Posts Categorized: Arts & Culture

Tamil Artist who is Preserving Memories of ‘Surviving the War’

Meet the Tamil artist who is preserving memories of ‘surviving the war’ in Sri Lanka Sanathanan Thamotharampillai’s art focuses on the themes of memory, loss, home and self. by S. Senthalir, Scroll.in, December 15, 2018 Home and self are the overarching themes that define Sanathanan Thamotharampillai’s perspective, both as an artist and art historian. Thamotharampillai… Read more »

M.I.A.’s Critique of Wokeness

by Spencer Kornhaber, ‘The Atlantic,’ New York, October 5, 2018 CINEREACH M.I.A. wants to talk foreign policy. I called up the 43-year-old pop star Maya Arulpragasam last Friday to talk about Matangi/Maya/M.I.A., Stephen Loveridge’s fascinating documentary about her life. But she immediately brought up the latest news about her birth nation, Sri Lanka, which her family of ethnic… Read more »

Mamma M.I.A.: Influence of an Icon

Comedian Jack Rooke profiles his idol, Sri Lankan-British rapper M.I.A. by BBC Radio 4, October 9, 2018 https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/play/m0000np5 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000np5

Believing Women, and the Gaslighting of M.I.A.

by Mallika Rao, ‘Vulture,’ New York, October 2, 2018 The big revelation of the documentary titled MAYA / MATANGI / MIA, which hit U.S. theaters last weekend, is how it vindicates the singer at its heart. At The Guardian, Laura Snapes draws a connection between Christine Blasey Ford and Maya Arulpragasam — nom de guerre, M.I.A. — two… Read more »

Film Review of “Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.”

My personal take on this documentary film. by Lorenzo Fiorito, ‘Tamil Culture,’ September 21, 2018 The London autumn evening is winding down. After dinner, my sweetheart and I sit together on the sofa in front of the TV, and patch in the laptop video feed. I click on the link to an advance viewing of… Read more »

‘A Private War’

by Wendy Ide, ‘The Toronto Star,’ September 13, 2018 The life and death of Sunday Times war correspondent Marie Colvin. Dir. Matthew Heineman. US. 2018. 110 mins Nimbly edited and directed with brio, this portrait of the legendary Sunday Times war correspondent Marie Colvin represents a sure-footed leap for director Matthew Heineman from documentary to… Read more »

Thoughts on the Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. documentary

by a 1rst generation Tamil American, September 6, 2018 Film trailer. I recently had the privilege to see the documentary of the British rapper, producer, and activist M.I.A. at an advance screening hosted by Cinereach, the studio that produced the film. I’ve long been a big fan of her music, often revisiting her albums Kala… Read more »

Dance and the Sri Lankan Tamils

To this day, there is no Bharatanatyam style that is distinct to Sri Lanka. by Teevin Kulanthai, September 3, 2018 https://entamilculturalconsciousness.wordpress.com Dance is the aesthetic representation of culture through movement. As one of the earliest forms of storytelling, the enduring art form embodies and immortalizes the history and traditions of its creators. Apart from Koothu, which is more… Read more »

M.I.A. Documentary

by MATANGI / MAYA /M.I.A., July 19, 2018 Cinereach has released the trailer for the film today.  You can watch here. https://www.miadocumentary.com/ Drawn from a cache of personal video recordings from the past 22 years, director Steve Loveridge’s Sundance award winning MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A. is a startlingly personal profile of the critically acclaimed artist, chronicling her… Read more »

SL Tamils Built an Online Library to Replace One Torched in 1981

Sri Lankan Tamils around the world have built an online library to replace one torched in 1981 Among the Noolaham Digital Library’s 16,000 documents are four volumes of one of the oldest Tamil grammar books, and copies of over 24 palm-leaf manuscripts. by Smriti Daniel, ‘Scroll.in,’ Feb 18, 2016  http://www.noolaham.org Seran Sivananthamoorthy is only 25… Read more »

The Insistence of Memory

by Kate Cronin-Furman, The Los Angeles Review of Books, May 16, 2018 BY THE TIME I got there, the bones were gone. But eight years out from the end of the Sri Lankan Civil War, everything else was still there, carpeting the beach where the final battle was fought. Suitcases half-buried in sand, battered metal… Read more »

Recent Pieces by N. Malathy

December 14, 2017 1. This website, TamilTigerwomen.com is the byproduct of the project to record women’s history in the LTTE.  A translation of some of their writing. The project itself is not complete yet. 2. Peopling an Island – the case of Sri Lanka (appeared in the telesur site, April 2017)   3. Rape: Sri Lanka’s Weapon of Genocide  (appeared in… Read more »

What You Should Have Been Taught About Sri Lanka

by Natalie Samarasinghe, ‘Explore Parts Unknown.com,’ CNN, October 25, 2017 Sri Lanka bills itself as a tropical paradise, and this is not an idle boast. I have yet to find a country that matches its combination of sleepy beaches, ancient cities, lush vistas, and tourist-friendly package of relatively short travel distances and locals who speak… Read more »

Bourdain’s ‘Parts Unknown’ in Sri Lanka

by CNN, October 29, 2017 https://explorepartsunknown.com/destination/sri-lanka/                         partsunknowncnn Your guide to Sri Lankan cuisine   Spicy Fish Stew by Douglas Bullis and Wendy Hutton, October 25, 2017 Seer, or Spanish mackerel, is arguably Sri Lanka’s tastiest fish. Certainly, it is one of the most popular… Read more »

For the Rohingyas and Us

by Cheran Rudhramoorthy, on Facebook, August 31, 2017 (Also in Tamil) I abandoned my child, My God I cannot ask you anymore For forgiveness. Just three minutes Before killing the child you chopped off my hands. Amid pain, grief and wailing you will not have grace. When the spear was inserted softly into my child’s stomach, thinking… Read more »

‘Demons in Paradise’

SYNOPSIS Sri Lanka 1983, Jude Ratman is five years old. On a red train, he flees the massacre of the Tamils instigated by the Pro-Sinhalese majoritarian government. Now a filmmaker, he takes the same train from South to North. As he advances, the traces of the violence of the 26-year-old war and the one which… Read more »

Tamil: A Biography

HARDCOVER $35.00 • £25.00 • €31.50 ISBN 9780674059924 Publication: September 2016 The Belknap Press of the Harvard University Press Spoken by eighty million people in South Asia and a diaspora that stretches across the globe, Tamil is one of the great world languages, and one of the few ancient languages that survives as a mother… Read more »

Noolaham Book Collection

 நூலகம்  Impressive list of books [5579 and growing] and other publications originating from Eelam Tamils. Provides knowledge and information services to ensure free and open access thereby support educational, research and development endeavors related to Sri Lankan Tamil speaking communities. Books [5,579] Magazines [7,421] Newspapers [3,941] Pamphlet [1,880] http://www.noolaham.org Project Madurai Electronic versions of ancient… Read more »