Thatti
I worked with Building Bridges on a four-month series of art and creative skills workshops at St. John’s College, Mattakkuliya. It is a co-educational school whose students come from diverse backgrounds in…
Arts and Theatre
Constant Tug of War
Editor’s Note: This piece was submitted as part of an ongoing series marking 70 years of Independence. Independence Day is marked with military parades and empty rhetoric on peace. The Sri Lankan…
Floating Space Theatre Co. presents ‘rite | now’ at Global Voices Summit
How much do we remember of the time before the internet? How much of ourselves will we leave behind because of the internet, and how much of this do we imagine we…
In conversation with Tharanga Goonetilleke
Tharanga Goonetilleke is a Juilliard-trained Sri Lankan opera singer who has sung internationally, including with the New York City Opera, at Carnegie Hall and the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka while providing…
Exploring “Contempt” – An upcoming reading by Floating Space
Featured image courtesy Pinknews Manoeuvring power relations and negotiating the language of legal discourse – these are central themes of “Contempt” a reading presented by Floating Space, to be held this Saturday…
Awards, Recognitions and Sri Lankan Creative Writing in English
Featured image courtesy University of Kelaniya Editor’s Note: The text reproduced below is the longer version of the introductory comments made at the BMICH, Colombo on 27th May 2017 at the announcement of the…
The Art of Connection: Two organisations take on reconciliation
Featured image courtesy Amalini de Sayrah As a 16 year old, Nushelle de Silva was entirely unprepared for the experience of seeing Jaffna in its ‘raw state’ during the ceasefire in 2004. Traveling…
Laughing in the Dark
Featured image courtesy Sam Hodgson/New York Times LONDON – As a former Soviet citizen, I can tell you: it’s never a good sign for a political system when artists start speaking out…
Writing to Reconcile: A personal journey
Image from Write to Reconcile Last fall, in Toronto, I went to see a play that was written by one of the writers in this anthology, Sindhuri Nandakumar. The play was called…
The Story of One: On some lives erased and others that give hope
I first met Father Harry Miller in 2013. We sat and talked in his office on the top floor of St. Michael’s College, Batticaloa. Noisy crows had gathered outside his window, threatening…
Lessons Learnt on Reconciliation
Photograph courtesy Mind Adventures, by Deshan Tennekoon After opening night of The Traveling Circus on the 26th of November 2009, a small group remained behind long after the show finished. They sat…
‘Corridors of Power’ exhibition in Jaffna
Auditorium of the Jaffna Public Library 22 – 24 November 2016 Open 10am to 6pm Entrance free for all. What is a constitution? What place and relevance, if any, does it have…
Guided Tour: ‘Corridors of Power’ at the WINGS Festival of Arts
Led by the input of Asanga Welikala and in collaboration with Channa Daswatta, ‘Corridors of Power’ through architectural drawings and models, interrogates key moments in Sri Lanka’s constitutional evolution since 1972. The…
Pushpe’s Lanka
Art by Koralegadara Pushpakumara. Barbed Wire (xiii) 2012 Screen Print, Acylic on Canvas 110×67.5 cm. He can see through the threatening spikes of barbed wire. He is anguished recalling the nightmarish experiences of violent outbreaks….
Can art transform conflict?
Does art have a role in reconciliation? Does it help in healing trauma? Can the creative power of arts be used as a catalyst for action – especially among those who have…