The Certificate is a monologue performed by a stateless girl-child. It directly questions the integrity of a system that denies children their basic right to a nationality.

It is best experienced as an unannounced intervention.

Runtime
20 minutes

Language
English

The Certificate was initially commissioned for performance in London by the ISI in 2017 and later performed in Colombo in 2018.

​The opening performance was supported by Empathy & Risk, and The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion.

It was also performed as an intervention at the Opening Plenary of the World Conference on Statelessness in the Hague in June 2019, as part of the CANCELLED Arts Programme.

Performed by
Shyalina Muthumudalige (2017, 2019)

“Shyalina's performance was not a performance. It carried the suffering of many souls. When I watched it, it was like melted iron poured into my soul and flowed through my eyes.”

“When Shyalina raised her hand and put forward her questions with all those files and papers she was carrying, my heart cried out. I strongly feel this medium is very powerful to reach out to the changemakers and I wish you could do this during UN general assembly too.”

— Deepthi Gurung, Statelessness Activist World Conference on Statelessness, the Hague 2019

“For the past fifteen years or so I have been in positions of authority mainly at the United Nations. I try not to get used to it but am treated with a great deal of respect and deference. So at the end of my speech when this young girl got up and challenged the authority of our words with her narrative of what survivors really undergo and how we have failed them, I was taken aback.”

“…she made us pause, think and reflect. Her passion kept us enthralled. It was a voice that is rarely heard in conference halls. That is the purpose of art - to challenge us to take another look at the world and to see it in different ways.”

— Radhika Coomaraswamy, Former United Nations Under Secretary General and Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict

The Certificate - Resource Pack (English)

The Certificate - Resource Pack (Sinhala)

The Certificate - Resource Pack (Tamil)

The Certificate - Playscript