Creating new social imaginaries and critical democratic communities in post-war Sri Lanka through traditional culture and art

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This network will bring together scholars, artists, activists and local communities to explore how traditional arts, cultural practices and rituals can help with the promotion of human rights and democracy in Sri Lanka. It addresses a current limitation of human rights education that focuses on abstract moral and legal principles and formal institutions (like courts and the UN) which are very distant and inaccessible to many groups within society. It also confronts the question of how to achieve the necessary social and cultural transformation for human rights and democracy to be realised in everyday life.The network will develop research strategies for:1. Identifying forgotten, under-valued and/or peripheral traditions and arts that might contribute to new ideas about the culture and its potential to be more equal and inclusive;2. Working with communities to re-imagine existing myths, stories, traditions and cultural practices in ways that challenge social injustice and promote greater gender and social equality;3. Incorporating previously marginalised groups' views, practices and knowledge into formal educational spaces and development and human rights practice;4. Exploring the links between the arts and politics and tradition/culture and rights.