Katha-i 3.0.png
Katha-i 3.0.png

Katha-i Series 3.0: Threads of Us

$0.00

Identity, Memory & Belonging

Event Summary

Date: Sunday, 15 November 2026

Time: 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm 

Location: Lankan Tucker

570 Lygon Street

Carlton VIC 3053

Link to Google Maps

Cost: Free

Event Schedule

3:00pm Performance & Patchwork

3:30pm Panel Discussion & Questions

4:30pm Hanging Out, Food & Drinks

5:00pm Close

Many Threads, One Cloth

For Sri Lankans who grew up in the shadow of war, economic collapse, ethnic divides and faith tensions, identity has never been simple. Katha-i creates space for shared dialogue and deep listening, through conversation, cuisine and the arts, allowing unspoken stories, memories and wounds to be explored together, in community and with care. Some silences have lasted long enough. This series exists to disrupt those silences, and to rebuild our identities together, out of multiple truths and multiple stories that can exist side by side.

For the third gathering, held in partnership with Ondru and Lankan Tucker. The afternoon opens with a performance, and moves into a collective storytelling activity. Then a panel discussion facilitated by our Founder, desh Balasubramaniam, four voices (Tamil, Sinhala, Burgher and other), carrying fragments of Sri Lankan identity, will then sit together and speak about identity, not as a settled thing, but as something still being worked out, in real time, in front of a room willing to listen.

The afternoon closes with thirty minutes to hang out, with food and drinks available at the bar. 

Identity, Memory & Belonging

Event Summary

Date: Sunday, 15 November 2026

Time: 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm 

Location: Lankan Tucker

570 Lygon Street

Carlton VIC 3053

Link to Google Maps

Cost: Free

Event Schedule

3:00pm Performance & Patchwork

3:30pm Panel Discussion & Questions

4:30pm Hanging Out, Food & Drinks

5:00pm Close

Many Threads, One Cloth

For Sri Lankans who grew up in the shadow of war, economic collapse, ethnic divides and faith tensions, identity has never been simple. Katha-i creates space for shared dialogue and deep listening, through conversation, cuisine and the arts, allowing unspoken stories, memories and wounds to be explored together, in community and with care. Some silences have lasted long enough. This series exists to disrupt those silences, and to rebuild our identities together, out of multiple truths and multiple stories that can exist side by side.

For the third gathering, held in partnership with Ondru and Lankan Tucker. The afternoon opens with a performance, and moves into a collective storytelling activity. Then a panel discussion facilitated by our Founder, desh Balasubramaniam, four voices (Tamil, Sinhala, Burgher and other), carrying fragments of Sri Lankan identity, will then sit together and speak about identity, not as a settled thing, but as something still being worked out, in real time, in front of a room willing to listen.

The afternoon closes with thirty minutes to hang out, with food and drinks available at the bar. 

Our Panel

Rajith Savanadasa Rajith Savanadasa is an author and playwright with a creative practice that encompasses documentary theatre, oral histories and creative non-fiction. He was named Best Young Australian Novelist 2017 for his debut novel Ruins. His documentary play, Exposure, was commissioned by Malthouse Theatre in 2018 and the play, Gloria at Sunset, produced by Red Stitch in 2021. In 2013 he created the oral history project, Open City Stories, in partnership with Darebin Council, recording the accounts of people seeking asylum. He lives and works in Naarm, Melbourne.  

Mohan Bhagwandas Mohan is a Sri Lanka born Australian who lives in Melbourne.  Much of his life has been about exploring human relations, identity, and the root causes of conflict. This interest took him back to Sri Lanka numerous times with the Initiatives of Change  organisation.  He has also worked in Papua New Guinea, Northern Ireland and Quebec in French Canada. In his career, he worked as a senior executive in IT strategy. 

Stephanie Prianka Arulthasan Stephanie is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne, where she researches how the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora uses creative mediums as a form of writing history. She is particularly interested in how narratives of 'home' are created, honoured and accessed through the arts.  As the daughter of migrants, her childhood was footnoted with stories of Sri Lanka. Through her research, community engagement and arts-based storytelling, she hopes to pay homage to these stories and contribute to the vitality of Sri Lankan expressivity. 

The panel will be facilitated by our Founder, desh Balasubramaniam.

Support Us 

This event is free, and your presence helps strengthen connection and shared understanding. Nūl grows through the people who share our stories. Share this page, bring a friend, and help us fill the room. Purchases and donations on the day support the Katha-i series and the wider Nūl community.

Event Partners

Ondru brings the art-based practices, weaving creative and community building practice into how these stories get told. Lankan Tucker brings the beautiful Sri Lankan food and a room where conversation arrives unforced, the way it always has around a shared meal. 

Mikhela Bayes Mikhela is a policy professional with experience working in government and the United Nations system. Her background in peace and conflict studies informed her master’s thesis, which looked at how the politics of memory and emotion in Sri Lanka shape reconciliation processes. Her mother is Burgher Sri Lankan, and she grew up in Brisbane/Meanjin at family gatherings filled with lamprais and love cake.