Exile is the third chapter of Vasantha Yogananthan’s long-term project A Myth of Two Souls, which offers a contemporary retelling of The Ramayana. A seven-chapter tale first recorded by the Sanskrit poet Valmiki around 300 BC, The Ramayana is one of the founding epics of Hindu mythology.
Since 2013, Yogananthan has been traveling from north to south India, retracing the journeys of the epic’s heroes. Between fiction and reality, he deliberately blurs the lines through multiple aesthetic approaches: color, hand-painted and illustrated photographs are interspersed with vernacular images to compose the layers of this timeless story.
The end of Chapter Two announces that Rama is banished from the kingdom, forced to live in exile during fourteen years. The third chapter tells of Rama’s life in the forest, where he is joined by Sita and his brother Lakshmana. The Ramayana has been continuously rewritten and reinterpreted through time. This French / English language retelling is in softcover and measures 24.5 x 30 cm, with 192 pages that are in a Japanese binding.
See all chapters of A Myth of Two Souls: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
Chose Commune is an independent publishing house based in Marseille, France, which curates, edits, and produces artists books with a focus on photography and works on paper. Chose Commune is directed by Cécile Poimboeuf-Koizumi, co-founder with Vasantha Yogananthan. Vasantha Yogananthan made the images for Exile and the story is retold here by Indian writer Arshia Sattar. Graphic design is by Kummer&Herrman. Find more on Yogananthan‘s artistic practice on PhotoSouthAsia.
Copyright © 2022, PhotoSouthAsia. All Rights Reserved.
Photographs by Vasantha Yogananthan,
with text by Arshia Sattar,
and graphic design by Kummer&Herrman
Chose Commune, Marseille, 01.Sep.2017
ISBN: 979-10-96383-04-7
Shortlisted Photo Text Book Award, Arles, 2018
Shortlisted Nuit du Livre, 2018
20 November
