The Promise is the second 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 footsteps 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.
This second book 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 and Nepal. The Ramayana has been continuously rewritten and reinterpreted through time. This French / English language retelling is in hardcover, measures 24.5 x 30 cm, and has 116 pages.
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 photographs for The Promise and the story has been retold 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, 18.Apr.2017
ISBN: 979 10 96383 01 6
Shortlisted Author Book Award, Arles, 2017
20 November
