This chapter offers a thorough analysis of Sri Lanka’s (recent) present and past by taking a multiplicity of historical and contemporary factors into account. It argues that ethnic division, which has for a long time been characteristic of Sri Lankan society, is a product of colonial epistemology and history and draws a comprehensive picture of Sri Lanka’s development since independence in 1948 with a special focus on the country’s problems in nation-building, on (liberal) democracy, the legacy of failed commissions and state reforms, nationalist tendencies, political and economic developments, and different notions of community. Moreover, different concepts of transitional justice and human rights are presented and critically analysed as to their applicability to Sri Lanka as well as to the danger of imposing Western perspectives, which are likely to be characterized by ethnocentrism. Based on South Asian scholarship as well as on Western theoretical concepts, this chapter asks what role art can play in peacebuilding and community building, how it can help to deal with the horrors of the past and pave the way to a different future. Here, the focus is on arts-based interventions, theatre, literature and painting and their ability to disrupt foundational narratives and to make new alternative realities thinkable and liveable, as demonstrated by the Aragalaya/Porattam.