Can We Talk About Grief? With George Gumisiriza and Amanda Blainey
ONLINE
Monday 14 June 2021, 6.30-7.45pm
As a part of our project, This Grief Thing, we’d like to invite you to attend a series of conversations that make visible the vital work and different viewpoints of 10 diverse individuals ‘working with grief.’
We’re living at a time when many people find death and grief - our own grief or other people’s - almost impossible to talk about. This leads us to gently question, Why Can’t We Talk About Grief?
During these five conversations we’ll hear from 10 very different people who’ve dedicated their lives and work to talking about grief, including; a death doula, a professor of dress history, a performance artist, a philosopher and reiki healer, and a researcher of Afrocentric perspectives on death.
In each conversation we will hear from two people who are ‘working with grief’. You’ll get a chance to listen to these individuals exchange their thoughts and insights, followed by time for you to ask questions.
Conversations will last approximately 45 minutes, followed by a 30 minute Q&A. They take place on Zoom, are free to attend, and are open to everyone. Booking is required.
George Gumisiriza is pursuing a PhD in Social and Policy Sciences at the Centre for Death and Society at Bath University. He is interested in Afrocentric death perspectives. His recent research is Repatriationscapes: the significance of the repatriation of the human remains among the Gambian community in Newport South Wales.
Amanda Blainey is an author, activist, and founder of Doing Death, a multimedia platform and podcast that encourages authentic conversations about death, dying, life, and love. She believes that exploring the topic of death can enable us to rediscover the power of human connection and love. Born to Sri Lankan parents she is intrigued by cultural narratives through ritual and tradition and is training to become a death doula.
This Grief Thing by Fevered Sleep
Supported by
Arts Council England
Paul Hamlyn Foundation
Wellcome
The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
We acknowledge the assistance of the 2018 Banff Playwrights Lab – a partnership between the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and the Canada Council for the Arts - in the development of This Grief Thing.
This Grief Thing Manchester 2019 photo by Richard Tymon