Monthlong festival in qathet explores love, loss and grief

qathet Art Centre (qAC) is preparing to launch Memento Mori in November. The monthlong festival sets participants up to explore all things related to life, love, loss, grief, death and dying.

Walk of Memories

For many, these kinds of topics may bring up uncomfortable feelings, however, the workshops range from the whimsical, such as an interactive guided meditation on the cycle of life and death by visiting dance artist Kait Ramsden, and the launch of the Telephone of the Wind installation at Powell River Regional Cemetery in Cranberry. 

Then, there are the more practical workshops, such as advance care planning with Four Tides Hospice Society, and learning about green burial options in qathet with Community Supported Dying (CSD).

Four Tides member Sheila Peters proposed the Telephone of the Wind project to qathet Regional District last summer and it has now been installed.

"Harvey Chometsky and Roger Langmaid collaborated to create the beautiful Telephone of the Wind in a small copse of cedars in the upper part of the Cranberry Cemetery," said Peters. "The old rotary phone was donated by the Powell River Health-Care Auxiliary Economy Shop and sits on a shelf built into a slab of local maple donated by Roger."

Peters said the hospice society offers the phone as another way for people to process grief. 

"It’s a way to say goodbye, to say you’re sorry, to offer forgiveness, to give good news, to share your sorrow," added Peters.

The installation will be celebrated at a special ceremony beginning at 2:30 pm on Sunday, November 3, as part of the Walk of Memories, an interactive and ceremonial walk honouring all who have experienced loss.

Interactive workshops

Ramsden will be in qathet from November 8 to 15, in conjunction with the Memento Mori festival.

"She will offer an interactive workshop called Guided Meditation on the Cycle of Life and Death on November 8, followed by a beginner contemporary dance class for adults on November 9," said visual artist and qAC member Haley Hunt-Brondwin. "She will also be teaching some dance workshops for kids the following week at École Côte-du-Soleil and James Thomson Elementary."

Advance care planning

Peters will be leading the advance care planning workshop on November 7 at qAC.

"I have been doing that [advance care planning] here, and I also did it in Smithers as well," said Peters. "It's often offered by hospice and in communities across the country, and obviously the hope is that people do it long before they're thinking about hospice issues directly."

Peters said the workshop is a process of thinking and talking about what’s important to people. 

"This helps you, and those closest to you, prepare to make future health-care decisions," said Peters. "This workshop will help you to think about what matters most to you, to discuss your plans with those closest to you, and to begin recording your wishes."

Peters said everyone needs to start thinking and planning, even in their 40s or even younger. 

"I always tell people, you know, when you're 40, you can fall down the stairs and become brain injured and not be able to make decisions about your health care," added Peters. 

For more information about Memento Mori go to qathetart.ca/memento-mori-festival-2024.

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