“Our lives through our eyes” , an immersive art experience, will be held at the Silver Ray Hotel in Pelmadulla Ratnapura from April 4 to 6, bringing together photography, film and music to promote reflection and dialogue on social cohesion.
The event acknowledges the travails of hill country communities (also known as Malaiyaha Thamizhar) and strives to advocate for their rights, promote mutual understanding and encourage collective participation to solve key barriers to social cohesion in Sri Lanka.
The event is organised by the Strengthening Social Cohesion and Peace in Sri Lanka program (SCOPE) co-financed by the European Union and German Federal Foreign Office and implemented by The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in partnership with the Ministry of Justice, Prisons Affairs and Constitutional Reforms (MoJ).
This event is undertaken by SCOPE in partnership with the Ratnapura Art Collective (RAC), Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), Uwa Shakthi Foundation and Suya Shakthi Foundation.
This initiative is in close coordination with the Provincial Council of Sabaragamuwa Governor’s Office and the Provincial Council of Sabaragamuwa Ministry of Education.
It will be inaugurated at 9.30 am on April 4, under the auspices of the Governor of Sabaragamuwa Province, Tikiri Kobbekaduwa.
Over the three days, it is expected to draw up to 2000 schoolchildren and 1000 community members from the Ratnapura district.
“Our lives through our eyes” celebrates the accomplishments, contributions and the growth of the hill country communities, despite the tremendous challenges they continue to face.
It inspires audiences to re-imagine bigger and broader roles individuals and groups from this community can play in shaping art, culture, economy and politics in Sri Lanka.
The three-day immersive arts experience brings together the The Kahata photography exhibition, along with musical performances by IllaiyanillaIssaikulu, RavibanduVidyapati and Ratanapura’s Kurinji Kathir Issaikulu, along with spaces for public dialogue and exchange.
Central to the event, the photography exhibition ThéKahata, is the culmination of the work of youth from Nuwara Eliya and Badulla, who through their creativity and courage help shed light on their world.
By turning the lens on their families and communities, they use photographs to share their unique perspectives and to help shape the world view of others to become more expansive and sensitive to the injustices we see around us.
The musical performances, complement this perspective, by nurturing an appreciation for diversity and pluralism through the arts. In a culturally diverse society such as Sri Lanka, this event offers the public an opportunity, especially the youth, to gain knowledge, dialogue with each other and hone values that help navigate this diversity (and its complexities) with curiosity, critical inquiry and empathy.
The event is part of the SCOPE program’s aims to advance social cohesion in order to contribute towards an inclusive, peaceful and prosperous society in Sri Lanka.
The program does so by strengthening resilience and capacities of communities and institutions to prevent and counter violence and exclusion; promoting pluralistic, inclusive, and fact-based public discourse; and increasing incentives and opportunities for interethnic cooperation and equal access to resources.