Reviews of I Am
“The I Am project has sat on my desktop browser for almost a decade. I use it as an inspiration for writing, as a procrastination when not writing, and as a place to go and simply listen.
It’s just such a great idea. To spend time with our elders and to record their stories and their laughter. Which of course, none of us do. But thankfully Kannan and his team have. And that’s something to be grateful for.
To listen to the voices of Sri Lankan elders from across communities, geographies, races, and classes is a privilege and a gift. These lives and stories and images are preserved to remind us of the changing face of our nation, and of the humanity we share”
Shehan Karunatilaka, winner of The Booker Prize 2022
“A Veddah chief tells how language and dress have altered since his parents’ generation. A woman explains her choice to stay in the country when her family have emigrated. And a gravedigger enumerates the differences between Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Anglican and Roman Catholic burials, asserting ‘they are basically the same.’ Their stories are engaging and Arunasalam’s imagery is arresting … There is a cumulative impact to these shorts. Arunasalam was born in Jaffna but grew up in the UK. In 2005 he moved back to his birth country and was struck by ‘monolithic expressions of identity’ that pervaded contemporary life. They celebrate multifarious and layered identities without downplaying divisions between ethnic and religious groups. In these works and in The Tent as a whole Arunasalam invites us along on his journey to understand Sri Lanka. He probes the civil war and represents its losses but – by foregrounding individual stories of determination and diversity – aspires to a more unified future.”
Kannan Arunasalam: The Tent, Amelia Crouch, Corridor8, 3 April 2019
“For viewers halfway around the world, “I Am” offers both a rich portrait of a region through the eyes of its elders, as well as a reminder of how, when racial or ethnic differences are put in the foreground, they overshadow both public and private life. Kannan Arunasalam is a Sri Lankan-born artist who grew up in London and returned to his home country in 2005. His project “I Am” (2010-12), which includes video and a website, uses the diary form to interview elders in Sri Lanka, particularly as people from different ethnic groups are ejected from the country, causing strife and transformation. The driving question for Mr. Arunasalam, as he says on the project’s website, is: “Was there a time when people in Sri Lanka didn’t describe themselves as Sinhalese or Tamil, Muslim or Burgher? Or at least when these identities weren’t foremost in their minds?”
A Review of ‘Dear Diary: Update on All’, Martha Schwendener, New York Times, 7 February 2014 in connection with the I Am project exhibit at the Neuburger Museum of Art, N.Y.
“Kannan is part artist, part narrative journalist. Using photographs and film, accompanied by edited audio from his interviews, he records stories from a Sri Lanka that is quickly receding and easily forgotten. Kannan felt driven to do more, to move from “talking about issues and respondents to really talking about stories and characters.” He saw the power that lay in a simple narrative. Linking them all thematically is Kannan’s great obsession – an exploration of the shifting Sri Lankan identity. An anthropologist had suggested to him that the further back one went, the more likely it was that people would identify themselves by where they came from or what they did or who their families were rather than primarily as say ‘Sinhalese’ or ‘Tamil.’ Setting out, Kannan realised that his interviewees, even those in their 70s and 80s, were still too young to have escaped the most intense periods of the politicisation of ethnicity in Sri Lanka. But the stories he chose to tell transcended that initial question – becoming more subtle, more complex and altogether more interesting in the process.”
Telling their stories, Kannan Arunasalam speaks to Smriti Daniel about his endeavour to record narratives from a fast disappearing Sri Lanka, Smriti Daniel, The Sunday Times, February 26, 2012
“I Am – beautiful multimedia project by Kannan Arunasalam captures portraits of Sri Lanka’s regional identity in sound and image through the stories of Sri Lankan elders, a follow-up to Arunasalam’s video portraits of resilience in Sri Lanka.”
Explore, A discovery engine for meaningful knowledge, fueled by cross-disciplinary curiosity. A Brain Pickings project edited by Maria Popova in partnership with Noodle.
“Meanwhile, young photographer and filmmaker Kannan Arunasalam has been traversing the island to capture memories of Lankan elders on cultural identity. Kannan was curious to know if there was a time when Lankans didn’t describe themselves solely as Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim or Burgher. He interviewed elders from all ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, and shares their oral histories on the ‘I Am’ website (http://iam.lk). The project has gathered 30,000 Facebook followers and has had over 330,000 page views. But more than these numbers, Kannan says, personal messages of support from followers along the journey have made the initiative worthwhile. “I hope that my own transformation through engaging with these narratives will help others do the same, and ultimately bring communities together.”
Against the fall of memory…, Nalaka Gunawardene, Ceylon Today, 28 July 2013
10 portraits from the “I Am” project were exhibited at Summer Hall, as part of Colombo Art Biennale’s Edinburgh Fringe ”Return: In Search of Sillness” joint exhibition from 2 August to September 2017: “Other highlights in the documentarian vein include BBC and Al Jazeera featured UK–SL filmmaker Kannan Arunasalam’s shorts on diverse Sri Lanka.”
Return in Search of Stillness, Summer Hall, Edinburgh, Aug-Sep 2017
“Kannan Arunasalam is a Sri Lankan-born British journalist and filmmaker. He’s created an oral history project to preserve the memories and stories of Sri Lanka’s elderly from different regions, communities and walks of life. He tells us why he started the project and what he discovered about Sri Lanka – it’s past and present – by listening to the people who have known the country longest. He is joined by Priyath Linyanage, Editor of the BBC’s Sinhala language service who shares his thoughts on some of the stories recorded for the project.”
Interview with BBC 5th Floor about the I Am project, 11 October 2014
“Kannan Arunsalam wants people to rethink the ideas on identity and talk about the concept in a more constructive way. He hopes people will be drawn to the project because it is talking about their home towns and ultimately see the bigger picture. “I am hoping that the message that was created in this project will help people to see something that goes a bit deeper into issues, through different eyes.” Kannan Arunasalam appreciates the connections he has made and he describes it as a lovely gesture that the nun Sister Pushpam Gnanapragasam from the project continues to write him letters. “I like the idea of keeping in touch with them, I think it is important. Sometimes people take a story that is really valuable and personal and then disappear. That is not right.”
A journey beyond ethnic identity, Maya Bille and Nadine Wardell, Sunday Island, March 5, 2011
“When Kannan Arunasalam began the I Am project it was as an exploration of his own identity and his Jaffna roots. It came, says Kannan with a realisation that his identity, like that of many other Sri Lankans, was multi-faceted and complex and that this needed to be celebrated. The project then grew from there, covering elders from Kandy, Jaffna and Galle in the first series and then expanding in the second to include many from Batticaloa, Colombo and Negombo. In total 45 elders have been featured on the site, but Kannan has met and photographed many more. “At the end of the project, there will be 72 elders on the site, but there are many more on the Facebook page and I hope ones that the followers will submit for the competition.” The competition he is speaking of is his attempt to engage the I Am followers on Facebook and Twitter. Kannan is asking for submissions – portraits of inspirational elders accompanied by their story told in less than 50 words. The winner will receive a prize from Nikon courtesy Photo Technica worth Rs. 20,000 and will be featured on the iam.lk site. ‘It could be your grandfather, the man on the street or a Sri Lankabhimanya!’ writes Kannan. He’s excited to see what the competition will produce. “I really want I Am’s followers to contribute, to get inspired by the project and to go out and capture the stories of elders around them. These narratives are disappearing and I want Sri Lankans, especially the younger generation, to value their importance.”
‘Who I Am’ website goes places with faces, Sunday Times Plus, 13 February 2013
“Among the photographers/filmmakers, Kannan Arunasalam’s ‘I Am’ stood out at Park Street Mews, for the arresting composition of images, fine sense of tonal and descriptive detail, evocative voice overs and choice of subjects for his short photo-biographical essays. We were deeply moved by his emerging portrait of this troubled country we sat uncomfortably at home in.”
Becoming Biennale, Dr Pradeep Jeganathan and Dr Malathi De Alwis, The Nation, February 26, 2012