Research Area B Staging Religion (B7)

Project Leader: Axel Michaels
Project Members: Silke Bechler, Heike Moser

This pilot project was concluded in 2008 and henceforth continued as “Religion on Stage: Traditional South Asian Performances in New Public Spheres and Media" (B14).

Not only languages but also traditional performances are greatly endangered both in Asia and Europe. In Asia, the documentation of such practices has become increasingly relevant for the people and countries concerned and is often understood as acknowledgement of their cultural heritage, sometimes even as source of revitalisation of endangered practices. New media technologies have crucially altered the deployment and significance of such performances. They also contributed to globalise regional performances. Nowadays, traditional Indian rituals are performed all over Europe and are re-contextualised with remarkable additions and transformations. This project aimed to systematically and scientifically analyse this process of media-induced change in public representation in Asia and Europe, ranging from film, video and audio recordings to printed images and photographs.