Multidisciplinary works of Veda Arachchige employ voices, videos, photography, sculpture, painting on textiles and embroidery on different surfaces, including the palms of the volunteers. Her works carry past and present through hidden layers becoming visible through Deneth’s act of stitching, drawing, standing still, inquiring, bring light on the forgotten colonial entanglement of European countries in Ceylon during the 19th century, on the Sri Lankan diaspora in Europe, on untold stories of brown women who are domestic workers in the Middle East and women and children in the war zones, or on impossible restitution of the Sri Lankan cultural heritage by diverse European museums. Her artistic practice runs along a thin line which separates art and activism; it is her intent to play with that tension. Textile is a prime medium in her work. Deneth perceive clothes can transform fragile lives and strong woven threads can keep them together as long as they can resist natural and human violation. But there is also a limit to the lifespan of the textile as it breaks and tears over time. For 24 years she has been working with ‘Cheetha’, a traditional Sri Lankan printed cotton textile that is worn by women in all ethnic groups. It can be seen only in a few villages or among the older generation because of the phenomenon of western fashion trends and mass made clothes from China. Highlights of her exhibitions are ‘Restitution as self-portrait’, 12th Berlin Biennale, Germany (2022), ‘Second skin’, AsiaNow Artfair, Paris, France (2023).