NEW PERSPECTIVES ON REPRESENTING THE DEAD

Beyond Tradition | Erika Serodio

---

Artist: Gabriel Parniak. Photo courtesy of Erika Serodio.

In the middle of the night on this year’s Nuit Blanche, my friends and I stumbled upon a collection of coffins that made us think, made us tear up, and made us laugh out loud. One in particular left us all in a fit of giggles – it was decorated by the artist Gabriel Parniak, who wrapped it in home-construction paper with a clever glowing inscription: “looking for a new home that suits your lifestyle?” It was a strange feeling for me to be laughing at a coffin, a moment of cognitive dissonance.

Eulogy for the Coffin Factory. Photo courtesy of Erika Serodio.

This installation was titled Eulogy for the Coffin Factory; it was composed of 24 coffins, each decorated by an artist who had been a previous tenant in the art studios and workshops of the building at 89-109 Niagara Street in Toronto. In early 2019, the artists in the building were evicted as it was slated for redevelopment. Through this art installation, the artists paid homage to the tenants before them – the National Casket Company – and they used “creative acts as a form of grieving.”

Artist: Erick García Gómez. Photo courtesy of Erika Serodio.

Selected coffins from the original installation were shown again this past weekend at Harbourfront Centre for a Day of the Dead celebration – a tradition known for commemorating the lives of people and their achievements without focusing on sorrow and mourning. The experience of laughing and thinking about the life and death of the Coffin Factory was made more rich in this context. After the coffins, were Ofrendas – art installations that creatively commemorated those who have died seeking asylum, Latin American immigrants passed in the Sonora and Arizona deserts, and the bees – a population in alarming decline. Up one flight of stairs from here were more traditional ofrendas which took the form of alters that commemorated loved ones who had been lost. In both traditional and contemporary versions, the subject matter was heartbreaking but the bright colours and gorgeous designs had a celebratory tone. This didn’t feel so strange to me anymore.

Artist: Jade Leyva. Photo courtesy of Erika Serodio.

The Day of the Dead tradition is listed by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The creative displays made to represent this intangible piece of heritage were thought provoking. Paying homage to those who came before us does not always need to be sad. It can be fun, it can be bright, and it can be beautiful.

Artist: Brian Medina. Photo courtesy of Erika Serodio.