Creativity to the fore at interactive exhibition on gender issues
The issues surrounding gender inequality and discrimination have been highlighted in recent decades, but often just using statistics and facts. However, UN Women decided to do things differently in this exhibition organized for International Women’s Day now on at the Lionel Wendt.
Instead of just giving the statistics of female participation in Parliament, their exhibition Sama Theevu asks you to identify the number of female representatives from a cartoon-style painting that resembles Sri Lanka’s Parliament. Unpaid care work (where women are expected to perform housework etc, regardless of employment status and other responsibilities), is illustrated on a race track which you walk through while looking at the obstacles women face – unwashed clothes, diapers and feeding bottles and cooking utensils – all things they need to deal with even if they have a full time job.
Immersive and interactive: Young visitors at the exhibition
The Sama Theevu public installation brings to life a vision of a gender equal world – a goal that remains urgent and achievable with collective action. The exhibition aligns with International Women’s Day and the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action – recognized as the most comprehensive blueprint for achieving gender equality and advancing women’s rights.
Sri Lanka has long demonstrated its commitment to gender equality. In 1981 Sri Lanka ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) reinforcing its commitment to protecting the rights of women and girls. Building on this, in 1995, Sri Lanka joined 189 other countries in adopting the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action at the Fourth World Conference on Women.
Yet despite some progress, women’s labour force participation in Sri Lanka has stagnated and regressed between 2020 and 2025. The proportion of women in Parliament has remained below 10% in the 77 years since Sri Lanka’s independence. 24% of women have experienced physical or sexual violence by their intimate partner. In 2006, Sri Lanka took 13th place in closing the gender gap, whereas in 2024, it stood at 122nd place.
The exhibition has a unique concept – it is divided into different lanes such as Equal Representation Avenue and Violence Free Road, and each exhibit gives visitors the statistics related to the issue at hand while also providing interactive experiences such as quizzes, polls and other activities that bring the statistics to life and evoke an emotional response in visitors.
Featured in the exhibition was Executive Director of the Women’s Education and Research Centre Shiranee Mills. She says that she found the exhibition impressive. “The creative ways in which critical issues pertaining to women’s rights, were brought out through various modes – pictorials, statistics and quotes, were very effective. While walking through the various rooms that reflected the various themes, I felt that the younger generation particularly school children and University students should visit the exhibition.”
A university student, says that the exhibition was a unique and eye-opening experience. “We were told from the time we started getting our periods that menstrual pain is normal, and even when I started fainting due to the pain, I was told by my family that it is normal in my family and it will go away when I have children. It has made me miss work and school. Only after this exhibition did I realize that it is not normal and I want to go to a doctor now. We never talk about these issues so I am glad that they are creating awareness.” She says that she is happy to have had awareness raised on these critical issues in such a creative manner.
The Sama Theevu installation is on until March 12 from 9 a.m. – 8 p.m. at the Lionel Wendt Art Centre, Colombo 7.
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