Perhaps the argument should be not for a particular song or message, but for more freedom and spaces in which Sri Lankan artists can be “heard”. The Barefoot Gallery in Colombo: http://www.barefootgallery.com and the Noble Sage Gallery in London: http://www.thenoblesage.com, are examples.

My feeling is that societies and cultures tend to become impoverished when the artists are not able to express what they feel. This fact may have more to do with our present predicament than we suspect.

This may appeal to youth in Colombo and the diaspora who don’t read the articles on federalism. It won’t appeal to the “intellectual” types, but the message could be really useful in generating interest in the topic.

And why just federalism and rap? Can we think of art and culture more broadly?