*Launched*
Enter the archive here:
To purchase your copy of the book please click here:
English and Sinhala – Perera Hussein Publishing House (Online and in-store)
Tamil – Poobalasingham Book Depot (In-store)
Sri Lanka marked 70 years of Independence on February 4th 2018. While there is much to celebrate in our overthrowing a 500-year yoke of colonial rule and embracing democratic politics, it is undeniable that Sri Lanka’s post-Independence trajectory has been both turbulent and bloody. Communal riots, youth insurrections, natural disasters and a protracted civil war has cast a long, brooding shadow across recent decades.
The Archive of Memory seeks to interrogate this celebratory imperative by focusing on 70 narrative fragments that offer compelling, personalized perspectives on these past 70 years. They recall turning points in our history through mundane, everyday objects as well as unique artifacts and souvenirs. Such an exercise not only entails the collection of oral histories but also looks at objects as aide-mémoire or mnemonic devices.
As a forerunner to this ambitious initiative, we have launched a booklet of 7 narratives related to 7 personal objects. We hope to use it as a public notification to solicit stories from every nook and cranny of Sri Lanka as well as from Sri Lankans domiciled abroad, from the young as well as the old, from all ethnicities, classes, castes, religions and sexual orientations. We are publishing this booklet in all three official languages of Sri Lanka as we would like to encourage people to write or speak to us in whatever language they are most comfortable. We look forward to hearing from you and speaking with you.
The booklet is available in English, Sinhala, Tamil.
If you would like to share an interesting story with us that is linked to a treasured object associated in some way with an important political, cultural, economic or historical moment in post-Independence Sri Lanka, please get in touch with us via any of these methods:
Write to us to at localhost/giz/wordpress, 25 Elibank Road, Colombo 5.
Call us on 0764521768 (10am—5pm)
Email us to archiveofmemory2018@gmail.com
Share your story on facebook – Archive of Memory Facebook
Share your story on Instagram using #archiveofmemory2018
Find a short introduction to one of our narratives in English, Sinhala, Tamil.