Sri Lanka, July 6 -- Can the grief and the quiet hope of women who have lived through war ever be held within a single frame? I found my answer to that question on June 27, when I walked into an exhibition titled "A Brief Respite for Wounded Minds, Through Colours," organised by the Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD) in Batticaloa. That single day became an experience I know I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

The hands reached down from the ceiling before anything else did. Dozens of them, cut from paper, painted in blues, ambers, magentas, hanging on threads that swayed gently whenever someone walked beneath. It took me a moment to realise that each one had been painted by a different woman, in a different distri...