Growing up in Bibile, Sri Lanka, Kuweni Dias Mendis has long been immersed in ritual practices and ceremonies. The temples of Bibile are sites of great mystery. Through reverence and precise spiritual acts, they reveal meaning, draw commonality, and inspire higher purpose.
Guided by the Sri Lankan principles of ‘ප්රකෘති Prakuratha’ (original creation or nature) and ‘සංස්කෘත Sanskrutha’ (culture), Running Rivers: People of Place echoes the Indigenous knowledges that remain in deep relation to the environment. Here on Turrbal and Yuggera Country, the river is a vital conduit, connecting each to the land, and to each other.
This multi-sensory installation utilises the river as a symbol to explore the feminine expressions of the Sri Lankan 64 Mayam, embodying spirituality as a journey and destination. Marked by local river mud, clay, insect pigments and rhythm, Dias Mendis reconciles cultural boundaries amongst diasporic complexity.
This is an offering of the river; it is a temple and ritual space that mediates migrant forms of belonging, grounded in body and place.
Ritual Bodies, Moving Memories (Closing performance)
Image: Kuweni Dias Mendis, 64 Mayam series (i), 2024. Photo: Scott Chrisman
