Lionel Wanted Art Centre, Colombo, Sri Lanka 2026
Socially Engaged Photography: No Man's Lands project [2015-2026] & The Wasteland [2024-2026]
curated by Ghazaleh Zogheib
No Man’s Lands: Socially Engaged Photography Exploring Identity, Belonging, and the Politics of Representation
No Man’s Lands is an ongoing socially engaged photography project by award-winning interdisciplinary artist Dr Gil Mualem-Doron. Initiated in 2016, the project explores states of transition, vulnerability, and belonging among male-identified individuals, both cis and trans, who inhabit social, political, geographical, and psychological “in-between” spaces.
At the core of No Man’s Lands is an intersectional approach shaped by Mualem-Doron’s lived experience as a queer Jewish migrant. Participants often navigate multiple, overlapping identities — including queerness, migration, undocumented status, economic precarity, and social marginalisation. Rather than presenting simplified narratives, the project foregrounds these layered realities, resisting fixed categories and singular representations.
The work resonates with the legacy of Sri Lankan modernist photographer Lionel Wendt, whose photography in the 1930s and 1940s explored the male body, intimacy, and landscape as subtle acts of resistance against colonial moral frameworks. Like Wendt, Mualem-Doron uses photography as both a poetic and political tool to challenge dominant narratives of race, sexuality, masculinity, and power.
While Wendt relied on formal experimentation and coded visual language, No Man’s Lands extends this lineage through contemporary socially engaged practice.
The Wasteland - Coastal Communities on the Precipice.
A project by Dr Gil Mualem-Doron / Sussex BPOC Photography Collective UK We Are Kommune - Kalpitiya, Sri Lanka
Ocean pollution in Sri Lanka has reached critical levels, posing an urgent threat to marine life
ecosystems and the coastal communities that depend upon them. The accumulation of
plastic debris, chemical runoff, and untreated sewage are disrupting fragile coral reefs,
degrading marine biodiversity and endangering vital fishing industries. For many coastal
families, whose livelihoods are intrinsically tied to the sea, declining fish stocks, and
Contaminated waters are not abstract environmental concerns but daily realities that
lead to food insecurity and economic instability.
Pollution also affects Sri Lanka's beaches, which have long been celebrated as key drivers
of tourism and local income. As shorelines deteriorate, so too does the delicate balance
between environmental sustainability and human well-being. The crisis underscores the
profound interconnectedness among ocean health, social equity, and economic resilience,
demanding urgent collective action.
Responding to this escalating emergency, artist, photographer, and researcher Dr Gil
Mualem-Doron [UK 1970], who was invited by Dilsiri Welikala, an artist and founder of We
Are Kommune and Kitesurfing Lanka to collaborate with local schoolchildren in Kalpitiya
to create a powerful, multi-layered interdisciplinary art project. Together, they collected
plastic waste from Kalpitiya's beaches and transformed it into a striking series of
wearable sculptures. These reclaimed materials became the foundation for a provocative
"trashy" fashion shoot and an original dance-music performance.
The performance's lyrics draw inspiration from the historic speech delivered by Severn
Cullis-Suzuki at just 12 years old during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 - a
call to environmental responsibility that continues to resonate across generations.
Through art, collaboration, and community engagement, The Wasteland confronts the
escalating environmental crisis while amplifying the voices of young people standing at
the frontline of climate and ecological change.
Sea of Change is part of the Inter-Municipality Partnership Project between the Town
Councils of Kalpitiya, Sri Lanka and Charlottenburg Wilmersdorf, Berlin, Germany. It was
supported by the Chalk Cliff Trust, Sussex, UK, Kitesurfing Lanka, and We Are Kommune -
Kalpitiya.
The project was inspired by the short film The Monster Dilsiri Welikala, an artist
and founder of We Are Kommune and Kitesurfing Lanka.
The project's participants: Oshadi, Derani, Dahara, Shenu, Sudara, Rashal, Rosith, Mischeni.
Supervisors: Thakeisha, Krishantha.
A draft catalague of the project can be viewed here: