http://repo.lib.jfn.ac.lk/ujrr/handle/123456789/95 2026-06-04T13:21:58Z 2026-06-04T13:21:58Z Kirubalini, S. http://repo.lib.jfn.ac.lk/ujrr/handle/123456789/12677 2026-05-26T05:01:08Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Artistic Practice as Self-Healing: A Reading of Three Artists in Post-War Northern Sri Lanka Authors: Kirubalini, S. Abstract: This paper argues that for professional visual artists working in sustained engagement with traumatic personal and collective experience, the process of art-making itself functions as a mode of self-healing; not as clinical intervention or administered therapy, but as an intrinsic psychological dimension emerging from within committed creative practice. Examining three contemporary visual artists from Sri Lanka's Northern Province: Krishnapriya Thabendran, Vinson Chanthiradas Vimal, and Suntharam Anojan, the study explores how artists whose practice is deeply connected to personal trauma, loss, and violence discover that the act of making simultaneously constitutes an act of psychological processing and healing. The study investigates how traumatic experience is translated into visual form, how memory operates within the creative process, and in what ways artistic practice functions as a self-healing mechanism for the artist. The research adopts a qualitative interpretive case study methodology grounded in art historical and visual culture frameworks, generating data through iconographic analysis of selected artworks, semi- structured interviews conducted with each artist, and close readings of exhibition texts and artists' statements. The theoretical framework draws on Cathy Caruth's trauma theory, Marianne Hirsch's concept of postmemory, and Dominick LaCapra's notion of working through. The analysis reveals that each artist develops a distinctively personal practice in response to post-war experience. Krishnapriya's micro-drawings and trace-based works construct intimate visual spaces for mourning and remembrance. Vimal's metal sculpture, realised through processes of melting, bending, and hammering, transforms experiences of violence into reflective form through the physical act of making. Anojan's landscape paintings function as sustained witness to collective loss rooted in his lived experience of the 2009 conflict in Mullaitivu. These findings suggest that artistic and psychological processes are not parallel but inseparable — the making is the healing. This study concludes that professional creative engagement with traumatic experience constitutes a culturally embedded, self-directed pathway to psychological wellbeing, positioning art not as supplementary to post-conflict recovery but as a primary site where trauma is encountered, processed, and transformed.

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Kirubalini, S. http://repo.lib.jfn.ac.lk/ujrr/handle/123456789/12420 2026-03-31T05:30:37Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Art as Environmental Witness: Tharmapalan Tilaxan's Photographs of Ecological Crisis in Sri Lanka Authors: Kirubalini, S. Abstract: This paper examines how Northern Province-based freelance artist Tharmapalan Tilaxan’s photographic practice functions as a form of environmental witnessing, analyzed through the theoretical framework of “art as witness” in visual culture. The study focuses on two of his key projects: Gurunagar (2019), which addresses environmental degradation of fishing shores and marine biodiversity in Jaffna, including garbage disposal along the seashore, and The Story of Pallakkaddu Elephants / Garbage-Eating Elephants (2020), which highlights threats to elephants in Oluvil consuming garbage as food. In both cases, Tilaxan documented the sites in situ, observing ongoing ecological challenges, before exhibiting the works locally and later in galleries, thereby mediating between the environment, local communities, and broader audiences. The research addresses three central questions: How does Tilaxan document environmental issues through photography? What ecological and social issues are represented, and how are they framed? And how do local communities, environmentalists, government authorities, and international audiences respond, and what changes or continuities result? The objectives are to analyze the artistic strategies employed to render environmental degradation visible, explore the cultural and social narratives embedded in the imagery, and assess the impact of these works on public awareness and environmental discourse while maintaining aesthetic form. A qualitative methodology is adopted, combining iconographic and visual analysis with interviews of the artist and examination of media coverage. Findings indicate that Tilaxan’s photographs operate as both aesthetic objects and socio- environmental testimony, capturing ecosystem vulnerability and revealing tensions between human activity, conservation concerns, and ecological responsibility. Reactions vary, with local communities expressing ambivalence, environmentalists highlighting policy contradictions, and international audiences gaining heightened awareness. This selective and nuanced reception underscores the role of contemporary art in mediating environmental consciousness and highlights a gap in understanding how artistic documentation influences public perception, governmental authorities, and environmental discourse in Sri Lanka.

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Kirubalini, S. Jasotharan, R. http://repo.lib.jfn.ac.lk/ujrr/handle/123456789/12417 2026-03-27T09:27:30Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Nature as Nation: Cultural Meanings of Biodiversity on Sri Lankan Currency Authors: Kirubalini, S.; Jasotharan, R. Abstract: This paper examines the representation of biodiversity on Sri Lankan currency and its role in constructing national identity, cultural meaning, and awareness of natural heritage. Following Sri Lanka’s transition to a republic with the 1972 Constitution, artist Laki Senanayake was commissioned in the late 1970s to design banknotes featuring exclusively endemic flora and fauna. Seven currency notes are unique, as no other Sri Lankan currency has been dedicated entirely to biodiversity, although many subsequent notes include individual endemic or endangered species as part of their design. The study addresses three key questions: How is biodiversity depicted on these currency notes? What were the discourses behind the inclusion of flora and fauna? And how does the selective representation of biodiversity communicate national identity to domestic audiences and tourists? The objectives are to analyze visual representations on these seven banknotes, explore their role in articulating a cohesive sense of Sri Lankanness, and examine their alignment with global conservation and heritage frameworks. A qualitative methodology is employed, combining iconographic and visual analysis with contextual interpretation, applying Benedict Anderson’s theory of the imagined communities. Findings indicate that these currency notes construct Sri Lanka as biologically rich and culturally unified, marking a deliberate shift from political portraiture to neutral natural symbols. While biodiversity imagery communicates subtle environmental and heritage values and enhances the nation’s appeal to tourists, its selective inclusion—limited to only seven notes—shows that nature was never the dominant theme in currency design compared to cultural heritage imagery. This selective representation underscores the need for further research into how environmental elements are prioritized or marginalized in everyday cultural objects and how they contribute to public understanding of biodiversity and national identity.

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Kirubalini, S. http://repo.lib.jfn.ac.lk/ujrr/handle/123456789/12186 2026-02-13T04:25:35Z 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Bridging Generations through Kites: The Valvettithurai Kite Festival Authors: Kirubalini, S. Abstract: The Valvettithurai Kite Festival, held annually on the 14th or 15th of January in the northern coastal town of Valvettithurai, coincides with Thai Pongal, a significant Tamil harvest festival. This paper examines the festival as a living tradition that embodies the role of intangible cultural heritage in negotiating continuity and transformation within a conflict and post-conflict Tamil community in northern Sri Lanka. It explores how this community-led celebration acts as a cultural bridge—preserving inherited knowledge, nurturing collective identity, providing a creative outlet for intergenerational expression, and adapting to contemporary challenges. Drawing on a qualitative methodology, the research is grounded in ethnographic fieldwork, visual documentation, and semi-structured interviews conducted with local participants, artisans, and community elders. The analysis is guided by performance theory and cultural memory studies, framing the festival as a site of symbolic and embodied meaning-making. The study pursues a twofold aim: first, to investigate how the festival sustains intangible forms of knowledge such as oral storytelling, kite-making craftsmanship, and ritual practices; and second, to assess its evolving role in cultural resurgence and youth engagement in the post-war context. The significance of this research lies in its contribution to wider debates on the preservation and transformation of intangible heritage in societies undergoing historical transition. By focusing on the Valvettithurai Kite Festival, the paper demonstrates how local, community-rooted festivals can act as powerful vehicles for intergenerational transmission and cultural continuity—bridging the past and future in ways that are both resilient and visionary.

2025-01-01T00:00:00Z