Having a child is a terrifying thing. They make you believe in dragons again. Children are conjurers, they create worlds where none existed and breathe life into the fairy tales we seem to have long forgotten in favour of grown up stuff. We worry about the country, our children’s futures, our next raise and how we will make the next ...
A reflective series of photos taken on Easter Sunday 2019 in Dambulla, shortly after the attacks around Sri Lanka were announced. Published on JOURNO.LK by the Sri Lanka Press Institute on Sunday, April 4th 2021.
Originally published on HOMEGROWN: http://homegrown.co.in/sri-lankan-connect-decoding-shailesh-waingankar/ The Island said she would not let him go… Last year an Indian boy came to our little island. And for a minute there, he found himself. Lost somewhere between alternate rock and what I suspect must have been commercial house, I doubt that Mumbai-bred Shailesh Waingankar knew what Sri Lanka’s underground movement of post-conflict creativity ...
Colombo, 1999 I can still remember the smoky exteriors of the 80 Club down Independence Avenue that night. I was revisiting a place where my late grandfather was once an office bearer. This mean I was forced into the club’s Christmas parties; an annual episode that would eventually end up with me throwing a shit-fit. A large breaded who ...
In conversation with Anita Khemka for PhotoArtSouthAsia who are currently producing a series of interviews with lens-based practitioners in India, Sri Lanka and elsewhere in South Asia. Read the 3-page spread including the preview shown below and further pages presenting my interview and portfolio.
Suresh De Silva in collaboration with classical baritone, Sanjeev Niles. On a small island encumbered with politics, one would hope that it could at least escape the world of creativity that ideally shouldn’t tolerate any form of it. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The few instances of fusion and collaboration however, hint at the possibility for artists to cross ...
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON PULSE.LK I hate sunsets. It might have something to do with being born and raised in a city on the west coast where sunsets are a daily dance in the sky. So, sometime in the early 2000’s, I drove all night to get to watch the sun come up in Trincomalee and things have never been ...
THE INVISIBLE CITY is a photo essay documenting life in Colombo’s low income neighbourhoods where many have been forced into dwell in as a result of the city beautification process. Forced to live in substandard and unsanitary conditions and waiting on promised and more permanent living quarters for years, these communities continue to dwell, unseen by others in an invisible ...
Remembering the Racial Riots of 2018 A photo essay in video format, remembering the continued impacts of the anti-Muslim riots in the Digana and Theldeniya areas of Kandy (Sri Lanka) in early 2018. Published on JOURNO.LK by the Sri Lanka Press Institute on March 31st 2021.
I never got round to posting the last 5 articles of my column in The Nation titled ‘The Soul Gallery’. I did an 8 part series of interviews with some of the finest creatives souls on the island, unearthing and showcasing their work and process. Parts I, II & III can be found here: Part I – Sunara Jayamanne Part ...
In Conversation with Savithri Rodrigo on what it means to battle stage 4 metastatic breast cancer on her show Kaleidoscope which did a special for Breast Cancer Awareness Month which falls on October 2020. My interview starts at 12:45
Originally published in JOURNO.LK by the Sri Lanka Press Institute on 20th May 2021 ————————————————- I spent the longest time, thinking I wasn’t a feminist. This is not a conclusion that I came into on my own – it was a reactive statement because I saw feminists as alienating; using language I didn’t care about, nor understand. No one had ...
The Rebellious History of Heavy Music Originally published in JOURNO.LK by the Sri Lanka Press Institute on 19th March 2021 ————————————————- “Ever since I was 12 years old I had to defend my love for heavy metal against those who say it’s a less valid form of music. My answer now is that you either feel it or you don’t. If metal ...
The Ph Publishing House is now accepting submissions for an up-coming anthology that addresses the nature of fundamentalism. Aimed at a readership of children, aged 12 and above, the anthology hopes to examine extremist values existing within our present national psyche featuring stories in written and visual forms. Submissions will be accepted from Sri Lankan writers, authors, cartoonists and ...
Is a woman still a woman without her breasts? I’ve been battling stage 4 metastatic breast cancer since early last year. On the very first day of the year, I shared what that journey was like and I was honoured to have a publication like The Caravan Magazine publish it in their very first issue for 2021. A magazine that ...
An op-ed on the consequences of omitting a dedicated cabinet ministry for women in Sri Lanka’s 2020 government. Originally published by the Sri Lanka Press Institute on 15th December 2020, where I also work as editor for their various publications. —————————— When Sri Lanka’s 2020 parliament was announced shortly after the general elections this year, several feminist activists and women’s ...
In response to my article and photographs on Breast Cancer, published in The CARAVAN Magazine on 1st January 2021, I was interviewed by Daily FT Deputy Editor, Marianne David to further explore the experience of battling this illness alongside a gendered and apathetic healthcare system, and archaic social attitudes surrounding women’s bodies in South Asia. VIEW THE FULL INTERVIEW ...
A PRIDE 2019 story for the Bendr blog, discussing how heavy metal borrows its identity from gay culture https://bendr.home.blog/2019/06/10/heavy-metal-homos/
