Aragalaya

Aragalaya means ‘struggle’ in Singhalese and this video piece depicts the recent peaceful uprising by the Sri Lankan people that challenged and destabilised a bankrupt and vicious Government. It started in April 2022 when ordinary citizens, driven to despair by the desperate state of the country, came together in a mass movement to demand political accountability and an end to corruption.   It ended one hundred days later when the peaceful Aragalaya achieved the unthinkable – the removal from power of the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. 

This video installation is the work of ‘The Artists of the People’s Movement’, a collective of Sri Lankan artists that includes Madhuni Alahackone, Kasun Pussewela and Ruwanthie de Chickera.