Telling their stories
A follow up to last year’s The Kahata exhibition, ‘Reflections of the Hill Country’ showcases more photographs by tea country youth
Three youngsters tread carefully down steep, rocky steps with backpacks which almost seem bigger than they are, leaning from side to side to balance the weight. The only support they have to prevent them from falling off the steps to the bottom of the mountain is a railing made of tree branches.
Taken by Paleniyandi Sahidaran, this is one of the many photographs captured before the Thé Kahata exhibition but not exhibited. Seeing their potential, the Centre for Policy Alternatives has organised the exhibition ‘Reflections of the Hill Country’ with the support of the Uva Shakthi
Foundation both to showcase these unseen photographs and launch their online portal where all of these photographs could be viewed online.
Why this project generated a surplus of photography is not difficult to see for the young photographers have a burning desire to highlight the issues in their community. Ashwini Selvaraj when asked about her goals doesn’t speak about herself. Rather, the 23-year-old talks of the issues she has come across during her trips to take photographs in the hill country where she lives. It has had such a profound impact on her that she wants to start a human rights project to teach vulnerable communities how to get help
from local authorities. “I want to ask them what they want and teach them how to get it themselves,” she says.
Another great example is T. K. Yuwan, 26,whose photographs reflect the bright and colourful traditions of hill country Hindus who still practise the customs of their Indian ancestors. “I want to walk all over the island and capture the lifestyles of people,” he says.
And what of the photographer who took the picture of those young children on the precipitous steps? Sahidhran may have wanted to save the most vulnerable people in his community by raising awareness on their lives, but this project has helped the 26-year-old just as much as he has tried to help those around him. Before he felt disillusioned and had given up on his future prospects. “Now I can walk with my head held high in the community,” he says.
These initiatives are supported by the Strenghthening Reconciliation Processes in Sri Lanka (SRP) programme cofinanced by the European Union and the German Federal Foreign Office, implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the British Council. The photographs from the exhibition and many others can be viewed through https://kahata.citizenslanka.org/gallery/