The A to Z of Conflict (2019) is a trilingual artists’ book by ten contemporary artists commissioned by Sharmini Pereira and published by Raking Leaves. It imagines what a commonplace children’s ABC book would look like if all the entries were chosen in relation to words about conflict, and words borne out of conflict. The publication uses English, Sinhala, and Tamil—three of the languages spoken in Sri Lanka. After independence from Britain, language policies favouring Sinhala and its associated culture led to the marginalization of the Tamil minority. This discrimination fuelled ethnic tensions that erupted into a decades-long civil war. From afar, the compendium of entries 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 both 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 other. Drawing on the history of language conflict in Sri 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: Abdul Halik Azeez, Muhanned Cader, Arjuna Gunarathne, Nina Mangalanayagam, Nillanthan, Anomaa Rajakaruna, Thamotharampillai Shanaathanan, Anushiya Sundaralingam, Chandraguptha Thenuwara, Kamala Vasuki

WORK IN THE EXHIBITION: Raking Leaves (ed.), The A to Z of Conflict (2019), 6 artist books and slide show. Courtesy of the artists and Raking Leaves