Adaptation of Kindura mythical creature in traditional arts and crafts of Sri Lanka : an analysis of graphical adaptation and its impact

Abstract

The word “myth” comes from the Greek “mythos”, meaning a word or a story. Humankind has made myths from the dawn of history. Many common themes run through world of myths and one such theme connects human beings with other animals. Therefore, from the early ages of storytelling, mythical creatures were prominent feature in each human culture. It is noticed that myths of diverse cultures are often linked by similar themes and concepts, but the difference is made with the process of adaptation which were done by each culture according to their own stories, beliefs and ideas. Many researches and studies have been carried to understand the origin and the background stories of these mythical arts, but yet few have been done to understand the graphical adaptations. This study intends to discuss the development of graphical adaptation of the mythical creatures from its original artefacts which is applied in Sri Lankan traditional art and craft. By understanding these graphical and visual adaptation of the local context, this research further places the initial foundation of updating the local mythical legends and creatures in a more effective manner in both art and design aspect, which has not been continued in recent past.