Until September 24, at the Chapelle du Méjan, Actes Sud presents the exhibition and the book by Charles Fréger: Aam Aastha.
The Aam Aastha (“common beliefs”) photographic project is an extension of the series produced by Charles Fréger on masquerades around the world: Wilder Mann (since 2010), Yokainoshima (2013-2015), Cimarron (2014-2018 ). The photographer travels here to India to meet a pantheon with a thousand faces, embodied during ritual and sacred performances in temples, theaters and streets. Varying according to regions, ethnic and religious communities but also according to current events, the representation of the gods reveals a masked game with the social roles assigned in Indian society. In a political context dominated by a nationalist Hinduism which tends to standardize ancestral practices, the incarnation of avatars can be a reinforcement of power or, on the contrary, a subversive practice.
