The Journey of Content: Instagram Unplugged IRL
We are discussing a photograph. It was taken by the camera of a smartphone. It has been viewed by thousands, engaged with by hundreds, and is now being exhibited at the Saskia…
Development
A Presidential visit up North
Photo courtesy Yahoo By all accounts, President Rajapakse’s unprecedented and rather controversial third term re-election campaign, though unofficial, has begun in earnest. Last week he presented the Cabinet of Ministers with a…
On Restoring Forests
It is rumored that the Government will set about the task of having 35% of Sri Lanka covered with forest. If so, that is a laudable goal. But one hopes that this…
Urban Warfare and the Sounds of Silence
Photo courtesy Maatram I was sitting at my desk in Colombo 08 yesterday and all of a sudden, a somewhat loud but also muffled ‘boom’ broke the usual afternoon sounds of traffic on…
INFOGRAPHIC: Views From Uva
With the Uva Provincial Council elections taking place tomorrow, Social Indicator, the survey research unit of the Centre for Policy Alternatives has analysed data from field work conducted in May and June…
And they all fall down
This afternoon, the remaining residents of 34 watta in Wanathamulla had surprise visitors. Brigadier Samarasinghe who is the Project Director of the UDA’s Urban Regeneration Programme, accompanied by several other UDA officials,…
Post-War Development in Nepal and Sri Lanka: A Comparison
Image courtesy Wikipedia Introduction Both in Nepal and Sri Lanka the transition from war to durable peace has been painful and is ongoing and not devoid of pitfalls as has been the…
Comrade Bala Tampoe, the Legend Is No More!
Photography by Kannan Arunasalam, via i.am Meeting with comrade Bala Tampoe at the Ceylon Mercantile Union (CMU) office in Colombo had been a tradition I looked forward to whenever I visited Sri…
Issues of Truth and Accountability: A Private Sector Perspective
Photo by Udhara de Silva The “Third Narrative” reviewed at the Colloquium presents an alternative narrative, of the events of the last stages of the war, and has been developed as a…
Colombo Development: A Highway to… a Very Hot Place?
Photo by the author The causes of global climate change are myriad, and not all of them are within our control, but driving down the brand spanking new airport highway the other…
Slums, shanties or stories?
Image courtesy Sharni Jayawardena and Tarika Wickremeratne, Walkabout: Slave Island An article titled A slum and shanties free Colombo by 2020 recently published on the infamous defence.lk site notes that, “Our effort…
Invisible architectures: Thoughts on Walking Path
Franz Kafka, ‘Beyond the Law’ Designed and directed by Jayampathi Guruge and scripted by Ruwanthie de Chickera, ‘Walking Path’, performed recently at the Lionel Wendt offered an interesting critique of Colombo’s post-war…
“Walking Path” – A play without words
A play without words is a risky proposition. Why would a theatrical production abandon one of the most powerful tools at its disposal? In a performative audio-visual medium like theatre words can…
From shanty to home : Myth vs reality of Colombo’s Urban Regeneration Project
Photo by Abdul-Halik Azeez, courtesy The Picture Press The ambitious Urban Regeneration Project (URP) launched by the Ministry of Defense and Urban Development aims to transform Colombo into a world-class destination for…
“Where are the Sri Lankan Female Scientists?” A Case of Democratizing Science
Photo by Reuters, courtesy International Business Times In recent decades, many researchers, education specialists and policy advocates have paid increasing attention to the issue of gender bias in science. While several successful…
