South Asia Journal for Culture is an annual refereed journal published jointly by the Colombo Institute for the Advanced Study of Society and Culture and the Theertha International Artists' Collective. The journal is open to scholarship and exchange of ideas across the region and beyond, on issues that are of central importance to the region with regard to the broad areas covered by the key term 'culture'. The fact that the journal is based in South Asia does not mean that its focus is restricted on the basis of this regional or geographic identity. The idea is to enhance access of South Asian writers to a journal that is regionally published, regionally edited and managed and is responsive to intellectual needs, interests and concerns in the areas covered by the thematic focus of 'culture.' While striving for a certain degree of specialization, the term 'culture' is deliberately meant to be broad. That is to ensure that the complexity and the varied manifestations of culture can be accommodated within the intellectual forum of the journal. In terms of conventional disciplinary parameters, the journal would accommodate contributions from the fields of sociology, social anthropology, history, archeology, art histor·,, cultural studies and other related fields of study. More precisely, within and beyond these areas, its interest would be in culture and its extensions that would focus on cultural theory, art history and different domains of the 'arts' such as theatre, visual arts, architecture, film, music, dance, literature and the politics of these domains. In the general context outlined above, the journal welcomes papers, reviews, photo-essays and opinions for publication. There is no page limit for submissions. However, standard academic practices in the social sciences and humanities with regards to stylistic conventions and issues such as references and footnotes should be adhered to. More specifically, ail references should be inserted in the main text within parentheses (eg., last name of author, date of publication: page numbers) and the complete reference details of all texts should be presented at the end of the paper as a separate bibliography. All essays should opt for endnotes where necessary but should not use footnotes. For additional details on genera! stylistic matters, potential writers can write to the Colombo Institute ([email protected]) or refer to the Chicago Manual of Style {15th Revised Edition, 2003) t Journal for Culture Volume 2, 2008 Editor Sasanka Perera (University of Colombo, Colombo) International Editorial Board Salima Hashmi (Beaconhouse National University, Lahore) Jagath Weerasinghe (Post Graduate Institute of Archeology, Colombo) Pooja Sood (Khoj international Artists Association, Delhi) T. Shanaathanan (University of Jaffna, Jaffna) Roma Chatterji (University of Delhi, Delhi) Tariq Jazeel (University of Sheffield, Sheffield) Co-published by Colombo Institute for the Advanced Study of <lli:!>){'l@ ~Gllt!)/$.)(.5 Giorrw,wy $1)lii>l@1w Society and Culture Colombo!nstitute• theertha International Artists' Collective South Asia Journal for Culture is a refereed journal co-published annually by the Colombo Institute for the Advanced Study of Society and Culture, and Theertha International Artists' Collective, 36 A, Baddegana Road South, Pitakotte, Sri Lanka. Copyright © 2008 Colombo Institute for the Advanced Study of Society and Culture and Theertha International Artists' Collective. This volume is sponsored by people • unlimited f[tvas Mondriaan Stichting (MondrlaanFoundation) Arts Collaboratory is a Hivos and DOEN Foundation program for visual artists' initiatives in Asia, Africa and Latin America and for exchange with visual arts organizations in The Netherlands in cooperation with Mondriaan Foundation. 00 Ford Foundation Concept, layout and graphic design by Theertha Graphics, Pitakotte, Sri Lanka. Printed by L & C Printers, Embuldeniya, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka. Contents Preface 05 - 07 Essays The Journey towards 'Siraiki' 09 - 26 Nukhbah T. Langah What the Tree Said: 28 - 54 Ethnography of a Wayside Shrine in Sri Lanka Sunil Goonasekera Women Artists in Sri Lanka: 56 - 86 Are they Carriers of a Woman's Burden? Anoli Perera Reviews & Opinions 89 - 96 Exchange and Civil Society in Asia Rustom Bharucha Review of Meenakshi Thapan (Ed.,) 99 - 101 'Transnational Migration and the Politics of Identity'. Michael Collyer Photo Essay A Journey through Intimate Space 102- 110 Jagath Oheerasekara Notes on Authors 111 Volume 2 South Asia Journal for Culture 5 Preface South Asia Journal for Culture, Volume 2 (2008) comes out amidst numerous delays. Even though as the publishers we would have ideally liked to avoid this state of affairs, it seems these are unavoidable aspects of birth pangs associated with a venture of this nature. We are hopeful that by the time Volume 3 comes out, we will be on track. Nevertheless, we are very sure from the comments we have received so far that SAJC is in the region to stay at least for some time. In Volume 1, we briefly outlined the technical and logistical concerns of the journal, which remain in place. At this point, let us ponder over some of the ideological positions and thoughts that played a crucial role in making the journal a reality as we believe that the journal's trajectory from now on would have much to do with the contexts and conditions of its location. Some of these issues were also articulated during its launch in Delhi and Ka­ rachi. Needless to say, we often find ourselves living and working today imprisoned within the ramparts of the impenetrable language of social theory and the clutter of writing that supposedly usher in enlightenment. At least, in the contexts where we work in Colombo, this experience forms part of our overall experience. We certainly do not want our journal to be a space for mere clutter in the region; we would like to see it emerging as a forum for discussion and a plurality of ideas, a space where we would discover and rediscover our­ selves. Volumes 1 and 2 have indicated that we have reached this expectation to a reason­ able extent. In this context, we would like to make some observations about the politics of marginality, partly because in many ways, this journal is an idea that came into existence from within the politics and experiences of marginality. For us, as a journal coming out of Colombo though with a very conscious South Asian outlook, marginality is a fact of life even though it is not something we have ever considered a domain within which we would be forever imprisoned. What I mean by marginality for us worked at two levels: due to the political changes that took place in Sri Lanka since the 1960s and the resultant brain drain to the former colonial centers, much of the work in the social sciences and humanities produced in Sri Lanka, particularly in the local languages tended to lose its methodological and theoretical rigor. Most local journals of quality folded up or their work was severely restricted and downgraded. This was one marginality within which we had to work. The second marginality was far more encompassing. We found it difficult to access regional and global journals and publishers due to the restrictive work of intellectual gate-keepers who seem to take pride in thinking, experiencing and feeling on our behalf. In this same context, it was not unusual to have conferences in the region itself that were supposedly South Asian in focus but politically marginal entities such as Sri Lanka often had to face critical issues of represention in more ways than one. But these marginalities did not necessarily translate into mediocrity for those few who were perhaps mad enough to create alternate structures and processes. In effect, SAJC is one such outcome. 6 South Asia Journal for Culture Volume 2 Therefore, very clearly, this journal is the result of felt needs and anticipated politi­ cal and ideological expectations and the logical culmination of a specific history. Talking of history, make no mistake this is a Sri Lankan effort given that we are responding to locally felt marginalities and frustrations. But at the same time, it is also a South Asian initiative because we are very keen and conscious that the knowledge produced within South Asia and on South Asia should also be known widely in South Asia as well as globally. This is not a mere simplistic yearning for a collective South Asian cultural and intellectual identity. More broadly, this is a matter of taking stock of what we think, what we critique, what we question and what we learn about ourselves and the world and finding means to make this knowl­ edge part of the global academic discourse as well. As we know quite well, South Asia is an area that has been perpetually in a state of flux from mythic times right up to the more chaotic present, where most countries share overlapping histories and experiences of culture, coloniality, grappling with post colonial pains and political chaos, and are constantly negotiating the global economic and cultural agendas within their own 'national' perspectives. Unfortunately however, and despite the emergence of political structures such as SAARC, we do not have regular and serious forums for South Asian scholarship to showcase our own research and our own thinking. Even now, nearly half a century after the process of official decolonization began in the region, much of the analyses and pontifications on our problems, situations, histories and dynamics emanate from Euro American academia; this is certainly the case when it comes conceptual formula­ tions and theoretical approaches from the Euro-American zone that are being employed in exploring the region's social and cultural complexities often without much self-reflection. Most things from cultural theorizing to formulating development strategies percolate from these usual centers of knowledge often based on experiences exterior to our own and these are later circulated everywhere via journals and books as authoritative texts that also come from the same centers.