Moving Mountains

Photographs by Ingo Kniest

Ingo Kniest

In the exhibition Berge versetzen (Moving Mountains), Ingo Kniest devotes himself to questions regarding the transformation of religion. In Europe, the rejection of Christian institutions has not resulted in a complete break with religious practice. Traditional, denominational self-images often give way to new patterns of religious identity — in the form of an individualisation or conversion of faith. For religious minorities and people in diaspora, on the other hand, adherence to the traditional practice of faith in a foreign context is often a major factor in shaping identity. Ingo Kniest explores the question of religious practice in our time as it defines and redefines socio-religious identity. His images deal with people who stand divided between their own traditions and those of a foreign culture, and between this world and the next. He accompanies Orthodox Christians on pilgrimage in Catholic Poland, portrays German converts, and documents Tamil Hindus during their rituals in diaspora.