From mat weavers to box-makers: agency, development, and the production of heritage in Sri Lanka

ABSTRACT

The mediation of development agencies is a growing concern for the Global South. Further research is needed to explore the manner in which authorised notions of development cascade down to the more discrete levels of society and alter understandings of heritage. This paper presents everyday narratives of craftswomen working in an export production village, discussing how development brings significant social, cultural, material, and economic changes. Highlighting the paradox of development – that it can intensify the very marginalisation it seeks to overcome – the paper suggests the need for careful integration of heritage within development activities.

KEYWORDS:

• Craft
• heritage
• development
• global hierarchy of value
• marginalisation

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank Mr Jayantha Greru and Ms Chithra Ramani Perera for their support during my fieldwork in Sri Lanka, the staff of the DEPV for openly sharing their views and Dr Rebekah Thompson for reading an earlier version of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 In the 1970s and 1980s the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) structural adjustment programmes were initiated to assist “third world” economies and led to how globalisation was enacted through international aid, and Sri Lanka adopted the IMF’s recommendations for growth (see Winslow 1996 and Lynch 2007).

2 Lynch (2007, 128), referring to Michel Foucault, uses the word panopticon to describe how “people in modern society are governed by others but also by themselves”. Therefore, the enterprise official thought that export-oriented industrialisation could support local economies and cultures, and women thought being in the village could also mean protecting and caring for their families and traditional practices. The concept idealised the village as being good, as opposed to industrial zones in the urban areas, while attempting to discipline the rural workforce to be more productive as a way of governing.

3 “Vankagiriya” is the shape of a maze that has an association with a Buddhist story popular in the local culture.

4 Maagala is a long-woven mat made from talipot leaves, it is very coarse, unlike the mats made from rush and reed. It is basically used for hard use especially to air dry the paddy.

5 “Nandha” is a Sri Lankan colloquial term that is used to address elder women and has the meaning “aunty”, but the addresser and addressee may not necessarily related to each other.

6 “Pathangi Peweema” is a natural colouration process that uses chips taken from local tree bark which is said to produce a reddish-brown colour.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Chamithri Greru

Chamithri Greru, PhD, is a research fellow at the faculty of Arts, Design, and Social Sciences, Northumbria University, UK. She is currently working as part of the Living Deltas Hub and contributes to the Work Package One that explores the lived past, present, and futures of delta dwellers in India, Bangladesh, and Vietnam. Her research focus is on developing collaborative methods and tools to foster social innovation, local development, and participation. During her PhD, she explored intersections between craft and design with a focus on participatory approaches to heritage management, with research carried out in Scotland, India, and Sri Lanka.