Photo courtesy of Search for Common Ground
Close your eyes and try to remember what your history lessons in school were like. Do you immediately think of the Mahawamsa, ancient ola leaf books and archaeological sites? What about old recipes that your family has passed down for generations or sporting events that are discussed between friends? Are they sources of history? How often have we been asked to consider what we think of as historical?
Although many of us wouldn’t realise it, a variety of factors can paint a picture of the past. From cutouts of old newspaper advertisements to a well preserved pair of shoes from years ago, they tell us a story of a time, place and people.
From February 5 to 12, a unique travelling history museum, the It’s About Time: Travelling History Museum, will open doors in Galle.
The museum is a mobile museum that has been curated to go beyond the traditional, two dimensional and almost completely theoretical study of history that is common in Sri Lanka. Instead, the museum comes to life, offering something most museums strictly prohibit: the chance to see, touch, hear, feel and taste the exhibits. Picture taking a guided tour through a garden. Now imagine being able to walk all over the garden and interact with the plants, deepening your understanding of not just botany but the significance of each plant within and outside its ecosystem. This is what the museum offers – an interactive experience that takes a step back from dictating facts and encourages visitors to consider different aspects of history. Allowing stories and objects to resonate deeper with the visitors, this multidimensional approach is a practical way of understanding how history is constructed and understood.
While the visitor is invited to explore these large, conceptual ideas, the museum provides the necessary tools for easy processing. Rather than focusing on prominent power holders, the museum shines a light on the lives of everyday Sri Lankans and their stories. In the 1930s, historian Lucian Febvre referred to it as history from below and not from above, which is a branch of history explored in other countries since that time.
Initially designed for students, the museum is a collaborative effort implemented by Search for Common Ground (SFCG) with technical advisory support from the Collective for Historical Dialogue and Memory (CHDM). The initiative is part of the Strengthening Social Cohesion and Peace in Sri Lanka (SCOPE) programme, which aims to foster reconciliation and understanding through historical dialogue. CHDM’s predecessor, Historical Dialogue, initially designed and piloted the museum under the Strengthening Reconciliation Processes in Sri Lanka (SRP) programme. Both SCOPE and SRP are co-funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and the European Union, implemented by GIZ in partnership with the government of Sri Lanka.
Carefully designed to take visitors on a journey of critical thinking, the ultimate aim of the museum is to promote reconciliation and social cohesion and to promote a historical narrative that recognises the contributions and experiences of all communities in Sri Lanka.
Visitors are welcomed with the leading question, “Who am I?”. While pondering the concept of identity, the first theme of the museum asks visitors to think about is “Who Writes Our History?” This theme examines the authors of historical narratives and the perspectives they represent. Exhibits aiding this line of thought include “The Road Show,” which explores how street names reflect socio-political changes and the individuals commemorated through them.
The second theme asks, “Do Everyday People’s Stories Matter?” Exhibits here include “The Incomplete Thombu” by artist Thamotharampillai Sanathanan, which is a collection of memories from Tamil and Muslim civilians displaced from the Northern Province, offering personal insights into the concept of home. Another exhibit, “Stories of Resilience,” features narratives of individuals who have demonstrated resilience in the face of adversity from all around Sri Lanka.
Next visitors explore “What Cultural Elements Influence Our History?” This theme explores how cultural aspects like language, music and cuisine shape collective identity and historical narratives. Exhibits under this theme include “Scripted”, which studies the origins and evolution of Sinhala and Tamil scripts and “Food for Thought”, which explores how culinary traditions influence and reflect cultural history. A crowd favourite is the stamp exhibit by Niroshana Peiris and Viranga Kularatne, which explain how history can be understood through stamps and the art of stamp reading.
The journey through the museum ends with reflecting on “What is Our Role in Creating History?” This theme encourages the reflection on individual contributions to historical processes and societal development. Exhibits include the “Reflection Corner,” which is a space for visitors to contemplate their connection to history.
The museum has travelled to Kandy, Kurunegala, Badulla, Batticaloa and Mannar since 2023. The exhibition is always curated to suit each city in consultation with community leaders ensuring that the exhibits are respectful and relevant to the area. So far, over 25,000 people have visited the museum and most have commented that its contents were an unexpected but very welcome surprise.
“Unlike other museums, a different approach is given here to understand history. From the moment I arrived at this museum to the last movement, all the exhibits touched my heart. When we learn history, we should learn from a bottom up approach, without the top bottom approach. The history of Sri Lanka should be viewed not from those at the top of the hierarchy but from those at the bottom,” says Maulavi Sharkir from Kandy.
Mr Rameskumar, a school teacher in Batticaloa, says, “Students paid more attention to writing different places on the Sri Lankan map and I saw that they were enjoying the museum. Most of the students pay little attention to the subject of history. But this place made them think about how history was built and especially what is our role is in building history.”
In Mannar, community leader Rangani Fernando is happy that everyone in society has been documented in the exhibition and that she had the opportunity to look at history from a different perspective. While applauding the trilingual presentation of the exhibition, she stated that the exhibition was a good opportunity to educate youth on contemporary history. “Generally, when it comes to history, we see the stories of kings, religions and independence but today we learned that contemporary stories can also be seen as history.”
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