p>The That’s Me! project team are delighted to announce the winner of their poster competition, launched as part of the project’s Research Exchange Programme led by Dr Sulayman Bah. The competition invited doctoral researchers to creatively communicate an aspect of their research through a visually engaging poster.
Submissions demonstrated innovative approaches to presenting research in ways that were clear, engaging, and informative. Members of BCU’s That’s Me! Global Majority Steering Committee, chaired by Professor Marcia Wilson, reviewed the submissions and selected Shameela Yoosuf Ali as the winner for her work entitled ‘Creating New Identities through Artivism in Social Media: An Ethnographic Study of Sri Lankan Muslim Women’. Members were particularly impressed by the visual design, creativity and originally.
Shameela shares her experience putting together her submission for the competition:
‘Winning the That’s Me poster prize came when I had just finished my fieldwork in Sri Lanka. It was not the neat, orderly ending you imagine when you plan research from a desk. A cyclone hit while I was there. Life slowed down into power cuts, uncertainty, and the sense that nature can rearrange everything in a single night. In the middle of that, I became seriously unwell with a severe case of food poisoning.
The announcement came during a busy time in my PhD. I was carrying more than academic pressures. I felt the weight of my family, my community, my memories, my language, my faith, and my doubts. There was also a dull pain in feeling unseen and unheard, a wish to be known and have my story recognised. I tried to stay strong and dignified even when I sometimes felt invisible.
My research focuses on Sri Lankan Muslim women who share and create on Facebook. Their voices aren’t always loud or tied to bold slogans. Sometimes, a small poem holds a lot of pain. Sometimes, a few thoughtful words push back against expectations in soft ways. From the beginning, the women I spoke with revealed stories far deeper than I ever expected.
That’s why the poster and the win meant so much to me. It represents a piece of who I am as well. It reminds me that knowledge isn’t just in theories or complex language. It’s also in daily life, in memories, in our bodies, in what women share and what they keep private to protect themselves. Sometimes, creativity helps us survive, and sometimes it’s a way to say no.
I also made the artwork for the poster. I kept returning to drawing and creating because some parts of this research can’t be explained with academic words alone. Sometimes you need colour. Sometimes you need poetry. Sometimes you need another way to express things.
I’m grateful this was recognised because it feels like a small opening. It’s like being allowed to do research that is truly human, research that doesn’t separate thought from feeling, and that respects the people whose stories we are trusted to hear.
I am truly grateful to the That’s Me! project for giving me visibility and opportunity. Their support has pushed me to share my story, celebrate my identity, and explore new possibilities I hadn’t imagined.’
We extend our warm congratulations to Shameela and share thanks to everyone who submitted an entry.
