Our Death is an immersive exhibition process about mortality that was hosted by Galeria Dizajn / BWA Wrocław in June 2023.
Visitors could witness the construction of a coffin and its transformation into a unique piece of art. Guided by me as an end-of-life doula they could experience lying in the coffin and contemplating mortality. The project addresses the lack of supportive space in our society for the human experience of death, loss and grief.
At some point in the future, it will be the last day of your life.
We don’t know when and how you will die, but we are certain it will happen.
Can you imagine leaving this world with a smile upon your face?
In a culture that represents death mostly in the context of tragedy, violence, and catastrophe, it is difficult to see the end of life as a peaceful event. What if we
were to not only accept death’s inevitability, but also embrace it as a valuable part of our lives?
I invite you to get in touch with Our Death. In this interactive performance, you are welcomed to step closer and say hello to your mortality in a friendly way.
I Creation
The performance starts in the empty gallery space.
I carry wood panels and tools into the exhibition space.
With the help of staff members and visitors, I construct a simple coffin.
The visitors and gallery team use brushes and paint to decorate the coffin.
It transforms from a functional item into a collective piece of art.
II Contemplation
THE COFFIN
The visitors of the gallery can lay down in the coffin and experience the thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations coming up in this position. During certain hours each day I am present to guide them through a meditation on transience. I invite them to take a look at their life from the perspective of its end.
This coffin has been built and decorated with good thoughts and wishes – for you.
If you want, you can lie down in it. Just take off your shoes and climb in.
Take your time. Observe your thoughts and feelings.
One day in the future, you will lie in a coffin once again.
Before that happens, you still have some time.
Ask yourself how you want to spend it, so you will be able to die in peace,
with acceptance and maybe even with a smile upon your face.
What do you still have to do?
What do you still need to learn?
And which gifts would you still like to bring into the world?
THE SPIRAL
On their own, the visitors can walk into and out of a spiral on the floor, which is created out of natural material: soil and sticks, seeds and sprouts.
Is there something in your life that you need to change?
Some kind of weight that you would like to let go?
Take a stone.
Feel it in your palm.
Let it represent the grief and pain you are carrying.
Walk the spiral and place the stone into the basket.
Take a ball of earth from the bowl. It contains seeds.
Walk out of the spiral and back into your life.
Find a good place to plant the seeds of something new.
THE WALL OF WISHES
If there is something you still want or
need to experience in your life, please
share it with us on the Wall of Wishes.
III Cremation
The flowers, candles and other objects used during the performance are placed into the coffin.
The coffin is taken to the crematory.
The urn with the ashes returns to the gallery.
We meet in a ritual circle to share what we have experienced and listen to the stories of others.
We say goodbye to what has passed and honour what we would like to remember.
Together, we return the materials borrowed for the exhibition back to nature:
The seeds are buried in earth.
The sticks are offered to fire.
The stones are entrusted to water.
Read more about Our Death on the website of BWA Wrocław.
Watch the CURATOR TALK about Our Death.
Download the project brochure about Our Death as PDF.