This week at The Senior Station we celebrated all the memories and experiences that have made our lives so special. The program this week was conducted by Hasini Haputhanthri, a Museologist, and Malathi de Alwis, an Anthropologist. They, along with Munira Mutaher, a member of the Memory Culture Team at GIZ, are compiling a book entitled The Archive of Memory which will portray a people’s history of the past seven decades post-Independence. The book will be a collection of memories that are connected to personal objects, and which relate to significant events in Sri Lanka.
Hasini, Malathi and Munira kicked off the program by playing old popular hit songs and asking the members to recall the names of the songs, singers and year in which they were released. The three of them were quite bowled over because not only did the members know most of the answers, they even belted out the lyrics. After that foot tapping session came a visual quiz that took members back in time to significant events from Sri Lanka’s history, popular old haunts like Fountain Cafe and brands that were an intrinsic part of life such as Two Elephants Safety Matches.
The members then listened to dramatised readings of stories that are already a part of The Archive of Memory, before they were invited to share their own personal experiences. We’d like to thank Nihal, Sriani, Claude, Priyanthi, Deepthi, Swini, Chandrika and Farook who shared with us such touching tales from their past. It almost felt like they were making us a part of their lives!