In cooperation with Galleri Linné in Uppsala, Sweden, Anders Ryman shows a series of fine art photographic prints which have been specially selected from images created while working on the project Rites of Life. He has named this series Pathways.

http://gallerilinne.com

On 21 April, 2012, the indoor exhibition Rites of Life opens at the County Museum of Gävleborg in Gävle, Sweden. The exhibition is on show until July 29, 2012.

http://www.lansmuseetgavleborg.se

On 21 April, Rites of Life opens at the County Museum of Gävleborg in Gävle, Sweden. The exhibition will be on show until 29 July, 2012.

Saturday 21 April, 2 pm
Opening of the exhibition Rites of Life in the presence of photographer Anders Ryman
The ehxibition is officially opened by author Anna Jörgensdotter

Welcome!

I had been asked to select one image from the Rites of Life project which showed a ritual that had made a strong impression on me. I am often asked which ritual is my favourite or has made the strongest impression on me, and it is always very hard to choose. So many things made a strong impression while working on this project.

Anyway, I chose a picture from a reburial ceremony, a unique death ritual performed in the highlands of Madagascar.

In this part of Madagascar the dead are buried in family graves. Sometimes, when the family has gathered enough resources in terms of food and money, they hold a reburial ceremony, during which they open the grave and bring out the most recently buried. They dead are wrapped in new shrouds, given liquor, told stories of what has happened since last time and then hoisted onto the shoulders of the descendants who dance with them several times around the family grave before returning them to their resting places beneath the ground.

The reason behind this ritual, which may seem macabre at first glance but which is truly an act of love, is that it is important to attend to and thereby be blessed by ones ancestors without whose support nothing can go well in life.

For the interview on Finnish television please go to this link:
http://areena-beta.yle.fi/ng/areena/tv/1479735

On 17 March, 2012, the indoor exhibition Rites of Life opens at Västmanland County Museum in Västerås, Sweden. The exhibition is on show until May 20, 2012.

http://www.vastmanlandslansmuseum.se

On 17 March, Rites of Life opens at Västmanland County Museum in Västerås, Sweden. The exhibition, which is supported by Skandia, will be on show until 20 May, 2012.

Saturday 17 March
1 pm. Opening of the exhibition Rites of Life.
The ehxibition is officially opened by Anders Björklund, director of the Museum of Ethnography.
1.30 pm. Tour of the exhibition together with photographer Anders Ryman.

Welcome!

Some of the images are from the Rites of Life project, but I will also show other photographs, for example one that I took shortly after the Easter celebrations, when I accompanied my hostess Karen Utsi on a trip by reindeer sled across the Finnmarksvidda plateau. We were moving some reindeer to the main herd in time for the spring migration. What a fabulous experience to be traveling in this slow, age-old manner across the snow-covered tundra. But when returning to Kautokeino we instead traveled fast by snowmobile, and the same distance that had taken two days by reindeer sled now took slightly less than three hours, a very good illustration as to why the snowmobile has revolutionized life for the Saami.

On 15 December, the Rites of Life indoor exhibition opens at Volkswagen Automobil Forum Unter den Linden in Berlin. The exhibition, which in German is called ”Riten des Lebens”, will be on show until 29 January 2012.

The indoor exhibition Rites of Life opens at Volkswagen Automobil Forum Unter den Linden in Berlin on 15 December, 2011. The exhibition, which in German is called ”Riten des Lebens”, will be on show until 29 January, 2012.

www.volkswagenag.com/content/afb/content/de/veranstaltungen/riten.html

The winner of one of the fine art prints, which were on display during the exhibition at Varberg Fortress, Sweden, is Linus Andersson who lives in Bagarmossen, Sweden. His chosen picture, ”Sleeping pilgrim in Varanasi, India”, will be sent to him shortly.

Each participant chose a picture he or she would like to have in case of winning the draw. Linus Andersson’s choice was a picture taken by Anders Ryman during a visit to Varanasi, India, to document the local cremation rituals.