Salon makes death the topic
Death Salon, a group based in Boston, USA, held its eighth get together on the weekend of 28-30 September.
Described as ‘informal gatherings of intellectuals’, Death Salon is designed to encourage conversations on mortality and mourning and their effects on culture and history. The group holds public events and hosts an online community.
Its September event took place at the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It offered “a varied and robust lineup of death-positive innovators, artists, and advocates” as well as a range of events and activities.
These included a workshop on caring for the dead, a tour of Mount Auburn Cemetery, a talk on natural burials, a presentation by Mount Auburn Cemetery artist-in-residence Patrick Gabridge, a Boston-based playwright, and a book-signing session by author Caitlin Doughty.
The main conference took place on Saturday, 29 September where discussions and presentations covered everything from one of Baltimore’s oldest cemeteries, to issues around the siting of graves for people who have committed heinous acts in life.
Those attending the event were able to buy items at a marketplace where, intriguingly, one vendor of candles and scents was named after the 19th century Edinburgh bodysnatchers Burke and Hare
Tags: America, Boston, Burke, death salon, Hare, salon, talking, USA