The Art Of Grieving
Exhibitions
The Art of Grieving exhibitions provide artists with a forum to
share work related to bereavement, loss and death.
Exhibitions for creative expressions of bereavement and loss...
Can art empower people to express their feelings about loss?
Have we lost the art of grieving?
Why is talking about death so taboo and can art help break the taboo?
2024
The first Art of Grieving exhibition in London was at Gallery 101, which is between St Paul's and the Millennium Bridge in the basement of the International Headquarters of the Salvation Army. It was open from the 10th June to 9th July 2024.
The exhibition featured work by 40 artists about grief, loss, bereavement and death. Every exhibit was accompanied by a description of the circumstances in which it was created or the inspiration behind its creation. Part of what made this exhibition unique was the feeling of community and celebration generated by bringing artists together who are sharing work about this often taboo part of life. Visitors wrote messages about the exhibition in the Visitors Book including ;
"What a wonderful way to share the people you love with the world. Thank you for being so brave and so loving."
Tough topic that needs to be talked about often. Thank you."
"So pleased to have visited this exhibition - such beautiful ways of documenting and processing our experiences of loss and grief."
2022
For 3 months an amazing collection of work about loss, death and bereavement was in St Albans, Hertfordshire.
The exhibition attracted nearly 20,000 visitors over the course of three months and more than a thousand of the visitors left messages of love and remembrance on the memory tree that was part of the exhibition. It included the work of over 50 artists exhibiting paintings, sculptures, photos, short films, textiles, songs and poetry about loss, bereavement or death. Every piece was accompanied by a description of the circumstances in which it was created or the inspiration behind its creation. The artists who took part were sharing intensely personal work and they in doing so were part of open and honest conversations about this important part of life. Loss of a child; loss of a sibling; loss of a parent; loss of a partner; loss of a home; loss of a relationship; loss of identity; loss due to suicide, cancer, covid - all of these and more were part of the 3 month exhibition.
Click on the links below to hear an interview about the Art of Grieving on BBC Radio 5live or to watch a short film of the exhibition.
2019
The second Art of Grieving exhibition was held in 2019 and artwork created by both professional and amateur artists was exhibited. The images included here are a small selection of the work from the 2019 exhibition.
At this exhibition we introduced a Visitor's book so that people could leave comments. One visitor said: 'Very moving exhibition, inspiring me to paint after the loss of my darling husband'. Another wrote: 'Fantastic exhibition! So much honesty and creative expression' and another commented: 'Superb exhibition, allowing the feelings of grief (loss, anger, fear etc.) to be expressed in a non-verbal way and allowing the 'listener' to understand, a little, of what it feels like.'
We also introduced a 'memory tree' and provided white paper doves strung with ribbon so that visitors who wished to could write a message to a loved one and hang it on the tree.
A further addition to the 2019 exhibition was a seated area with tea/coffee and cake (for a small donation) so that visitors could sit and chat to each other or to one of the bereavement specialist 'listeners' we had in attendance.
2017
The first Art of Grieving exhibition took place in 2017. The artwork on display at this exhibition included paintings, photographs, poetry, collages, sculptures and textiles created by more than 50 professional and amateur artists, as well as art groups. Many of the pieces had been created as a response to emotionally harrowing times. The images seen here are a small selection of work that was on display in the 2017 exhibition.
Some of the artwork was self-explanatory, but in most cases artists had written a short explanation or description to accompany their creations.
One artist wrote 'Five years ago we suddenly lost our 22-year-old daughter to a form of sepsis and my art and creativity has helped me enormously in my grieving process.'
Another artist said: ' I was 7 years old when my mother was diagnosed with cancer and 14 when she died, but the aftermath was more than we had mentally prepared for. The day after the funeral my father had a heart attack and spent a month in hospital. Disorientated, with no one at the helm, our family disintegrated as we all tried to cope individually with our grief. I am not sure I have ever got over the deaths that I have known, just incorporated them into my life. My artwork is like a diary of my trying to make sense of the world'.
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