Ninaivu: Tamil Memory Archive
The following is an excerpt from the Ninaivu Archive web page: "Ninaivu, meaning ‘to recall’ in Tamil, is meant to be an archival space that the Ilankai/Eelam/Sri Lankan Tamil community can see a pluralistic view of what the Tamil diaspora looks like.
Meenadchi's Ancestral Homes
In this slideshow, you will see:
Photographs taken by Meenadchi of houses that are all places that Meenadchi's family once called home. The photos were included as part of the ‘Places we used to call home’ series at the Tamil Survival Stories online photographic archive.
Maya McCoy's Family Bible
This Tamil bible has belonged to Maya's maternal family across several generations. It was originally passed on from Maya's great grandmother, Sarah Thiraviam Seevaratnam. Maya's family is brought up in her interview for the SAADA Archival Creators Fellowship Project on Ilankai Tamil Feminism.
Maya McCoy's Grandparents, Ernest and Peace Champion, and children
This image is of Maya Mccoy's mother, maternal grandparents and uncle in Jaffna. Maya's family is brought up in her interview for the SAADA Archival Creators Fellowship Project on Ilankai Tamil Feminism. She discusses how her mother's brief stint in Sri Lanka before her family moved abroad helped to shape her worldview such that it left impressions on Maya's politics of solidarity.
Thesis on the Jaffna Exodus During the Sri Lankan Civil War
Mahendran Thiruvarangan's undergraduate thesis, titled "The Politics of Narrating the Exodus of 1995," was his first formal exploration on the theories and critiques of nationalism, drawing on his own personal experience enduring the Jaffna Exodus during the Sri Lankan Civil War.
"A Search that Depressed Me" by Mahendran Thiruvarangan
This poem, written by Mahendran Thiruvarangan, examines the struggles of Sri Lanka's diverse communities to coexist amidst a long history of ethnic and communitarian violence. Mahendran Thiruvarangan was interviewed and is an advisor for the Archival Creators Fellowship project on Ilankai Tamil Feminism.
Dr. Rajani Thiranagama's Portrait
The University of Jaffna Teachers' Association displays the portraits of deceased university academics in the Senior Common Room. When an academic or ex-academic dies, a commemoration event is organized by the Association and afterwards the portrait of that person displayed in the Senior Common Room.
Land Commission Meeting in Northern Sri Lanka
Mahendran Thiruvarangan was part of a land commission initiated by an umbrella organization that works on land related issues known as People's Action for Right to Land. This photo was taken when a Muslim woman in Mullaitivu spoke about the challenges she faces in re-claiming her land following her return to Mullaitivu.
Mahendran Thiruvarangan Performing as Lago in Shakespeare's Othello
A stage performance of Othello in which Mahendran Thiruvarangan ('Thiru') acted as Iago in Shakespeare's Othello when he was fifteen years old at Jaffna College. Jaffna College is discussed in detail during Thiru's interview for the Archival Creators Fellowship project on Ilankai Tamil Feminism, for which Thiru is also an advisor.