New Wine in Old Bottles (2023)

New Wine in Old Bottles explores social stratification in Sri Lanka, where the evolving aspirations of a diverse people (new wine) threaten to burst the fragile and erosive articulations of Sinhala Buddhist majoritarianism (old bottles). The series revolves around the legend of Sinhabahu, the origin myth of Sinhalese civilization, written by Buddhist chroniclers during the 5th century CE – one of the many narrative ‘vessels’ used to establish Sinhala Buddhist identity.