Re-Thinking How Our Culture Experiences the Cemetery

In addition to our growing inclination towards contemporary practices like cremation and green burial, there is one simpler way for us to re-imagine the cultural staple that is the cemetery. What if we see the grounds as a gallery of art?

As The Daily Undertaker explains, “Art and cemeteries are a good combination because art has the power to help us see the world in new ways. After interacting with art, we have a new perspective on the familiar sights and situations in our life. This quality of art makes it very appropriate in this setting, where we come to contemplate some of our most challenging issues.”

The extravagant memorials placed at burial sites, along with the depth of history involved, has always made them sort of de facto museums of cultural histories. Why not approach them as such?

That’s just what artist Winner Jumalon did in 2010 with his installation of portraits in a graveyard in Manila. The artist drew on the customs of various cultures to inspire the exhibition. He took inspiration from non-traditional, non-Christian customs, like those of Mindanao, where burial sites are marked with carvings of images of the person who has died, and some Eastern traditions which bury those who have died with objects of meaning.

Jumalon’s pieces are each a portrait on one side of the canvas, and a still life of an object of meaning to the person on the reverse side. The artist Ruel Caasi helped Jumalon set up the installation on the grassy gallery.

How could you use a memorial for a loved one to create a work of art and create a thoughtful, contemplative space?