Page - 49 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 03/02

SinnRäume. An Exhibition | 49www.jrfm.eu 2017, 3/2, 37–51 in applying this mediation technique of focusing consciously on case stud- ies, we relinquished any claim to be able to communicate any form of objective truth. the objects are shown in their complex individual significance. The exhibi- tion form makes it clear that the case studies are not fixed examples of specific religions. the MUseUM exhiBitioN as a MediUM exhiBitiNG (IN) RELIGIOUS STUDIES Reflection on modes of presentation and mediation possibilities appears una- voidable in the face of the heterogeneous research object of contemporary re- ligiosity. Jana scholze has argued that theoretical exhibition analysis remains absent from the German-language scholarly canon. Building upon her argu- ments, the SinnRäume exhibition can be seen as a medium for the mediation of research results as well as a religious studies approach to religions. We consider SinnRäume a performative exhibition that transpires with visi- tors and guides. Photographs, texts, and even sound stations can only implicate meanings, but guided tours in particular help create discussion of these private religious spaces. such discussions and guided tours are inherent to the concept. they take place during the opening hours of the Museum of religions, which is mostly accessible only on a guided tour. Conversations about interreligious dialog and tolerance arose within the guided groups. religious tolerance and freedom were nearly always comment- ed on by the visitors without any input from the guides. another recurring topic was astonishment at the diversity of religious affiliations in Germany beyond Christianity, a diversity that was somehow familiar to most visitors but had not been paid much attention previously. While such discussions were not explicitly intended in the conception of the exhibition, they are always encouraged. every group of visitors adds something to the exhibition, sometimes in the form of notes, sometimes in the form of stories. these add to the narratives of the exhibition and are included in subsequent guided tours, therefore con- stantly amplifying the exhibition. SinnRäume is fully realized by the visiting of the exhibition. Our theoretical assumptions outlined above define a religious studies–based exhibition approach as ideally a value neutral and unbiased representation of religious styles. SinnRäume uses an actor-centered approach that defines reli- gion in a broad sense through an emic view of the persons portrayed. this ap- proach is also realized in the participatory character of the exhibit, which inte- grates the visitors themselves into the generation of meaning.