Seite - 46 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Band 03/02

46 | Celica Fitz and Anna Matter www.jrfm.eu 2017, 3/2, 37–51 other cards cite the exhibition organizers at work and can be associated with the explanatory texts on methodology. the practice of interviewing and the role of the interviewer are part of the research process and are integrated into the exhibit. so, for example: the tape recorder is already running. i would start then… um… Just begin by tell- ing me something about yourself, something biographical, something about your religious biography if you like.21 (interview with Markus, december 2014, 00:00:12) The search for the fitting quotations undertaken by each new visitor or group of visitors is accompanied by new conversations that create new associations between the interviewees and the working categories. for example, during one guided tour of the exhibition, the differences and similarities between Markus’ ascetic lifestyle, inspired by his evangelical church community, and the anicon- ism of the ahmadiyya community, as tabish explained it in his interview, was up for discussion. in the moderation of these discussions, emphasis is placed not on any superficial comparisons based on the material objects and how they are ordered but on using these insights as points of departure for discussing the corresponding religious ideals. exhiBitiNG sPaCes aNd MateriaL reLiGioN UsiNG differeNt Media early on, a pivotal question concerned how space might be exhibited. in light of the focus on rooms, houses, and gardens as well as on practices performed in these spaces and places, the biggest challenge was to find a way to transfer these spaces into a small exhibition room less than 20 square meters in size. The first ideas involving recreating parts of these spaces were quickly dropped in favor of using photographs of the rooms and objects instead. In combination with the explanatory texts, quotes, and interactive elements, we aimed to communicate an understanding of these spaces that reached beyond simple rooms. The pragmatic decision to use photographs of rooms and objects instead of the objects themselves was also influenced by the exhibition team’s reflec- tions on the documentation of lived religion itself. the spaces being shown and the ensembles of objects in them were marked less by aesthetic criteria than by their status as a mnemonic device for the interviewees, and they were left in their original state. in practice, this meant that in photographing them, we neither removed objects nor dusted or rearranged them in any way. The per- 21 “Das Tonbandgerät läuft jetzt schon. Ich würd dann auch anfangen. Ähm. Erzähl doch einfach etwas über dich, etwas biografisches, gern auch schon etwas zu deiner religiösen Biografie”, Interview with Markus, december 2014, 00:00:12.