A touch of Divinity

From 1997 to 2000 Jan van IJken worked on a photo project about religiosity in Eastern Europe. Travelling through Poland, the Ukraine, Slovakia and Rumania, he was present at pilgrimages, religious festivals, liturgies and processions. Time and again he was touched by the people’s absolute devotion – in very difficult situations sometimes – and by the purity and sincerity of their rituals. The result is a series of 55 beautiful black-and-white photos which reflect the revival of religious traditions in a number of former Warshaw pact countries. The photos were published in the photobook ‘A touch of Divinity’ (2001) and were exhibited in a travelling exhibition in monumental churches in the Netherlands.