IslANDs - Compressed Realities - Exploded Photoworks

A Viking in Pondicherry
by Sebastian Cortes
Meeting Gudjon at a rooftop party in the heart of South
India was the start of an interesting journey. His Viking-like
features and his cowboy swagger, off set by a decidedly
unique and never trite conversation, added to his “original
persona”. Our initial topic of conversation was prompted
by my admiration for the Icelandic government’s courage
and resolve during the last financial disaster of 2008. His
response to my favorable comment made it clear to me that
he was not as impressed as I was and he proceeded to outline
in detail the many shortcomings. His critical analyses and
honest detailing of the facts was a refreshing change from
the superficial party chatting. He proceeded to charm me by
commenting favorably on my last book on Pondicherry and
to suggest that maybe he, as an architect/artist, interested in
conservation, could offer some support to my mini crusade to
bring new life to the many heritage and abandoned buildings
in Pondicherry.
The next time Gudjon and I hooked up, he presented me
with an exhaustive study of the abandoned distillery in
Pondicherry, a massive and potentially interesting structure,
which sits unattended and unused on one of the best
stretches of the Pondicherry coastline. I was not only taken
aback by his detailed effort, which gave rise to some very deep
discussions about heritage and architecture but I was also
pleasantly stunned by his forward looking energy – certainly
a residue of his New York years at Columbia – a very pleasant
change from the excessively laidback approach to the future
that reigns in South India.
Over the next couple of years Gudjon would dedicate time,
energy and many personal contacts to the endless initiatives
needed to awaken the slumber around the question of
Pondicherry’s heritage. Meetings with INTACH, where his
innovative and sometimes overly advanced restructuring
proposals caused a few eyes to roll, would always produce a
vibrant air of possibility but the mechanisms of politics and
interest seemed always to anchor the forward momentum,
leaving everything stuck in the doldrums of unfinished
business. Amazingly, Gudjon was never demotivated and
between trips around the world and other commissions,
he always found the time to check in on the Pondicherry
situation.
The results are yet to be seen and maybe years are still
needed for both of us to witness the heritage and cultural
revival that we both wish for Pondicherry but Gudjon’s efforts
and energy have certainly proved that his creative spirit,
which he celebrates in many ways, may also find a source of
confirmation in his concern for the future of the Indo-French
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