Photography has, since its invention, been used as a tool of documentation and evidence in archaeological work. At the same time archaeological work and the search for our past is a composition of scientific evidence and imagination.

Through this work, “Excavating an Imagination”, the artists Sarabhi Ravichandran (IN) and Andreas Langfeld (D) seek to examine the relationship between archaeology and photography within the processes of shaping and negotiating cultural identity and how both have been used to claim historical truth.

The work focuses on the ongoing Keeladi excavation, a site situated 12 km from Madurai and a part of the larger Vaigai Civilisation in the South Indian state of Tamilnadu.

It is an artistic research project mediated through photography, film, historic material and conversations with experts in different fields related to the subject.