ANTANANARIVO
DECEMBER 6 - JANUARY 2, 2025
Andy Rasoloharivony, born in 1999 in Fianarantsoa, Madagascar, lives and works in Antananarivo. This photograph and video artist second joint winner of Prix Paritana 2024 grew up in Antsirabe and spent part of his life in Tuléar, in southern Madagascar. These cities have profoundly influenced his artistic sensitivity and work.
His interest in visual art, through photography and video, began in 2016 when he traveled repeatedly along National Route No. 7 (RN7), which connects the capital Antananarivo to Tuléar. Gradually, he developed an almost meditative fascination with the arid, even desert-like landscapes, which brought him a sense of calm, serenity, and self-reflection.
In 2017, Andy Rasoloharivony visited a Mikea village, an experience that left a deep impression on him due to the richness of this people’s culture and way of life. The Mikea, one of the last indigenous populations of Madagascar, inhabit the dry forests of the island’s southwestern region. Living until recently in near self-sufficiency, they survive through their mastery of forest resources, hunting, and gathering.
In 2024, as part of Prix Paritana, Andy Rasoloharivony set off on a solitary journey along the RN7 to retrace his steps. This journey, experienced as a personal pilgrimage, took him to the village of Ankindranoke, where he completed his quest for images begun seven years earlier. Et ils gravèrent le sable [As they engraved the sand] presents a photographer's subjective view of the Mikea community, now exiled from their native forest. Resilient, the community has adapted and settled in a new village. In this exhibition, Andy Rasoloharivony recreates snippets of life scenes he captured during the days and evenings spent with this community.
"Engraving the sand" seeks, according to the artist, to highlight the urgent need for memory in the face of the societal and environmental challenges confronting this people. Amid a forced socio-cultural transformation, the disappearance of traditions, and the erosion of their way of life, Andy Rasoloharivony’s photographic series underscores the importance of cultural transmission. Through his works, he captures a contemporary reality, honoring a collective memory threatened with extinction, while questioning the impermanence and resilience of the landscapes, cultures, and ways of life surrounding them.
In the video that complements the photographic series, Andy Rasoloharivony explores the profound connection between people and the land, highlighting the legacy that women, as the focal point of the work, pass down to future generations.
By engraving this memory insand, the artist is aware of choosing a material that is both fragile and ever-changing. The sand, present in the space and inevitably disturbed by the passage of visitors, cannot retain the same shape throughout the exhibition.
