The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Sri Lanka (MMCA Sri Lanka) has been working on its ‘Arts 4 ADR’ project in partnership with Supporting Effective Dispute Resolution (SEDR Sri Lanka) since December 2023. It is a 12-month endeavour that aims to increase awareness and understanding of community-based Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms and facilitate dialogue about the root causes of community-based conflict, disputes, and grievances in Sri Lanka through art.
The project’s focus lies on the Northern, Eastern, and Uva provinces. The MMCA Sri Lanka has commissioned artists Anomaa Rajakaruna, Jasmine Nilani Joseph, and Hanusha Somasundram to develop three artworks with contexts of communal conflict in Vavuniya, Mannar, Ampara, Trincomalee, Badulla, and Moneragala.
Senior Curator at the MMCA Sri Lanka Sandev Handy said, “Art may not necessarily be able to change the world, but it can act as a catalyst for moments of reflections, that may in turn provide us with some pause.” He said, “Our hope is that communities can begin new conversations instigated by artwork, that open up possibilities for new understandings of the ‘other’.”
Land issues continue to hinder reconciliation efforts as a result of a combination of historical, political, ethnic, and socio-economic factors in the chosen provinces in particular. The MMCA Sri Lanka hopes to pilot, test, and implement artwork-centred community dialogues that address land-based issues of exclusion and inequality.
The MMCA Sri Lanka is also launching the Dialogue and Civic Engagement Fellowship Programme as part of ‘Arts 4 ADR’, where Bavaneedha Loganathan, Chanthuru Thiveegan, Kalyani Suntharam, and Thamilini Siththiravadivel have joined the program as cultural practitioners in the Northern, Eastern, and Uva provinces. Fuelled by their interest in how art can instigate civic dialogue and foster alternative dispute resolution, the four Fellows will be given training in ADR, art programming, community engagement, and public pedagogical approaches as part of the Fellowship program.
Led by the MMCA Sri Lanka and funded by SEDR Sri Lanka, ‘Arts 4 ADR’ aims to examine art’s potential to generate dialogue, shape narratives, provoke reflection, foster unity and offer alternative pathways to reconciliation. SEDR Sri Lanka is funded by the European Union and is one element of the European Union’s wider Strengthening Transformation, Reconciliation and Inclusive Democratic Engagement (STRIDE) program in Sri Lanka, jointly implemented by the British Council, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the World Bank.
