workshop:

Design your own Shroud

with Susanne Duijvestein

13 Mar 2022

Ever thought about what you will wear when you're dead? In the past it was customary in the Netherlands to make your own death shroud and keep it in your linen closet because you never know. Although this tradition has passed, the shroud has reappeared in our 21st century as a more sustainable alternative to the coffin.

In this workshop, progressive funeral director Susanne Duijvestein invites you to dive into this old tradition, to actively think about the natural cycle of life and death, and to start designing your own burial shroud.

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One of the participants of the Design your own Shroud wrapped in a cloth - Designing Death is a workshop, were  participants can actively think about their passing and can design their own burial shroud. Hereby they used an old traditional Dutch way of c ustomize it.  Filippo Iannone

What you will do

During this workshop, you will learn about the historical tradition and nowadays use of the death shroud. First, funeral director and Nature Morte curator Susanne Duijvestein will introduce you to the tradition of the burial shroud, including its meaning and practicalities. Whilst slowly working on your shroud, you will have conversations about death and grief.

You will start designing your own shroud: a beautiful piece of fabric in which you will once be gently covered. Of course, you don’t have to wait until death to finally use the shroud, Susanne will share some ideas to give ritual meaning to it during life. The idea of this workshop is that you make a start with your shroud, and bring it back home to continue working on it. 

Bring Your Own Fabric

Some basic fabrics, scissors, needles, pins and yarns will all be provided. There will also be one sewing machine, but the creation of the shroud is actually more beautifully done by hand sewing, slowly. You can use the basic fabrics from Susanne, but of course you could also bring your own fabrics. Or maybe you want to use old meaningful cloths or sheets, or application material that you want to use, just bring it with you. If you will be bringing your own, try to bring only natural fabrics like cotton, hemp, linen, wool, or silk.

Susanne Duijvestein

As an independent funeral director with a love of nature and a keen eye for aesthetics and ethics, Susanne is making a difference in the funeral world. Her mission is to talk more with each other about death, and our own nature. She reflects on how we relate to impermanence and advocates for a more sustainable and personal farewell. Susanne is also curator of the Nature Morte program at Mediamatic.

Tickets

Full price €75 | Discount €52
We give a discount to students, artists and Stadspas holders. If this applies to you we might ask to see your kvk nr/portfolio or student card for this option.

Information

13th of March, 13:30-17:00
Attendance limited to 8 people. We maintain a minimum of 5 participants.
Please note that, unless everyone speaks Dutch, this workshop will be held in English.
For questions please e-mail workshop@mediamatic.nl.

We are taking corona safety into account at our workshops.
Read our small print here.