Pehlwani ("Wrestling")

Harshini Karunaratne is a Sri Lankan-Peruvian studying Film & New Media and Theater at New York

University Abu Dhabi. Her background in photography began with sports photography in 2010. Her

current interests lie in projection mapping, live video performance, and audiovisual work. She now

works with Dhakira, the newly founded UAE center for local and global heritage studies, where she

hopes to learn more about Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat and Dalma islands. This photo essay is the product

of a trip to Dubai with a theater class, where Karunaratne looked at Pehlwani as performance, ritual,

sport, and play.

Images by Harshini Karunaratne