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30 Years Ago: How ICTs Are

Changing Sri Lanka by Groundviews - on 08/18/2013

To remember BlackJuly, Groundviews brought together leading documentary filmmakers,photographers, activists, theorists and designers, in Sri Lanka and abroad,to focus on just how deeply the anti-Tamil pogrom in 1983 shaped ourimagination, lives, society and polity.

The project is called 30 Years Ago and details of it can be read here.

The Picture Press was commissioned by Groundviews to interrogate the use,access to and perceptions of mobile, Internet and web technologies in ourlives. The idea to do this feature was anchored to the following paragraphbyRajan Hoole (writing on Black July),

[Bradman] Weerakoon himself pointed to the violence engulfing

Colombo on Monday, Kandy on Tuesday, Badulla on Wednesdayand Passara on Thursday, the delay roughly corresponding withdistance from Colombo, and offered his own explanation. Heassociated it with news passed on by travellers, say someonegoing from Kandy to Badulla and instigating others, See what theSinhalese in Kandy did to the Tamils, where is our patriotism, arewe not going to do our bit for our race?

Today, ethno-political violence spreads at the speed of Twitter and SMS, but

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so can more conciliatory, peaceful messaging and content. The same toolsused by the BBS, Sinhala Ravaya and many sections of Government forhate, harm and hurt are those already used, or can be used to strengthendemocracy by bearing witness, create and increase community resilience,communicate counter-narratives and dispel rumours.30 years on, does Sri Lankas coast-to-coast connectivity help or hinder that

which gave rise to Black July?

The Picture Pressengaged with thiscomplex questionthrough a series ofstunning photoessays. Just a fewof the photos inthose essays areembedded here,taken by AnushkaWijesinha,

Seshanka Samarajiwa & Muradh Mohideen. Higher resolution photos alongwith detailed descriptions will be included in the dedicated project site.

The Picture Press also wrote up the following:Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) areundoubtedly becoming a defining transformation of our time.

Through over 80 photographs in 8 features produced fortheGroundviews 30 Years Ago project,The Picture Press exploreshow ICTs have changed Sri Lankas current context and how itrelates to issues that have, and continue to, influence our societyand the nation at large. By combining original photography andwell-researched narratives, these features visually narrate theinfluence of ICTs on individuals and groups at national, regional and

local levels across Sri Lanka, presented through various lenses social integration, safety and security, connectivity and closenessto government, empowerment, and economic development.

Three months of research, travel and interviews with individualsand organisations including unprecedented access to sites andinitiatives all over Sri Lanka have culminated in eight individualfeatures by 7 young photographers. From an internet caf owner inPuthukuduyiruppu, to sweet potato farmers in Dambulla, to getting

http://thepicturepress.org/http://groundviews.org/2013/08/18/30-years-ago-how-icts-are-changing-sri-lanka/www-snappatronik-com/http://groundviews.org/2013/08/18/30-years-ago-how-icts-are-changing-sri-lanka/www-snappatronik-com-4/http://groundviews.org/2013/08/18/30-years-ago-how-icts-are-changing-sri-lanka/attachment/04/http://groundviews.org/2013/08/18/30-years-ago-how-icts-are-changing-sri-lanka/www-snappatronik-com-5/http://groundviews.org/2013/08/18/30-years-ago-how-icts-are-changing-sri-lanka/www-snappatronik-com-2/http://groundviews.org/2013/08/18/30-years-ago-how-icts-are-changing-sri-lanka/www-snappatronik-com-3/http://groundviews.org/2013/08/18/30-years-ago-how-icts-are-changing-sri-lanka/06-2/http://thepicturepress.org/

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a birth certificate copy in under five minutes to tsunami vulnerablecommunities on the coast these features cover unique,interesting, and innovative uses of ICTs and attempt to explore howit has changed, over the last 3 decades, for better or for worse, theway people live and work in Sri Lanka. The features, in a broadsense, resonate with some of the causes and effects of the July

1983 pogrom as well as the economic and social climate of thecountry at that time. It also questions what role ICTs could playtoday in preventing or even facilitate in repeating, the mistakes ofSri Lankas past.

An exhibition of some of the content from 30 Years Ago will be held from 24 25 August at the Park Street Mews, Warehouse D in Colombo, Sri Lanka.More details will be posted shortly, along with the launch of a dedicatedwebsite for the project on the 21st of August.For the moment, visit the events Facebook page for daily updates.

https://www.facebook.com/events/151335665060568/https://www.facebook.com/events/151335665060568/