Economic Dev via Creative Enterprise. Leading: Matara Festival for the Arts, Kolamba Kamatha Fest of National Theatre, & Kimbula Kithul #FreePalestine🇵🇸✊🏾
Matara & Colombo, Sri Lanka
Joined March 2018
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Great, great stuff to see!
This is how we build these bridges :)
Sri Lanka to showcase works of 11 artists at India Biennale 2026 ift.tt/jZFdD98
Chanchala Samaraweera Gunewardena retweeted
Looking forward to this film by @pieris12 on Ismeth Raheem: architect, artist, historian and writer.
Following his successful films on Laki Senanayake and Nihal Fernando, Martin now turns his lens on Ismeth. Martin holds a PhD in Fine Art and an MPhil from the University of Newcastle, and has been a prominent academic at Torrens University, specialising in digital education. He researched and filmed across Australia, the UK and Sri Lanka for this project.
Ismeth is, in my eyes, a true Renaissance man, and his story will inspire many. #ismethraheem #architecture #art #srilanka @ManikkageYasuni @gita_mathew @Chanch_SL
📅 25 November, 6.30pm
📍 Lionel Wendt, Colombo
🎟 mytickets.lk/events/6aec1623…
Chanchala Samaraweera Gunewardena retweeted
I’m devastated to hear the Dr. Rizk Abou Sheira has been killed in the bombing of Nasser Medical Complex.
Dr. Rizk was in the American Doctor documentary operating and serving his people. He lost his life doing that, he lost his life because he was doing that.
Chanchala Samaraweera Gunewardena retweeted
🚨 | Lewis Hamilton: “Israel needs to fulfil its obligations under the ceasefire and let the aid trucks in. No excuse.”
📲 Via Instagram: “The past three years of Israel’s genocide in Gaza is appalling. It’s an injustice for people to be denied their freedom, their safety and their dignity. No human being should be treated as though their life matters less.”
“I saw walls stretching for miles, built to keep them in. Standing there, outside what felt like an open-air prison, all I could think about was getting in to help.”
“At Rafah border, I saw food trucks lined up ready to go, but they’re regularly not allowed in or face major delays. The first driver in line that I spoke to had already been waiting over 12 hours. At the nearby logistics centre, I saw the hard work of the @egyptianredcrescent, but I also saw what gets rejected for crazy reasons. Sleeping bags, first aid kits, medical equipment, wheelchairs, even footballs for kids.”
“Israel needs to fulfil its obligations under the ceasefire and let the aid trucks in. No excuse.”
“I know so many people feel that same helplessness. That same need to do something rather than just watch. I don’t want us to get used to their suffering. I don’t want us to look away.”
Chanchala Samaraweera Gunewardena retweeted
Saudi Arabia has dropped all remaining legal proceedings against Sri Lankan national Sivarasa Anojan, who was previously sentenced to death over a Facebook post. His death sentence was overturned on October 14, while prosecutors decided to discontinue the entire case on November 9. He is expected to return to Sri Lanka within two weeks, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath confirms.
Chanchala Samaraweera Gunewardena retweeted
Seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has visited Gaza aid operations in Egypt, touring the Rafah crossing and Red Crescent warehouses to see how supplies are coordinated.
The 41-year-old has spoken out about ending conflicts and supporting those in need.
Chanchala Samaraweera Gunewardena retweeted
Insane decision. Every great element of this movie is outdated: dial-up, email, book stores, talking to strangers, men and women dating
Watch to see Lankan leadership par excellence. Romali is the CEO of Tudawe Brothers, & one of the most brilliant people I’ve ever met. EQ & IQ. & She puts the work in to be so. She’s courageous, caring, & beloved as a leader & a friend. youtu.be/yP6irAfhdw0?feature…
Any day now our govt will stand up for its people. Right?
Sri Lankans are being harassed, illegal businesses are being run by tourist visa holders. There is some crackdown but notable exceptions. Here’s what we get for it.
Video of Israeli tourist pushing Sri Lankan guide off boat goes viral ift.tt/mtGKbgE
Chanchala Samaraweera Gunewardena retweeted
Police need to investigate this incident...
A foreigner cannot harass a citizen.
Chanchala Samaraweera Gunewardena retweeted
It is the duty of professional journalists to report and hold power to account. @anuradisanayake and his current administration have benefited from reporters in #SriLanka doing just that. To now propose a law that could impede their work is beyond inadvisable.
I say this because select clauses of the Prevention of Organised Crimes (POC) Bill will cripple professional journalism and stifle investigative reporting. The bill does not specifically refer to journalists or media. But vaguely worded offences and sweeping police powers have implications for routine journalistic work.
Significantly, the bill includes no exemption for public-interest reporting. If passed into law, court reporting—a basic and universal component of journalism—would need explicit approval.
Under Section 14(3), anyone who prints or publishes any matter about any court proceeding concerning a “serious crime under this Act” without the court’s prior permission faces up to two years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both.
This is such a big shift for crime and court reporters that it is near impossible to fathom. It is the journalist that requires permission prior to printing or publishing. The bill lays out no procedure for the judiciary.
sundaytimes.lk/261108/news/o…
Chanchala Samaraweera Gunewardena retweeted
Quando essere giusti e onesti avrà un prezzo, pagatelo. Quando perdonare sembrerà una sconfitta, perdonate. Quando tutti vi diranno di pensare prima a voi stessi, non abbiate paura di farvi gli ultimi; siate capaci di dare tempo, soldi, comodità e progetti per servire gli altri. Che chi vi guarda possa chiedersi: “Perché vive così? Da dove trae questa libertà? Perché si amano tanto?”. #ViaggioApostolico #Uruguay
Chanchala Samaraweera Gunewardena retweeted
When being just and honest comes at a price, pay it. When forgiving seems like a defeat, forgive. When everyone tells you to think of yourselves first, do not be afraid to put yourselves in the last place. Be willing to give up time, money, comfort and plans to serve others. May those who see you find themselves asking: “Why do they live in this way? Where do they get this freedom? Why do they love one another so much?” #ApostolicJourney #Uruguay
Chanchala Samaraweera Gunewardena retweeted
Anyone who has camped in serious rain knows how miserable it can be, especially when your attempts to keep the rain out fail. All you want is to feel dry again. When it’s cold it’s exponentially worse. When you’re with your kids, you feel awful for them as they shiver. Now imagine the tent is your forced home, the water keeps rising, and there’s nowhere to go to get dry or warm.
I admit that I completely broke down today. I cried uncontrollably. I couldn’t hold myself together after witnessing what I saw with my own eyes.
Today, we went to film a journalistic report inside the displacement tents along the seashore. I swear, what we witnessed was beyond what any human being should have to endure.
I saw men crying bitterly. Men I had never seen cry when they lost their children or when their homes were destroyed. Today, I saw them crying because they were powerless to do the simplest thing: protect their children from the water and the cold.
We spoke to families who told us they had spent the entire night carrying their children in their arms after floodwater covered the floors of their tents and soaked their mattresses. They couldn’t find a single dry place to put their children. They couldn’t even give them a few hours of sleep.
I saw children no older than five, without proper clothes to protect them from the cold, without heating, and without a dry place to sleep. Children shivering inside tents that cannot keep out the rain, protect them from the wind, or provide even the most basic sense of safety.
What more must happen for this world to act? How much more suffering must people endure before someone remembers that they are human beings?
I am sick of this world. I am sick of its hypocrisy and empty slogans. To hell with a world that talks endlessly about human rights while leaving children to drown inside their tents. To hell with everyone who has witnessed this suffering and chosen silence, and to hell with the governments and institutions that have the power to act but continue to turn their backs on us.
Chanchala Samaraweera Gunewardena retweeted
Bernie Sanders lost the fight in 2016. A decade later, he won the war. politi.co/4ekGIS5
Literally during these events he said more ordinary people you don’t even know yet will rise up to fill the needed leadership gap, and Zohran’s campaign followed. The rest is now written.
this was the catalyst. when the party bosses scoffed at bernie, he kept pushing. i saw these rallies firsthand. ppl were looking for answers to what had taken place in 24. bernie became the true leader of the party. his impact is felt w his rhetoric echoing through the most moderate campaigns this past year.
Chanchala Samaraweera Gunewardena retweeted
All over the world, normal people put their bodies into the meat grinder of authoritarian crackdown and torture chambers. I’m glad I went down to my kids’ elementary school gym to vote today, but not sure we can claim any glory on the world stage for standing up to autocracy.
Chanchala Samaraweera Gunewardena retweeted
All five ballot initiatives supported by Mayor Zohran Mamdani's COGE (Commission on Government Efficiency) won easily:
Prop 1: 63-37
Prop 2: 62-38
Prop 3: 66-34
Prop 4: 68-32
Prop 5: 72-27
Chanchala Samaraweera Gunewardena retweeted
I am so happy that Bernie Sanders is with us today to be able to see the fruits of his labor. He cultivated a whole generation of young leaders through the movement he spawned who are now winning seats everywhere. And he gets to live to witness it. Thank you, Bernie.