While studying and researching wedding invitation cards in India, noted historian Arundhati Virmani came up with an interesting plan to extend her investigation into the rituals of weddings in France.
The exhaustive study undertaken by this faculty member of School for Advanced Studies in Social Sciences (EHESS) in Marseille has proved to be a catalyst for an eclectic eight-day exhibition of pictures, paintings and other materials at Art Gallery of India International Centre Annexe beginning February 21. “Mariages à la française: Shifts in a cultural grammar”, showcasing black and white and colour images of French wedding rituals is a significant sociological work as it highlights transformation of French weddings from a predominantly Catholic Church ritual to a civil ceremony.
“The exhibition's point of departure is a predominantly rural, largely Catholic society, tied to family values, and rooted in patrimonial logics. Its point of arrival is an urban, multi-religious society, open to the whole world and its diverse cultures and customs, and since 2013 to same sex marriages,” says Virmani, who has taught at Delhi University before moving to France. In contemporary society, Virmani holds, paradoxically, marriage that has lost its original centrality still retains a strong social, symbolic and visual value. “The exhibition follows the changing styles and symbolism of a ritual that moved from social conformism to becoming the moment of fantasy permitting a statement of one’s personality and individuality.”
- Virmani says, bridal gowns continue to be the centrepiece of ceremonies. “French brides often wore regional costumes. The white dress became the established norm only from the Renaissance onwards. For 2017, the trend is lace, thin dress straps, bare shoulders and plunging necklines highlighting the back. Whilst the white bridal dress still remains predominant, a kind of fashion statement, it is not a must. Many women choose to get married in a formal skirt today.”
More importantly, Virmani says, this is part of an ongoing project which aims in the future to be a comparative study of Indian and French society. “Is this global moment producing similar patterns in such specifically cultural rituals like marriages? Are such widely different societies like India and France, converging in social behaviours? Or can we still see regional variations in France that resist the pressure of global fashions and trends in marriage.”
Apart from sparkling images of French weddings, the exhibition will showcase objects central to the wedding rite from the traditional wedding dress to the more scatological chamber pots, now used to serve champagne and chocolate to the new couple. A collection of material – wedding invitation, bride’s dress, matrimonial advertisements, short extracts of literary works, paintings, video and sound recordings – that characterise the ceremony will also be on display.
Elaborating on the riveting theme, Virmani says, “In the past few decades, French marriages have become a casualty and the rate of divorce is rising. Everybody is curious to know whether the French society is witnessing demise of marriage as the foundation of the family unit. The recent passionate debates in France around the extension of the right to marriage to persons of the same sex, proved that far from becoming unnecessary, marriage is, on the contrary, perceived as a fundamental right for everyone. This is a key subject not only for us but also for Indian families, young people, businesses engaged in catering to demands for weddings.”
While many feel that there is a dip in wedding bazaar in France, Virmani maintains that the reality is that wedding bazaar is thriving in France, with a strong market for bridal dresses, wedding accessories, wedding feasts and theme marriages.
Reflecting on her study of Indian wedding invitation cards, Virmani says she analysed them as objects with a social life, equipped with an agency that permits the wedding invitation to realise social operations. “I called it ‘Publicising the intimate’. The wedding card, through its materiality and its aesthetic value, reflects the attention the giver shows in sending it. But beyond that it participates in the construction of social relations that are changing rapidly in India.”
Powerful medium
On using photograph as the medium to present the narrative, the curator says, “A historian turns automatically to texts, of which photos form an essential part as source material. They capture emotions and situations in a powerful way. The photos reflect the social practices of different social groups, from royalty to aristocratic elites and the urban classes to the ordinary working class and the rural peasantry. There are photos of same sex weddings as well. There is going to be an audio visual presentation of mixed weddings: North African weddings in Marseille or North African-Comorian weddings. The exhibition will feature the works of one contemporary photographer Christopher Sarramon.”
Over the years, Virmani has been collecting objects related to the ritual in flea markets, antique fairs while travelling across France, talking to people and earthing out old family albums and photos. “Some of the objects come from my personal collection, other private collections and iconographic documents have been lent by the Museum of the Civilizations of the Mediterranean World based in Marseille,” she informs.
According to the multi-faceted historian, who learnt Odissi dance from Madhavi Mudgal, there are takeaways for Indian society as well. “The shift to wedding as a social event, a happening, is universal. For Indian elites, it is a bit sad that they are once again drifting towards imitation of the West. They are unable to free themselves from a colonised mental frame.”
