Freedom to Create
World
Parakrama Niriella
Main Prize - 2009
Jana Karaliya (Theatre of the People)
Artform: Theatre
For decades, the island nation of Sri Lanka has been the site of a bitter civil war which has claimed 68,000 lives and displaced 1 million. Parakrama, a pioneering social dramatist, founded a mobile, cultural-performance group, Jana Karaliya, to address the cultural gap between a divided and antagonistic social community that has led to ethnic rivalry. Parakrama believes that the absence of a credible platform for exchange of experiences, feelings and dialogue has only exacerbated social isolation. He has faced an uphill struggle and personal risk in an environment where speaking out for peaceful reconciliation can be regarded as unpatriotic or even treacherous. He uses the magic of performing art to open new channels of communication for warring groups.
Main Prize - 2009
Jana Karaliya (Theatre of the People)
Artform: Theatre
For decades, the island nation of Sri Lanka has been the site of a bitter civil war which has claimed 68,000 lives and displaced 1 million. Parakrama, a pioneering social dramatist, founded a mobile, cultural-performance group, Jana Karaliya, to address the cultural gap between a divided and antagonistic social community that has led to ethnic rivalry. Parakrama believes that the absence of a credible platform for exchange of experiences, feelings and dialogue has only exacerbated social isolation. He has faced an uphill struggle and personal risk in an environment where speaking out for peaceful reconciliation can be regarded as unpatriotic or even treacherous. He uses the magic of performing art to open new channels of communication for warring groups.
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