ANTANANARIVO
NOVEMBER 4 - NOVEMBER 25, 2023
Fondation His delighted to welcome Balade mentale, an immersive installation by Arilala Ophélia Ralamboson, vice-winner of the 2023 edition of Prix Paritana. Arilala Ophélia Ralamboson received tailored support from Fondation H team, as well as a production grant to support the realization of her exhibition.
Balade mentale, the artist's first solo exhibition, is an invitation to penetrate the human mind and explore its darker recesses. Presented in the form of a labyrinth evocative of the pathway of the mind, the installation by Arilala Ophélia Ralamboson consists of a set of sixty-meter-long textile pieces, a mask fashioned from metal parts and a mirror.
The centerpiece of the exhibition is the fabric labyrinth that immerse visitors in an abstract universe. The fabric pieces are cut out to reflect breaks, changes and inconsistencies, then sewn with closed seams to suggest continuities between states of mind, or at times with open seams to evoke scars that are hard to heal. Tangible and at the same time abstract, the lines are sinuous, the patterns and designs are intuitive and random. Block painting (a traditional printing technique for reproducing a design that has been carved on a piece of wood, which is used as a stamp) allows to create repeated designs in the work.
The mask symbolizes artifice, a facade we create for ourselves to hide a dark side, a camouflage for insecurities, a (fake) ornament to help fit (more easily) in society. The mask is made of metal, a sturdy but rusty material. It is adorned with fake pearls, and the artist hides the oxidation of the metal with black paint. In the exhibition, the mask is placed just under the mirror, facing the visitor, so as to subject him or her to a choice: to look ahead and make do with the comfort of metaphorically wearing the mask, or to raise his or her head and look at himself or herself in the mirror.
The mirror, placed high up, facing the ground, has a dual effect: self-confrontation on the one hand, and the most fulfilling part on the other, which is the satisfaction of seeing oneself and finding oneself again.
This installation, imagined by Arilala Ophélia Ralamboson, is accompanied by art therapy music composed by musician Môta Soa, and a poetic text written by author Elie Ramanankavana. The poem is divided into seven extracts displayed indifferent areas of the space, to be read in any order the visitor desires as he or she moves through the exhibition.
INTERVIEW OF ARILALA OPHELIA RALAMBOSON