Sharon Bala’s The Boat People tells a nuanced tale of migration. Inspired by real events , the novel follows Mahindan, a Tamil asylum-seeker who flees persecution amidst civil war Sri Lanka, only to find himself facing deportation by the Canadian government for suspected ties to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). A multi-narrative work, … Read More
“We’ve been waiting for a song like this.” This is what Rolex Rasathy says she hears from so many Tamil women, in response to her latest music video, Raavanan. In the video, which dropped first on Valentine’s Day, New York-based singer Rolex Rasathy and Toronto-based rapper Navz-47 team up to confront a man who has … Read More
Jude Ratnam didn’t realize he would be telling his own story. Initially, Ratnam set out to make a film about the Sri Lankan Civil War, using the railway connecting the Sinhalese-dominated south and the Tamil-dominated north as a springboard for his explorations. “You can’t rationally understand the process of art-making,” Ratnam told Kajal. “But one … Read More
Of The Island is a short film by Amanda Yogendran and Vidhya Manivannan that centers four young creatives of the Sinhalese, Tamil, and Burgher Sri Lankan diaspora – Ushka, Rolex Rasathy, ELSZ, and Santhya – who share their experiences of migration, culture, identity, art, and self-expression. “I feel like I always had an alter ego,” a voice in … Read More
The One Who Loves You So, writer and director Arun Welandawe-Prematilleke’s widely-anticipated original play, ran at Colombo’s Namel Malini Punchi theater in August. The play is a complex depiction of a short-lived relationship between two men, one “a wealthy Colombo trust-fund baby” and the other a British expatriate. Their relationship starts with an ordinary match … Read More
In Marriage of a Thousand Lies, Lucky, the restless romantic, ruminates on queerness and notes that, “most people think the closet is a small room. They think you can touch the wall, touch the door, turn the handle, and walk free. But when you’re inside it, the closet is so vast. No walls, no doors, just empty darkness stretching … Read More
There is something particular about hearing the same stories repeated again and again by family members. A loving frustration. There are the looks shot between siblings, across kitchen tables, of “this again?” There is the conviction with which a grandfather or a mother or an uncle tells the story, each time like it’s going to … Read More
Baila music is a staple of Sri Lankan culture. The genre originated as a blend of two Sri Lankan communities: the kaffir population – descendents of enslaved African brought to Sri Lanka by the Portuguese – and the Portuguese-descended Burghers. Baila is characterized by its distinct beat, taken from colonial influences, mixed with traditional Sinhalese … Read More
Sri Lanka declared a state of emergency on Tuesday amidst mob attacks against the minority Muslim population, resulting in at least one fatality. Tensions have long existed between Sinhalese Buddhists, Tamil Hindus, and Muslims in the island country. These mob attacks were reportedly sparked by a road rage incident, in which a Sinhalese truck driver … Read More
In a country where homosexuality is outlawed, the internet provides both an escape and meeting place for LGBTQ Sri Lankans. Experts in Colombo are now studying ways to ensure the safety of LGBTQ Sri Lankans as they log on. A recent study into internet use amongst LGBTQ Sri Lankans was launched in Colombo earlier this … Read More
