remnants of different structures acted as great motifs for photography. Later that evening we returned to Back of Beyond, where we tried our luck with land art, artistic expression made directly in the landscape by sculpting the land itself or by making structures in the landscape with natural materials. This was an awesome experience for broadening our perception of art and how it can be made, beyond the bounds of conventional mediums.
Day 4: We woke early this morning so that we could hike to the top of Pidurangala rock and watch the sunrise. While I am always hesitant about early starts (especially when it is directly followed by an hour long hike), the sunrise view from the top of the rock was really spectacular (image 13). While clearing our rooms at Back and Beyond, our room was besieged by a no-so-friendly horde of monkeys. They surrounded us and ran through our room and under the bed in search of any snacks we may have left lying around. After some panicked shouting and confrontation, we decided to perform a tactical retreat from the room, ensuring to call for reinforcements and arm ourselves with sticks before returning for the rest of our baggage. After the action packed morning, we de-stressed by eating a buffet lunch (image 14) and having a tour at the Heritance Kandalama hotel (image 15). This eco-hotel is an architectural spectacle set in the side of a mountain, overviewing Sigiriya Rock and designed by the famous Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa. While resting in the hotel library, I was inspired to recreate a pencil sketch image from a Christian bible diary; an image of Jesus being baptized (image 8). Additionally, while here we saw a group of more friendly monkeys bathing in the swimming pool, which I also decided to sketch as a part of my day 4 reflection. At the end of the day we retired to the final accommodation, The Other Corner. Here we had the opportunity to swim in the pool and socialize with the others. There was also a really cool tree hut which we were able to climb (images 10 & 16).
Day 5: This was the last day of our trip. We awoke, ate breakfast and helped the hotel staff make lunch. Here the hotel cooks held a workshop, showing us all how to make a number of traditional Sri Lankan curries from scratch, after which we got to eat them for lunch and take home the recipes in official cookbooks. After lunch we all took the long, long bus ride back to Colombo, arriving later in the afternoon and thus concluding our 2024 Week Without Walls experience.
Overall I learnt and achieved a number of things throughout this trip. First and foremost among these are my inter-personal relationships, all of which grew so much stronger during the trip. I was able to spend a lot of time with people I often don’t have the time or opportunity to be with and thus fostered connections and shared experiences with individuals I would otherwise have not had the possibility of interacting with. Secondly, due to the artistic focus of the trip, I realized that in art (and in life), initial appearance can be very deceiving and we can often learn a lot more about something or a situation if we view it from different perspectives. Moving forward from just this trip, I aim to continue to take the time to draw and explore both the culture and nature around me, thus hoping to develop my artistic capabilities through practice. Of all the experiences this trip entailed, these takeaways are what I hope to keep with me when moving forward;
Find inspiration around you,
Make the most of opportunities as they present themselves,
Just start drawing.
Learning Outcomes:
- LO1: Demonstrates awareness of strengths and areas for growth.
- LO3: Demonstrates self-challenging, learning development of new skills.
- LO5: Demonstrates collaboration and working with others.
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