Firi Rahman’s new series PANDEMONIUM draws from his observations of the many thousands of people seeking to leave Sri Lanka as the island undergoes acute political and economic challenges.

This search for a better life often means leaving behind memories and loved ones, and adapting to environments where one is usually unwelcome and deemed an outsider.

Drawing parallels with displaced birds that are cut off from their habitats and forced to adapt to environments in which they are unwelcome, he thinks through issues of migration, displacement and changing notions of home.

Caught between the desire for familiarity and the lack of stability, Firi’s work is a commentary on experiences of refugees and migrants who exist in an ambiguous and uprooted zone, where the meaning of ‘home’ is ever elusive.