Exploring the History of Cultural Interactions through Visual Material

Since the end of the 20th century, images have been a crucial entry point for cultural studies, and sophisticated tools for their analysis have been developed. Given that images easily travel across all kinds of borders, they can be helpful guides in the study of transcultural processes. This is particularly important for the study of religion, as images – which often play a central role in rituals and are constantly recreated for each new context – reveal the influence that outside cultures exert on a tradition. In addition, digital tools have opened up new possibilities whose impact on the study of images is not yet fully recognised. Based on these observations, this article addresses the following questions: How can the study of images contribute to the study of intercultural exchange in history, and what are the current trends? What dimensions should be considered when studying images in a cross-cultural or comparative context? How did the advent of digital tools change this research framework, with what advantages and what caveats? Finally, what is the impact of the dissemination of research results through Open Access journals on cultural exchanges, especially when visual material is involved? To illustrate these different questions, we follow the history of an image published in a previous issue of the Journal for Religion, Film and Media (JRFM), an image that was itself the product of complex cultural exchanges and has taken on a new role since its publication in the journal.