Photo by Grace Nkem
We gathered at the Gallery to celebrate the dead in our lives. The event, imagined by artist Susanne Oellinger and by Arabella von Arx, aimed at bringing the departed into our space as our culture tends to silence anything related to death.
Lupe Inès Cariño’s show, Sangre Sagrade (Sacred Blood), currently at the Gallery, includes works about death and ancestors, as these are part of Mexican folk culture. His work addresses the body and life, many pieces featuring blood, our life source.
Attendees shared stories about their loved ones, bringing emotions, spirituality to the space. This echoed the art of Cariño, and it was a beautiful thing to come together as a community in that setting.
A participant talked about how we know of places that played a role in the lives of our close ones without having ever been there, a kind of ghost space. Maybe it’s a family house that got sold, maybe a vacation place that had meaning, a forest, a hiding corner.
People diverse in every sense of the word found communion in opening up about their relationship to our mortality, and its mysteries.
We each chose a mask that we related to: it was striking to see people’s personalities and spirits in the expressive faces. Transformed in our appearance, we channeled for each other the presence of the departed with the use of images and words.
After the shared experience, we enjoyed a meal and drinks together as new and old friends in a sweet, warm atmosphere.
At Gallery Particulier, we imagine events that integrate the arts, and provide a community experience. Our mission is to expand the reach of visual arts, and that’s one way, amongst many, that we put that in practice.
Photo by Ella Midownik