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. From 2013 to 2019, Yogananthan has been travelling from north to south India, retracing the itinerary of the epic’s heroes. Between fiction and reality, he deliberately blurs the lines through multiple aesthetic approaches: colour, 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 about Rama’s life on the road, where he is joined by Sita and his brother Lakshmana.

Exile
First edition of 1.000 copies
Photographs: Vasantha Yogananthan
Text: Arshia Sattar
Graphic design: Kummer&Herrman
Soft cover
24,5 x 30 cm
51 photographs
192 pages (Japanese binding)
French / English
Publication date: September 2017
ISBN: 979-10-96383-04-7
Published by Chose Commune
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