Bellecouche
For the first of this series, we hosted this talk with Yuli Somme, a wonderful textile artist and the creator of Bellecouche felted woollen shrouds, at Stratford Park, as part of the Stroud International Textile Festival.
It was clearly an antique and very special way to make a funeral memorable and beautiful – so that many in the packed audience ended up wanting one – or at least trying to make one! Below are links to her site:
www.stroudinternationaltextiles.org.uk
Stonemason
Next year we will be hosting a talk by gifted local stone carver and artist Sebastian Brooke – who is the inspiration behind the MEMO project.
Sebastian knows the enduring role and power of stone to remind us of what we love that has passed, and the aim of The Memo Project is to carve an image of each of the almost 850 species of plants and animals that have become extinct since the Dodo, and to continue so doing as others disappear from our world. By this means, and by working with young people and institutions, The Memo Project hopes to protect species against the continuing threats to their viable existence.
You can find out more about this by visiting the Memo Project site at: http://memoproject.org/
Bell ringing:
We plan to host an evening featuring the history and stories of ringing and making bells as a way to announce and call a community together to grieve, to celebrate, and to remember.
Flowers as memorials:
We hope to find a knowledgeable speaker to illustrate this very ancient way to beautify and pay tribute during important ceremonial occasions, and to mark rites of passage.
Memorial, keepsake and funeral jewellery:
In Victorian times, memorial and funerary jewellery, jet hatpins, and brooches with a lock of hair inside were fashionable and very beautiful. Is there any memorial jewellery today as tasteful? We’ll see – it depends on finding someone who is knowledgeable and who really loves this particular aspect of remembering.
