The opening of Memories from the Margin photography exhibition and the launch of the policy brief From the Margins of War: The Post War Experience of the Palankudi Community, was held on August 8, at the CEPA premises.
Memories from the margin is a project by the Social Cohesion thematic of the Centre for Poverty Analysis and funded by the Think Tank Capacity Building grant implemented by the University of South Carolina Rule of Law Collaborative.
The project is participatory research that involves community members throughout the research process to produce data that has meaning, is appropriate, and is authentic to their community experience.
The methodology aims to empower the community to be co-researchers and co-owners of the research project. As such, all images taken are by the co-researchers from Verugal and Santhosapuram along with the narrative that anchors the image.
A secondary layer of analysis is included by CEPA researchers by triangulating existing literature to provide the theoretical and conceptual framework for the study.
By adopting this methodology, the project is designed to facilitate the narration of the Palankudi story while preserving its authenticity. Through this the research aims to include voices of marginalised communities in the post-war narrative of Sri Lanka. A digital repository of the findings is available through social media platforms. The exhibition was co-curated by Natasha Palansuriya, Thamindri Aluvihare and Shaneendra Amarasinghe.
The exhibition was opened to the public from August 8 to 12 2022 from 10.00 am to 5.00 pm at the CEPA premises, 16, Jawatte Road, Colombo 5.