Determining how to house the ashes of those who do not profess any religion and wish to be cremated is one of the challenges addressed by the international architecture workshop Finita Existência – Panteão Para Cinzas (Finite Existence – Pantheon for Ashes), part of the convergent programming of Anozero’19. Registration is now open.
Taking place in Coimbra from September 17 to 27, Finita Existência – Panteão Para Cinzas is an international architecture workshop that proposes the design of a building for ashes: “a place for all those who wish to be cremated and desire to be kept—a house of (in)finite memories that welcomes and remembers them,” according to Désirée Pedro and Luís Miguel Correia, the initiative's organizers. Registration for Finita Existência – Panteão Para Cinzas, along with full program details and access requirements, can be found here.
In 2016, the Catholic Church reaffirmed its acceptance of cremation—which it had authorized in 1963—as a personal choice, “while prohibiting the scattering of ashes in any location or their division among family members, noting that they must be kept in a sacred place.” This stance seeks to prevent the possibility of oblivion and offers an opportunity for cemeteries, and perhaps new churches, to renovate themselves to receive cremation ashes. Yet, how can we resolve where to keep the ashes of those who do not profess any religion and wish to be cremated? The preservation of memory in burial and cremation practices, examined through the lenses of history, anthropology, theology, and psychoanalysis, forms the basis of this international architecture workshop, the results of which will be included in an exhibition at the Anozero biennial.
