PRABANA MENDIS

This work comments on the institutionalization of core Buddhist values. I recognize how these values become operationalized in current political structures, in ways that deviate from the actual teachings of the faith tradition. I depict how this institutionalized faith tradition is used to dictate displacements of marginalized identities, and legitimize violence.

By using nuanced imagery that don't represent traditional Buddhist symbols, I highlight how the operationalization of institutional Buddhism is prevalent in our daily lives. I intentionally use streets. These streets represent moving through constructed spaces, which stand as an analogy for healing from a war-torn past and being immersed into spaces where the faith tradition permeates. 

Most of the visuals are moving images of streets that I've seen in my childhood or ones that have been constructed in the post war era in Sri Lanka. This work does not replicate images of overt violence. Violence, here, is hidden but alive.