Mehala Ford's Modern Sari Story : From Concept to Culture

This episode features a joyful chat with Mehala Ford, Fashion PR, Curator and founder of concept store "Friday Sari Project" (FSP), exploring her innovative approaches to modern sari styling.

Mehala was born in Sri Lanka and raised in the UK. She is a creative entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in the fashion industry and worked with notable designers like Alexander McQueen, Preen and emerging young designers in the late 90’s.  She teaches and champions modern sari drapes and styling to encourage the continuity of sari wearing. She has founded several creative platforms, notably FSP and she is also the creator of CommonGround&, an arts platform for South Asian creatives and has curated several cultural programmes for Royal Museums Greenwich.

Mehala discusses her transition from UK fashion retail to reconnecting with her heritage through the FSP. The project modernises traditional sari draping to resonate with contemporary fashion audiences and raises cultural awareness. We delve into the sari's historical roots, its adaptability, and the British influence on its styling.

Mehala shares her love affair with Sari draping and South Asian creativity and tradition, ultimately bringing attention to the vibrant artistic and cultural landscape of Sri Lanka.

Summary

Introduction to the Podcast
Meet This Week's Guest: Mehala Ford
Mehala's Background and Fashion Journey
Growing Up Sri Lankan in the UK
Breaking into the Creative Industry
The Influence of Family and the 80s
Discovering the Sari
The Friday Sari Project
The Versatility of Sari Drapes
Global Connections in Draping Styles
Modern Relevance of Draping
Draping Workshops and Cultural Exchange
Heritage and Personal Stories
The Friday Sari Project
Curating South Asian Heritage
Exploring Sri Lankan Creativity
Future Plans and Upcoming Events

https://www.fridaysariproject.co.uk

Dee Gibson is the award winning designer and founder of boutique hotel Kalukanda House in Sri Lanka, www.kalukandahouse.com ~ Conde Nast Best Places to Visit in Asia 2024 & HIP Hotels Best Hotels 2025. You can follow on
instagram @deegibson2017 or @kalukandahouse

This podcast lifts the veil on what, and more importantly WHO this island is with conversations about all the things you never read about in the travel pages. Dee showcases a fascinating modern society reclaiming their identity and taking ownership of their narratives on the global stage. No subject is taboo so expect guests talking about everything from activism through art and yoga, why sari was modified by British colonisers, a performance on love and lust to episodes on forgotten heroines being narrated back into our history books and much more.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Hello. And welcome to Sri Lanka, Modern Perspectives from an Ancient Melting Pot, the podcast that shares conversations of a dynamic, modern-day Sri Lanka. I'm your host, Dee Gibson, a British Sri Lankan designer living in London and founder of boutique hotel Calacanda House on the South Coast. I've made it my mission to lift the veil on what, and more importantly, who this island is. So join me and my guests as we talk about all the things you never read about in your favorite travel pages as we discover deep wells of fascinating people reclaiming their identity and narratives on the global stage through creativity and culture. No subject is taboo, so expect conversations on activism through art and yoga to updated sartorial design choices, performances on love and lust, and forgotten heroines being narrated back into our history books. There's plenty more besides. And this is the island I see and I want to share with all of you. This week's guest is Mahala Ford, a seasoned fashion PR and entrepreneur who spent 20 years working in the industry, including with titans such as Alexander McQueen and Preen. She's the founder of creative platform Variday Sari Project, a concept store and space showcasing contemporary South Asian design and culture. Mahala teaches and champions modern styling of sari through her wildly popular sari draping workshops to encourage the continuity of sari wearing. We talk about her northern roots, reconnecting with her Sri Lankan heritage as an adult after a comment at a dinner party, and showing us how to wear a sari in myriad ways, including with trainers and a t-shirt. Welcome Mahala to my podcast. Hello Dee, thank you for having me. Oh, it's an absolute pleasure. I'll be really excited about this. So thank you so much for joining me. So where are you sitting right now? Are you in London or are you in Sri Lanka? I'm in London. And I hate to say it, but I'm I think we've got a typical September London day and I'm sitting in my dining room and I'm very cosy. My dining room doubles up as my office at the moment because we're not in a studio. And you recently came back from Sri Lanka, didn't you?

SPEAKER_01: 2:26

You were out

SPEAKER_00: 2:27

there. Yeah, I had three weeks out in Sri Lanka for the summer holidays. A mixture of holiday, a mixture of work, so that's nice. Oh, fantastic. We're going to come to that a bit later. But I'm interested in your accent, because like me, we're both British Sri Lankans, but we don't sound it. And I think sometimes we meet people after you've had a phone conversation and they're like, oh. So did you grow up in the UK? I did grow up in the UK. I was born in Sri Lanka. I was born in Colombo. And I was about four months old when my parents came here. And I'm curious, you asked me about my accent. What do you pick up in my accent? I get the obvious sort of, is it London? It's a UK accent. I don't get any sort of twangs from the US. Okay. All right. That's interesting. I was curious about that because I grew up in the northeast of England from about age 10 to when I left home when I was 18. And I do have a bit of a northern accent sometimes. I was curious if that comes out and I'm quite... I've grown to be quite proud of my Northern roots as well. So yeah, I'm a, I'm Sri Lankan, I'm a Londoner, I'm a Northerner. And what was it like for you growing up in the UK as a young Sri Lankan girl? Obviously, you wouldn't remember anything else coming over at four months. How was it for you? Yeah, that's true. I would say I've had very much a British upbringing. We didn't travel back to Sri Lanka really much when I was growing up. And that was really all that I knew around me. I had a great upbringing here, really, just very much immersed in what was going on immediately around me as a kid. I don't really feel like I was very conscious of my culture. I wasn't really conscious of being from somewhere else because I didn't know it. And I think home life was very average, kind of British. We did have a really nice community in the north of family friends. And so we did meet up with other Sri Lankan families and I enjoyed knew their kids but i think we were all in the same boat i would say we were pretty much all british kids really in the way i'm the same and i think this is why this kind of series of interviews and conversations is fascinating for me as well because as diaspora we have this kind of different outlook to what it's like being Sri Lankan, especially now that many of us who are really trying to reconnect with our heritage are doing so. So I'm intrigued to find out a little bit more about that. But let me just roll back to you as a young woman. You're a multifaceted creative. You've been long involved in the world of fashion, PR and curation. How did you manage to avoid the classic accountant, doctor, lawyer situation? Holy Trinity, and managed to get into what you do now? That's a great question. Thank you. I've waited all my life to be asked that. I think, without giving you my entire life story, I'll just maybe give you my sort of stepping stones. I think that really my first I would say that my mum and my aunties are actually very creative. They didn't really do anything creative, but they're very naturally creative. So firstly, I really grew up with my mum and particularly my auntie Yasmin as well, who were really into fashion. They loved fashion. My mum worked in retail. She used to be the manager of Dorothy Perkins in Newcastle. And so I used to hang out there after school and I My auntie was incredibly glamorous and they both loved like dynasty and Dallas. And my auntie wore jumpsuits and coloured like matching belts and sandals and yeah, amazing jewellery. And whenever they would get together, they immediately... throw open the wardrobes pull out all the clothes tried new things on and say oh you have this that looks good on you and they'd swap things around and so I just absolutely loved that and they were naturally creative I learned a lot from them whether it was setting an amazing dinner table or making great flower arrangements or you know interior decorating they did their houses up amazingly as well so I learned a lot from my mum and my auntie and then I think Growing up in the 80s was huge because really, I would say that the industry that we have, the fashion industry and a lot of the creative industry that we see today actually really came out of the 80s and 90s. So the people very much working in it really came from that period of time. So I think looking back to have grown up at that time, a lot was happening that kind of influenced everything now, everything since then. In the 80s, we hadn't. the clothes show. So we had these amazing, had this amazing sort of like series to watch. And there was really this time of sort of music and fashion and culture all exploding. It was very tribal. So it was very distinct. Had like goths and people were into indie music or like then later it was hip hop. Romantics. Romantics. And it was all very different. tribal and there was a great book that was written called Street Style which really covered that and so I used to from quite a young age used to come down to London a lot and go down the King's Road and go to the Bluebird Garage and just really soak everything up and hand CV out to places and I've had that influence around me growing up during that period of time which was amazing and then I I then went to Germany. I think I just got clearing and was going to go to college and do German and European studies because that was all that I got, really. But I did go to Germany on a gap year. And then I was an au pair, but I discovered a shop that was the only shop that kind of had British designers. It was run by two British couples. And Chris Garland, who ran the shop, really became a mentor and quite a father figure to me and really brought me into... that world and gave me that kind of confidence to encourage me in what I was interested in. So I used to go to meetings with him. I used to go to trade fairs and I used to sit with designers like Box Fresh and Duffer of St. George and Anthony and Alison and young British labels of that time. And I just picked a lot of things up and was just in that environment. And I came back and then I just worked, I've worked in retail for all my life. I worked in South Moulton Street. It was like Brown's fashion. And so I loved it. And this was sort of me only by the age of 19. And then I decided I was going to go to study fashion. And I didn't know what, because I didn't want to be a designer. And I always liked the idea of show production. Maybe I used to dream of putting fashion shows together. And then there was a course at London College of Fashion, which was the first marketing course of its kind. So, you know, we didn't have an industry like that before. People with stylists or journalists, they did these jobs, but you didn't really train to do that. I did the BA Fashion Promotion course, which was the first marketing course at that time in 96. And then from then on, I was on my way. I did lots of work placements, but I always remember having to call my mum and tell her that I was going to leave my current course and go to LCF and I wanted to do this course and I asked her if her permission to do that it was like coming out I still remember calling her and picking up the phone and just building myself up to it and going mommy I want to study fashion I always get really excited and a little bit jealous when I meet a fellow Sri Lankan woman who's just had a whole career from the beginning in the creative industries. And it's like, how did you get past your parents? So that's basically in your DNA, isn't it? Your mother and your aunt inspiring you and being aesthetically driven. every which way. And you're a great example of why people should be following their heart right from the beginning, if you're lucky enough to do that. And that's amazing. So the first time I met you was at a friend's house for dinner. And I remember, because as a designer, I'm always looking at people. I just do. I look at their environments, the people, their movements, the clothes they wear, the colours. And So as we said hello, I completely clocked your outfit. You were wearing a blazer with this very cool outfit. And then you took this blazer off and I thought, oh my God, she's wearing a sari. And this is part of what you're doing now with this new sort of way of draping things in a more contemporary way. But how did sari first enter your life as a UK-based woman in fashion PR? Yeah, no, it's fascinating. Do you know what? I would actually say that I came through Sari through food and Basically, when I first got together with my husband, we had some friends around for dinner and I had my auntie cook a whole load of curries for me because I can't cook curries. And so I had all these curries and I was very proud of myself, put them all out. And then somebody said, oh, so did you cook? And I said, no, I don't know how to cook these curries. And she then she said, well, then I said, my auntie. cook them. And she said, what happens when your aunties aren't around anymore? How will you know how to cook? Who's going to hand this down? And that was really stuck in my head. And I thought, oh my God, yeah, who is? And I think that really sunk in that I didn't really know a lot about my culture. I hadn't learned to cook. And I thought, I don't even know how to wear a sari. And that was my thing. So then I thought, I'm going to dedicate some time learning about my culture but I wanted to learn it on my terms because I think I would probably say that I wasn't interested growing up I probably even pushed it away because it just felt very distant to me and then I thought I want to know it on my terms and I want to know what sparks my interest and what Who's the equivalent of me over there? And what are they doing? What are the new things? My radar is always on what's new. And then thought I'll dedicate my Fridays. So Friday, The name Friday Sari Project isn't actually that original. I just thought I'm dedicating my Fridays to learning about my culture. And I thought I'll start with sari. And so I had this little perfect plan that every Friday I'll drape a sari and I'll learn how to style it and drape it. And I thought, oh, I'll make a blog. I'll turn that into a blog. I'll document that somehow. I got this huge tome of a book, which was put together by an amazing woman called Reetha Kapoor Chishti, who did a study of all the drapes of India. and has amazing diagrams. And so I just started doing that. I had so many epic fails because it was, and I cover this in my blog because where I thought, oh great, I'll start off doing this every Friday. I couldn't do it. It was like a bundle of like fabric. I couldn't follow. You had to go on yourself. Yeah, and follow it. It was all just a bit of a mess. And so anyway, my blog ended up just being more of that kind of journey. That was how I started. was curious about how to drape sari because i also thought i had a feeling that it could be worn a bit more in the daytime and if it was worn a bit more in the daytime in a more casual way feeling that you could wear it with other things i kept doing things like maybe getting a scarf and just putting it over my shoulder like a sari and tucking it into my jeans like a half thing or you know i just felt like i wanted to work with that a little bit and so I just played about. Like when I started, I was like, it was the winter as well. So I was thinking, how do I wear a sari in the winter and not like a granny with my kind of cardigan over her, which my grandkids do, God bless her. But I just, how do I do this? And so I played about and then it became a real, kind of like project. And I was quite lucky because at the time it was a bit of a zeitgeist. I think in 2016, there was a real Sari movement starting. I think all the Sari series came out, but together by Border and Fall, Malika Kashyap Verma really pioneered this series. And there were some great designers coming up. There was a lot going on at the time that really caught my interest. And I was able to really plug into, and I got to know a whole load of people over that time of getting interested in Sari. I think what an amazing story that it came from food and just someone asking you a question and then you starting to question your own link to Sri Lanka I think that's something that's very common with a few of us actually there's always a moment isn't there but I love the fact that you started playing around with it on a Friday and that's where the name comes from because I've always been curious about that but I've only ever worn a sari once and My mum tried very hard, but I just, like you, I just couldn't get on with it. And I had one of those coming of age parties. I'm slightly TMI now, but I think it's quite funny for people to know about this, what it's like growing up in the UK, trying to fit in with your British friends. And then there's a lot of tradition, which I appreciate now, but I didn't appreciate at the time. So I had to wear a sari as part of this coming of age ceremony. And I felt really trussed up. How long is a sari, actually? It would be anywhere between about six metres to nine metres sometimes, but on average it's about six metres. Yeah, so as a sort of a 12-year-old kid, having six metres of fabric just wrapped around me and tucked in, and then the world and its brother turns up to our house because I've basically started my periods. I thought never again. I have to say, when I saw you that first time, I was really impressed. So I'm interested now, you were using this book as a bit of inspiration to try and get into this way of draping are you now experimenting yourself with different draping methodologies or my approach always very casual and because I think that if now that I understand and I've done research around it, and this is very much what I teach in my workshop, the kind of context and where we've got, how we've got to a time where really we only wear sari for formal occasions, unless you're living in India or Sri Lanka or somewhere where people do wear sari in the daytime. And people do, thousands of people do wear sari to work. And it looks amazing, doesn't it? It's so beautiful. I think that's also remembering that it's still very much kind of part of what people wear out there I would only wear it if there was an event or if there was a wedding and it was probably I probably only wear worn sari about a handful of times really before then and they were probably the sort of saris that you couldn't really wear in the day they've got embellishment on it you've got those awful tight blouses that were just uncomfortable and so I wanted to just break through all of that and actually when I understood that I could see how actually a sari was always meant to be practical and it was always meant to be versatile. All the pins and the underskirts and the blouses all came much later. And even blouses and petticoats were very much a Victorian British introduction. It was never part of that. How would they be draped before that then? Sometimes there were two pieces. So there was just a piece on the top and then a draped skirt. or it would just be a piece that kind of went over the top, like the pallu bit would go, the shawl would go over the top and then you drape your sari. So people would wear sari with breasts free or with covered breasts, but they wouldn't wear anything underneath it. And it was always just tucked. And the reason why there are so many drapes is because of all the different regions and what people did, whether they were on the coast fishing, you might get drapes which are shorter and pulled up and tucked in because people were going in and out of water. Or you'll get drapes that are more inland where farming communities might have pulled the shawl over their head or around their shoulders to have shade. So all the different sari drapes are just adaptations of very practical living, like holding babies in the shawl or on their backs. So everything was just knot tucks, knot pleat tuck somewhere. And that's really been the history of of drape. Having a long piece of fabric and draping it has gone back to ancient times. And I actually, when I first started, went to the V&A and saw just from like stained glass or Roman statues or how you can see how just single pieces of fabric have just always, before we started to cut into them, they were just always draped. That's fascinating. I've never thought of that. Of course, you'd have had the Romans and the Greeks and all of those people. And is there any similarity in terms of the way they were draping and the way we would have done in Sri Lanka and India? Yeah, a lot. And I really liked that. I liked seeing that connection. What's quite funny is that my daughter's old school used to have international days and I would wear a sari for that and I would go and there would be African women who'd have their version quite similar and they would look at each other and they would say oh yes we have something like this but we wear it like that and suddenly it was there was something a single piece of fabric that you have has so many connections and so much versatility and I love it now because it's the most egalitarian thing you could ever have which in this modern day is actually a very modern concept that whatever size you are whatever shape you are whatever age you are whatever gender you are you can drape a piece of fabric around you and wear it i think that's really interesting and so that sort of brings me to one of the questions i wanted to ask you was how do you see this evolving in 2024 and beyond and do you think that there would ever be a time when this would become something that we might see Western women thinking about how they could drape, for example. What do you think? we will see evolving out of these concepts? Yeah, that's, yeah, it's a great sort of like question because I think that drape is drape as well. If we get away from Zari drape is drape is draping fabric and it's how a lot of designers, it's their starting point to drape on a mannequin. And I, as a result, been invited to go to design schools and to talk about that because it's a great way to bring people back to original drape before you cut anything, you just start draping on a mannequin. And so I find that, that quite interesting but also we're in a we're in very different times when people are talking about buying less producing less so the idea of having a single piece of fabric that can be worn in lots of different ways and adapted having a single piece of fabric that can stand the test of time because it isn't cut garment you can hand it down you can pass it through generations and you can produce it in a myriad of different ways and you can swap it amongst people as well is actually such a kind of modern concept now I think it fits very much for our modern times and so I find that interesting I like to highlight that idea to people I'd like to put that idea to people I do know that it's interesting when we do drape workshops, it's very, I would say almost kind of 50-50, if not even more the other way of other people, non-Asian people who appreciate textiles, particularly hand loom, who maybe have a connection or history with South Asia, whether they work out there or they've traveled there or they're married into families. And we're a lot more kind of mixed and diverse now. So actually, yeah, The amount of women who are curious and want to wear sari when they're out there, if they're traveling, is interesting. There is a lot of interest. I've had a few guests at my place in Sri Lanka who were really interested in having lessons in how to drape sari. And in fact, a couple of them went off and bought some saris in a shop in Welagama and found someone to dress them up. And then I got this beautiful photo of these two gorgeous English ladies just draped in these peacock looking saris. coloured materials and they looked absolutely fabulous and I think people do feel really special and beautiful when they're dressed in these fabrics and I find it really fascinating that you're drawing this arc from ancient times to modernity and how we can start thinking about this in a more sustainable way of dressing ourselves and especially heritage pieces. My mum gave me her wedding sari or one of her wedding saris and And honestly, it's so beautiful. I daredn't touch it. I don't know what to do with it. So it's sitting in tissue paper in a cupboard because it's so delicate and it is hand-loomed and it's silk and it's just... Utterly exquisite. So I will have to have a lesson from you. Maybe you can bring me one. I wore my mum's wedding sari for my wedding and that sari is there for my daughter if she ever wanted it. You can hand that down in a way that you might not be able to do with the cut wedding dress, which I think is really lovely. And I've got my grandmother's saris. In fact, I've worn one of my grandmother's sari with this picture of me wearing that with my like a sparkly Zara jacket, like a sequined Zara jacket and high heels. And that Zara is like over 60 years old. So I want everyone to get their Zaras out of their wardrobes and start playing with them. This is what's really exciting about what you've just described, right? You're describing... How to wear something like that with other pieces. I've got sparkly jackets in my cupboard. How can I wear it and still feel me, as it were? And you run draping workshops, don't you? How would people find out about your draping workshops? Yeah, I do have put that into... um a workshop format now and particularly so last year there was a fabulous exhibition dedicated to sari called the offbeat sari at the design museum curated by priya kanchandani and i ran the drape workshops for that which were really fabulous to do um i do it's like a whole kind of 360 to really talk about a lot of what we just talked about as well and learn some drapes and and styling I think all of it is the styling piece is important to really reinvigorate Zari for people who want to rediscover it and wear it in different ways it gives people different access points and it's also important to inspire a new generation maybe who really don't have that connection who are can also then feel like they can wear their culture, something that connects to their culture like I wanted to, but put their own identity into it, you know, so they can. My favourite thing is to just wear a really light cotton sari with just a vest top or a T-shirt and some pumps or something. The most comfortable thing that I love, especially if I'm in Sri Lanka, it's just a sort of delight to wear. wear something like that because it's light and cool it's designed for the weather but i'll wear it with a top that i feel comfortable in as well that and yes i have these workshops now so i think if people sign up for our newsletter then they'll probably find out about where there's drape workshops i'm hoping to do them a little bit more frequently and probably have a very basic one that people can just buy and download at any time. I would also direct people to the Sari series as well. So the Sari series was created as an anthology of drape, like I mentioned before, by the amazing team behind Border and Fall. And that is accessible for everybody. It's got all of the drapes on there. It's got little videos and clips that you can follow. So that's a fantastic resource. Fantastic. Thank you. We'll share all of that in the show notes. I'd love to speak to you about some of the work that you've been doing with the Royal Museum's Greenwich on their programmes related to South Asian heritage. So Friday's Sari project started as an exploration into your own heritage and now this is something that you're being asked to speak about as an expert. What is that project about and what are you sharing with the public? Yeah, basically I think So Friday Sorry Project for me was very much a platform. It took its form as a concept store because I grew up with concept stores that were, I think, really amazing spaces, very interestingly curated spaces back in the 80s that I would go and find. So My kind of exploration into Sari took me into researching designers and researching the whole creative scene, really, because I was interested in what was going on in music and graphic design or just everything. So I had a huge body of research over this last kind of 10 years or so of what I've been looking at. And so I opened the store in 2018 and I wanted it to be a curated space. And that means that I did have... collections there so we sold design collections designers from India and Sri Lanka we had lifestyle products there but it was also doubled up as a gallery so there was always artwork we were changing it over and had different cultural programs I had a small cafe in the shop as well and we ran things like supper clubs and I love curating so I also exhibitions within the space as well so it was really a 360 I think when people walked into the store they could really immerse themselves in the contemporary culture from South Asia. That was really the intention. And so then we were going to move into a new space and that was right before the pandemic happened. So I just put pause on, put the brakes on everything while that was happening. going on while that was all playing out really and I am very much drawn to the physical space still and the connection that you can have with that so I wasn't really ready to go online and I was offered some gallery space during that time just after the pandemic and I don't really know what to do with it I'm part of a few groups I'm part of a South Asian creatives group as well so I put it out to the group if any of their artists wanted to show in this space and so I As a result, I put together the arts platform Common Ground and I created an identity for that and worked with some lovely people, Stuthi Ramesh, who created the lovely logo for us for Common Ground. And so we made an exhibition of Indian and Sri Lankan artists. And off the back of that, I got asked by Royal Museums Greenwich to curate their Diwali celebrations. So I was able to then through my research really tap into just whatever I could creatively to program. And I think my take on it, I just say to them, it will be something very modern. It will be something of generation now, people who are doing things now. It will be DJs and it will be amazing dance and... Fantastic. amazing kind of like light show which was projected onto the queen's house and we did that was a piece that an amazing artist called bishi did and it was epic it was just fabulous so i've done diwali for the museum now for two years running and last year we curated their first south asian heritage project for South Asian Heritage Month. And so that was an exhibition, a kind of curation called Pioneers. And I call that a renaissance in South Asian creativity. And so we photographed 40 south asian creatives in and around the grounds of the museum quite a lot of them were sri lankan and we interviewed them about what they did and we ran some talks as well and funnily enough one of the talks that we did do was hosted by a journalist called ajesh patalay called i'm not a doctor and it responded to quite a lot of our generation kind of feeling like they not we love all of the doctors and lawyers and all the people that win. It's nothing about that at all. But how difficult it was to be different, how difficult it was to really to step out of the herd, really, and be different and carve your own path, really. And so Pioneers was a lovely exhibition. It was such a joy to do it. And what was really nice was there was a young boy who said to me, He used a particular word in Hindi where he said, now we have this. And I said, well, what do you mean? And he said, when our parents say, what can you do with that? Can you want to be a photographer? What are you going to do with that? He said, now we can show, you can do this. Because all these amazing photographers who are earning a living, having amazing careers, doing what they love, and it's their work. Yeah. And it's giving credibility. Yeah. to something that's always been incredible. But I think our generation of parents were just so worried about how to monetize one's life, their children's lives. And I think it's wonderful to inspire. Yeah, and quite rightly so as well, because I think it works in both ways because there were quite a few people who brought their parents to the opening of the exhibition. And that was also a way of saying, look at everybody else. This is a community and we're okay. We're okay. Look, creativity doesn't always pay a lot of money. Historically, it doesn't, it's not. a South Asian thing. It's a creative thing. It doesn't. And quite rightly, I think a generation before were in survival mode. So they were very limited as well. If you went to study at university, they were the courses that you studied. There wasn't really much else apart from that. So that was just what they knew. And I made my peace with that really by understanding that's what it was. And then I obviously there are younger parents now who completely understand what their kids are doing generations down and support that. But yeah, to be able to look at a whole new community and a whole generation of people who are doing things in a different way and really championing their culture now. I think that's the new wave. That's what the younger generation, I feel, are bringing through in such a strong way. And that is such a healing thing for me. It's a healing thing for me as well because they don't have to really struggle. They don't have to really push themselves. They already... can do that. And I was reading through the interviews. I was actually on holiday when I got all of the interviews back from these people and I was so emotional. They're so embodied and they are very embodied with saying, yeah, I'm a photographer and I'm an activist and I do all these things. I have this portfolio career and I do what I do, but I'm also involved in my community and it's so inspiring. Yeah. And it's one of the things I'm very passionate about as someone who sits in London, and I'm encouraging people to go and stay at Kalakanda House. And one of the reasons for these interviews and starting Hair of Project X was I noticed that there is absolutely nothing that we read outside of Sri Lanka. about the people of Sri Lanka, particularly, unless it's trouble, there's no exposure. And I was finding so many people, like you're saying, who just thought, where are these stories about the people? Because it's the people that make a place, isn't it? And I'm asking people to travel to Sri Lanka with different eyes and curating experiences where they can actually be involved with these creatives. What would your advice be to people traveling to Sri Lanka? in order for them to see the creativity that's flourishing? Yeah, that's an interesting one, because I think I probably did the same, wanting to just go a little bit deeper and immerse. I wanted to know people that were living there and were, like I said, living, working. And I think Now I have that. I have people now that I connect with who we all work together basically now, which is the sort of engagement that I wanted. I would say that people that are traveling or on holiday, there are pockets of areas. What we're talking about still is very small, very niche. Colombo's got a thriving, creative scene, really. You just need to go to a place to go and hang out in the Barefoot Cafe and Gallery and you've got everything there. around you which is amazing and I think galleries are a great way to go and hang out in places you know one of my favourites Saskia Fernanda Gallery and underneath that there's the PR concept stores and there are some concept stores as well in Colombo that just give you a little bit of that more of a kind of modern lens of what's going on the south coast where Calacanda House is as well you've got some amazing cafes and There are brands that are emerging all over the place. They're very small still. A lot of, you know, a lot of them we are now platforming as well and bringing them into Friday Sorry Project, which is great. And I think craft. I think Sri Lankan craft is something that is very important for me to spotlight as well. away from the usual kind of souvenirs and really looking at craft and the art scene. There's so much happening in Sri Lanka. I feel like there's more happening in Sri Lanka for me than there is here at the moment. There's so many art fairs, there's so many openings. I agree. I think there are a lot of people who are really working as well to showcase the creativity across all different areas. And there's so much fusion happening. around these things and people crossing disciplines and collaborating. That's what I see on the South Coast. And the wellness scene as well. The wellness scene also plays into that and does its way of a lot of people going to Sri Lanka and discovering it for amazing kind of wellness. You can live well there. You can eat well there. I agree with you 100%. But we are coming to the end. And so I'd like to ask you, what's next for you? Yeah, what's next for me? We are relaunching Fratisari Project. The online store will come up first. We will have some more workshops coming up, so make sure that we tell people about those dates. We've got a special Sri Lankan edit coming up and we've got a pop-up obviously we're working with the fantastic Sri Lankan Culture Collective so from the group that you have put together D of connecting Sri Lankan creative women and Hero Project X as well there are some women from the group who have put together the Sri Lankan Culture Collective event on the 22nd of September and you're Hosting talks there and involved behind the scenes. So we are doing a pop-up for that. I'm doing a drape workshop for it. We're doing a very special Sri Lankan edit for that for the day and then be online. And then eventually we will relaunch the store online and then we will have things going on after that. really so I think watch the space I think sign up for newsletters is probably the best way for people to know what we're doing I'm really excited about the online store as well to be able to access some of these pieces from the creative world that you're curating and having access to that in the UK it's going to be amazing thank you so much for having me on your podcast my pleasure music