This research in the form of a travel agency begins with the dialogue sustained with the members of the funeral home Cooperative Funeraire de Rennes, inspired by their work to transform funeral practices and my questions of how to reimagine our relationship to death (other than fear it or deny it). The result is a series of experiences offered in a casual way in which death can be reflected upon in a sunny weekend evening, just as any other interesting leisure activity.

Our agency offers immersive journeys to approach death from somewhere other than loss, grief, and fear. Created by experienced theater makers Cristina Maldonado and colleagues specially for Festival de la Mort, the agency will premier worldwide on this special occasion joining the efforts of Cooperative Funeraire de Rennes to enrich and transform contemporary death culture and practices.

With diverse meditative journeys, we investigate other sensations and feelings that can help us befriend our finitude. By imagining stories, collecting testimonies, creating board games, audio narratives, mediated lectures, and mini-retreats we offer you a space to explore the things that can grow from death and kinder ways to relate to the end.

Inner journeys:

• Plant a Person (45 min) Trust in our experts and find out what things will grow from you in this individual mini retreat!
• Tween Tree (25 min) A true story that will entangle you with a tree!
• Pick a thought  (5 min) You are not alone if you think about death!
• Conductors  (30 min) A meditation about the continuity between the material and immaterial worlds

Medium: audio-walks, video narratives, mini retreats, phone performance

Year: 2024
Version: English and French 
Performed in: Festival de la Mort, Théâtre du Vieux St Étienne, and A Bout du Plongeoir, Rennes, France

Concept: Cristina Maldonado
Artistic team: Světlana Silich, Eszter Koncz, Michaɫ Salwiński, Marine Frugés, Isa Juchniewicz, 
Theresa Schrezenmeir, Bleuenn Pasco, Manon Gloro, Joan Cot Ros.
Thanks to Marine Frugès and Fabienne Quéméneur.

The project was developed in dialogue with the Cooperative Funeraire de Rennes 
and with the support and collaboration of Au bout du Plongeoir, Atelier 231, 
Čtyři Dny from Czech Republic and Fira Tarrega, Spain. 

And it is an action of IN SITU European platform for artistic creation in public space, 
in the frame of the project (UN) COMMON SPACES, co-funded by the 
Creative Europe Program of the European Union. 

Keywords: journey, memory, funeral practices, mixed media performance, pop up

Program:

lacoopfunerairederennes.fr: Flirting with Finitude