Firi Rahman is a multidisciplinary artist and native of Colombo. His recent work considers the relationships that people and endangered species have with their environments. He spotlights the threads of multiple historical narratives running through Slave Island, the location where he grew up and now resides, which makes it a unique space in Colombo’s urban historical identity. He has forged a new collective project We Are From Here in Slave Island, which highlights a deeply interconnected community finding its homebase threatened by gentrification for state and corporate interests. The project focuses on mobilising a creative peace-making movement that would help participants and beneficiaries alike to socially engage in their own unique realities through the medium of art.