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…
Arts and Theatre
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
After opening night of on the 26th of November 2009, a small group remained behind long after the show finished. They sat dotted around the small amphitheatre, not speaking a word. Theatre…
‘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
He can see through the threatening spikes of barbed wire. He is anguished recalling the nightmarish experiences of violent outbreaks. But he was hardly hopeless eyewitness. He allows his works to narrate…
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…
Some thoughts on ‘Close to the Bone’
‘Close to the Bone’, billed as a theatrical collaboration between Arun Welandawe-Prematilleke and Isuru Kumarasinghe, was part of Colomboscope 2016 and held at the Presidential Suite, Cinnamon Lakeside. Almost exactly three years…
Thatta Gayikawa (The Bald Soprano) – A Review
Mild trepidation accompanied me to the Punchi Theatre the other night (29th July). A jaded palate with too much memory of stale theatrical tropes – the growing longing for the escape hatch…
Art and Truth Telling: The Singularity of Truth
The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), and the Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts (VAFA) exhibition of 14 artists from different parts of Sri Lanka imagining transitional justice which recently exhibited at the…
Screening of ‘Our Brand is Crisis’
The film ‘Our Brand is Crisis‘ is deeply resonant in Sri Lanka. How it deals with the party political fabric and culture, electioneering, the propaganda campaigns of candidates and their respective parties,…
SEARCHING FOR AN ELUSIVE ‘PEACE’: WOMEN IN TIMES OF TRANSITION
October 2015 marked fifteen years since the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. To celebrate this anniversary, FOKUS WOMEN launched a traveling exhibition and theatre performance…
Deadlier than the Male
Featured image courtesy Kentridgecommon I have just read Kishani Jayasinghe’s excellent article ‘My Experience of Independence’, published in The Sunday Times ‘Plus’ of March 6, 2016. In this, she expresses her perceptions…
Catharsis: How Jaffna is rebuilding itself using the arts
Since 2009, Jaffna has become host to hordes of curious tourists, visiting to see what a city ravaged by war looks like. For the residents, there are many bitter memories. It is…
The politics of musical taste, the inadequacy of good intentions, and not saying “no!” to racism
Featured image courtesy Bands in Town The timeless universal language, music? Not the way I see it… in fact, a musical experience is much more likely to reflect a particular time, place,…
