Festival of Death and Dying 2017

Overview

Step into the light and embrace your own mortality at the unsettlingly-named Festival of Death and Dying. Curated by artist and scholar Peter Banki along with festival dramaturge Victoria Spence, this two-day event will feature a mixture of workshops, talks and performances in order to examine the western fear of death while celebrating all that life has to offer.

Standout events on the program include Share My Coffin, a role-playing workshop in which participants will be cast in the role of both mourners and the deceased and End of Life Dreams, a discussion with palliative care physician Dr. Michael Barbato about the experiences of dying patients. Mortality Performance Night will see an evening of long and short performance works from artists including Alice Cummins, Alan Schacher and WeiZen Ho.

The Festival of Death and Dying will be held at Dancehouse Studios in Melbourne on September 9-10.

Image: 'Free falling No.1' from the series Death Suits Me Fine by Paula Mahoney.