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Oral history interview with Sarah Rikaz

 Collection
Identifier: SR 12323

Scope and Contents

This oral history interview with Sarah Rikaz was conducted by Sankar Raman on January 11, 2019. The interview was recorded for The Immigrant Story, an organization that documents and archives the stories of immigrants and refugees in the United States. Rikaz Thaha and an unidentified man were also present and contributed to the interview.

In this interview, Rikaz discusses her family background and early life in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and shares her memories of the civil war in Sri Lanka. She talks about her cultural and ethnic identity, about her education, and about her early interest in art. She speaks about studying graphic design online through the Institute of Business Management, about her career in graphic design in Sri Lanka, and about the 2004 tsunami. She discusses her marriage to Rikaz Thaha in 2008, and immigrating to the United States in 2010. Rikaz Thaha talks about his career and about the immigration process. Sarah Rikaz talks about adjusting to life in the U.S., about working and raising a family in the Portland, Oregon, area, and about her career as an artist. She closes the interview by discussing her plans for the future.

Dates

  • 2019 January 11

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Joint copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society and The Immigrant Story. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/

Biographical note

Sarah Rikaz was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 1985. In 2006, she earned a degree in graphic design from the Institute of Business Management. In 2008, she and Rikaz Thaha were married; they later had two children. Rikaz Thaha moved to the United States shortly afterward, and in 2010, Sarah Rikaz joined him in Portland, Oregon. She became a freelance artist and illustrator of children’s books by Portland authors.

Extent

673 Megabytes (1 audio file (WAV, 1 hr., 1 min., 16 sec.))

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Oral history interview with Sarah Rikaz conducted by Sankar Raman on January 11, 2019, for The Immigrant Story. Rikaz discusses her career as an artist and her experiences in Portland, Oregon, as an immigrant from Sri Lanka.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of The Immigrant Story, June 2021 (RL2021-057).

Publication note

An article about Sarah Rikaz, "Sketching a Life in Secret" by Monica Salazar, was based on this interview and published on The Immigrant Story website at https://theimmigrantstory.org/sketching/.

Creator

Title
Guide to the oral history interview with Sarah Rikaz
Status
Completed
Author
Sarah Stroman
Date
2022
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library Repository

Contact:
1200 SW Park Ave.
Portland OR 97205 United States
5033065204
5033065240