PHOTO:Vasantha Yogananthan-A Myth of Two Souls
Working exclusively in analogue, using large or medium format cameras that intentionally slow down the creative process, Vasantha Yogananthan’s projects are generally developed over long periods of time and harness a distinctive color palette based on natural light. The blurred boundary between reality and fantasy lies at the heart his work.
By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Musée de l’Elysée Archive
Vasantha Yogananthan’s solo exhibition “A Myth of Two Souls” (2013-2019) is an ambitious ongoing body of work inspired by the Indian legend of The Ramayana. The seven chapters exhibited: “Early Times”, “The Promise”, “Exile”, “Dandaka”, “The Quest”, “Lanka”, “The Epilogue”. offer visitors the chance to wander through both time and geography whilst introducing them to rarely used photographic techniques and an original scenography. The exhibition includes photographic works, repainted prints and a multi-channel video installation. When Vasantha Yogananthan was a child growing up in France his Sri Lankan father would tell him stories from the Hindu epic poem the “Ramayana”. Tales of heroism, filial duty and love full of magic, allegory and divinity, these stories were at the time just that – stories. But when Yogananthan first visited India in 2013, he came face-to-face with the pervasiveness of myth and legend on the subcontinent. In a land steeped in ancient history, folklore and veracity are deeply intertwined, and attempting to disentangle the two can be futile. Eventually, Yogananthan decided to stop trying. For six years, Vasantha Yogananthan made regular trips to India and Sri Lanka to complete his project, of which the greater part of the seven chapters are exhibited together for the first time. A specific area for each chapter is set up on the lower level of the Musée de l’Elysée, creating a particular atmosphere specific to each of the stylistics called upon by the artist to develop his story. While the first few rooms and indeed, chapters, are relatively traditionally laid out, exhibiting framed prints on the wall, the following rooms make it possible to showcase alternative systems of exhibiting, such as screening, paperhanging and installation. The artist develops different aesthetic treatments and explores, or revisits, ancestral techniques. This is particularly true for the inaugural section of the exhibition, made up of black and white photographs taken with a view camera and then colored by hand by an Indian painter in keeping with the 19th Century tradition before the advent of color film. This method hints at a kind of temporal rupture and the type of dialogue between eras that Yogananthan hoped to create. “When I started the project one of my main interests was the concept of a journey through time” he explains. The project blends dreamy, evocative landscapes with staged portraits of passersby acting out scenes from the saga. “During my third trip I got the idea of asking the locals, and the project shifted” Yogananthan says, adding that hand-tinted images also fed into this thinking. Poring over historical collections of such pictures, he noted they were all taken in photography studios, typically the preserve of the wealthy. Each chapter developed in the exhibition is also accompanied by a publication. To date, the following have been published by Editions Chose Commune: “Early Times” (2016), “The Promise” (2017), “Exile” (2017) and “Dandaka” (2018). The first book “Early Times” tells of the youth and education of Rama, son of King Dasharatha, and of Sita, daughter of King Janaka, who do not yet know each other but are destined to meet and fall in love. The Ramayana has been continuously rewritten and reinterpreted through time, and for Yoganathan’s book has been retold by Indian writer Anjali Raghbeer. “The Promise” celebrates the love between Rama and Sita, the two main characters of the story. Their union, a festive but challenging event, is strongly embedded in the collective imagination in India. For this chapter of the Ramayana, Vasantha Yogananthan collaborated with the Indian writer Arshia Sattar. The end of chapter two announces that Rama is banished from the kingdom, forced to live in exile during fourteen years. The third chapter “Exile” tells about Rama’s life in the forest, where he is joined by Sita and his brother Lakshmana. For this book, Vasantha Yogananthan once again collaborated with Arshia Sattar. “Dandaka”: The end of chapter three sees Lakshmana cut Surpanakha’s nose off. After seeing his sister disfigured, Ravana, the king of Sri Lanka, starts to plot his revenge. Rama and Lakshmana have no idea that their barbaric act – the mutilation of a woman – has sealed Sita’s fate. The fourth chapter tells about Sita’s abduction by Ravana. This opus mixes extracts from the Ramayana comic strip, published in the 1970s, with photographs by Vasantha Yogananthan.
Info: Curators: Vasantha Yogananthan and Lydia Dorner, Musée de l’Elysée, 18 avenue de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Duration: 20/2-5/5/19, Days & Hours: Tue-Sun 11:00-18:00, www.elysee.ch
