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Museum
The Museum of Religious Freedom has been designed to be a dynamic space for exploratory learning, spanning from the colonial period to the present day. We invite you to discover the virtual spaces made up of digitised artefacts and architectural elements, archival documents, audio-visual content, community conversations and expert commentary, organised around a series of key themes focused on issues related to the freedom of religion or belief in Sri Lanka.
Key Events
The museum’s thematic areas have been informed by the mapping of 70 events and incidents related to the freedom of religion and belief in Sri Lanka. This chronology begins in 1815 with the signing of the Kandyan Convention which consolidated the island as a unitary state under the British colonial powers and established a formal association between that state and religion. This catalogue briefly charts 200 years of freedom of religion and belief in Sri Lanka, pointing to key themes, actors, artefacts and is intended as a quick guide and resource to the contents of the museum.
Education
This museum has been designed as a virtual learning environment supplemented by a pioneering standalone e-learning platform aimed at promoting FoRB literacy. This platform constitutes a series of short courses, webinars, audio-visual content and an online discussion forum. The curriculum presently covers topics including hate speech and counter-speech strategies, religious nationalism, preventing violent extremism, digital citizenship, advocacy, and the impact of new technologies on human rights activism, and peacebuilding among others.
Museum Archives
The Museum of Religious Freedom has been based on extensive primary and secondary research coupled with community contributions and expert analysis. Where possible, the Museum Archives makes these resources available to museum visitors who wish to expand their learning on the key thematic areas.
Online Exhibition
In an effort to ensure active engagement with contemporary questions and issues relating to the freedom of religion and belief, the museum is committed to presenting regular artistic and scholarly interventions. These will take the shape of online exhibitions in collaboration with the museum’s community of contributors.
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