SAISA Art has always been one of my most memorable memories since I arrived at OSC. For SAISA Art 2019, OSC hosted this artistic three-day event. This was an amazing experience where I got to meet new people that shared the same interest for art, learn more about the Sri Lankan art and culture and participate in art workshops with local artists from the Mullegama Art Center. SAISA artists participated in workshops of mixed media, watercolour painting, sewn drawing, wood block printing and mask making. This was a very fun experience where I got to meet many new people and develop my artistic skills.
DAY 1
We started SAISA Art 2019 with an assembly in the OSC auditorium. Everyone was wearing their SAISA Art T-shirts. A dance group performed a beautiful choreography. After, Ms. McQuillan, the secondary principal, and the visiting artists lighted the oil lamp, an important Sri Lankan tradition of welcoming. The primary dance group then gave an adorable performance. The assembly closed with welcoming words from Ms. McQuillan and Mrs. Duncan, the director of the arts department at OSC. We then all hopped into the buses with the other members of our workshop groups to begin our journey in Colombo for SAISA Art 2019.
Our first stop was the Kelaniya Temple where we experienced the beauty of Sri Lankan Buddhist art. We had time to take amazing pictures and to learn more about the history of the temple and the role of art in religion.
The entrance of the Kelaniya Temple (Photo taken by me) 
A picture of the stupa (Picture taken by me) 
Another view of the stupa (Picture taken by me) 
Beautiful sculptures on the walls of the temple (Picture taken by me)
We then visited Barefoot as our next stop. We saw the exhibition of a Sri Lankan artist that worked with colourful oil pastels. Everyone as well had the chance to buy a souvenir from Sri Lanka at the Barefoot store.
Our lunch break was at the Park Street Mews café. I rested and interacted with the students from other schools, making many new friends. When we finished eating, we took a group picture in front of a mural in Park Street. Regardless of the bright sun in our eyes, we all had beautiful smiles.
Our last stop of the day was at the Sakya Light of Asia Center, which was an old movie set where the life of Buddha was filmed. It was a beautiful and calm place. We played interactive games to learn more about each and had the chance to take photographs and sketch the different beauties of the place.
At the Sakya Light of Asia Center (Photo taken by me) 
At the Sakya Light of Asia Center (Photo taken by me)
Day one of SAISA Art ended when we went back to school and had an early dinner before some of us went to go watch Gecko Factor, OSC’s annual talent show. The whole senior grade, which I am part of, also danced in the show, and Tapashwi and Areez, the girls that I was hosting from Lincoln School, even watched the show with other SAISA artists. The first day was a very fun day full of inspiration and interactions, and I was looking forward to the next two days of creation.
DAY 2
Saturday morning, we all met in the auditorium for a briefing of the workshops. During this assembly, I presented and distributed the souvenirs I created as part of my CAS project (to know more about my CAS project, click on this link). After this brief meeting, we headed into our workshops. I attended the mixed media workshop with the Sri Lankan artist Pala Pothupitiye. It was a very interesting workshop where we worked with maps and focused on the concept of memory. I then decided to illustrate in my work my memories of what we visited on the previous day. I used the map of Sri Lanka to represent the place where those memories came from and mainly illustrated images linked to the religious places we visited.
All Saturday was spent in the workshop to create our pieces for the exhibition and to interact with other people. I have developed new techniques of drawing and watercolour painting from the artist and improved my artistic skills. When our first day of workshop was over, there were only a few hours left to finalize our pieces for the final exhibition. I was really excited to see what all the other workshops have been working on, but I was also sad since it meant that the end of SAISA Art was coming closer.
DAY 3
This was our final day of SAISA Art 2019 and my very last day of this amazing event. We all added our final touches to our artworks to have them ready for the art exhibition. I was really happy with the end result of my piece. It reflected the different things we saw on Friday. The Sri Lankan map in the center is shaped into a stupa, like the one we saw at the Kelaniya Temple. On each side of the stupa is a Buddha. The sitting Buddha is more colourful in order to symbolize the treasures of the Sri Lankan culture. The lying Buddha was inspired by the one that we saw at Sakya. It is less lively than the sitting Buddha since it symbolizes the importance of history by preserving ancient art. The background mimics the waves of the ocean since Sri Lanka is an island. Pala Pothupitiye gave me feedback on how to make the subjects more 3D. I as well learned new watercolours techniques with him, which allowed me to create a wavelike texture for the background of my work. The responses I got from many people for my work made me really proud of what I have created.
SAISA Art 2019 ended with the exhibition. Everyone shared what they did during the weekend. It was interesting to see all the diverse works. A few people from the OSC community as well came to see the art show. I enjoyed to see everyone share their artistic interests.
An overview of the exhibition (Photo credits to Gecko Net) 
My display in the exhibition (Photo credits to Gecko Net)
At the end of the evening, I was asked to give thanks to everyone who made this amazing event possible, especially to Ms. Morgan, my visual arts teacher, who organized this whole event.
This was the end of SAISA Art 2019, and it was my last SAISA Art. I had an amazing time, but was very sad that it was over. I made many new friends, developed new art skills and learned so much more about the Sri Lankan art and culture. Being able to take a part in the organization of this event was a great experience. I enjoyed the artistic part of SAISA Art as much as I enjoyed my interactions with everyone I met. It was hard to say goodbye to the people leaving, but it meant that these people became important to me in just three days. I made so many memories during this event. I am glad that my last SAISA Art was the best.
Camille-Anh Goulet 