The A to Z of Conflict is a trilingual artists' book by ten contempoary artists. It imagines what a commonplace children's AC book would look like if all the entries were chosen in relation to words about conflict and words borne out of conflict.
The project uses English, Sinhala, and Tamil the three languages spoken in Sri Lanka, a country torn apart by a brutal civil war. From afar the compendium of entires testifies to the ways language defines us linguistically, socially, and politically. Up close it reveals how the complex workings of language have the potential to conjoin and divide us.
Each copy of The A to Z of Conflict is bound in one of six combinations, reflecting how three languages can be positioned without giving one language greater status over the others. Drawing on the history of language conflict in Sir Lanka, this artists' book serves as a collective means to think about how language rights, exclusion, status and planning might serve us better in the future than they have in the past.
Artists that are included: Abdul Halik Azeez, Anomaa Rajakaruna, Muhanned Cader, Kamala Vasuki, Arjuna Gunarathne, Chandraguptha Thenuwara, Nina Mangalanayagam, Anushiya Sundaralingam, Nillanthan, T.Shanaathanan