DEAD AIR #132

Notes from the Open House Melbourne, Design + Death Beyond the Grave Memorialisation Symposium yesterday at the Shrine of Remembrance.

The truth about scattering cremated remains: why ashes don’t return to the earth naturally – The Modern Mortician

I’ve studied the history of death. I know how we can better face up to our grief – and our own mortality – The Guardian BOOK: No Ordinary Deaths – A People’s History of Mortality, by Molly Conisbee Booktopia.

Funeral Foods From Around the World – You Tube Mourning in the early 19th century: making funerals biscuits – YouTube

The next ELM Peer Support Group meeting for those affected by suicide loss will be held tonight: Mon 26 May, 6-7:30pm at The Castlemaine Safe Space. Monthly meetings on the final Monday of each month. Info: 0404 468 534 e: theelmpsg@gmail.com

Dhelkaya Health invites family members, friends, staff and the wider community to our Annual Memorial Service to remember and give thanks for the lives of patients, residents and clients of Dhelkaya Health who died between 1 Dec 2023 - 30 Nov 2024. The service will be held in the auditorium at Dhelkaya Health's Castlemaine campus tomorrow, Tues 27 May. Arrive at 6.30pm for a 7pm. More info: 5471 3542.

Grief and Creative Practice with Chloe Coelho, presented by AHFA. Wed 28 May, 7-8.30pm AEST. Register HERE.

Departures and Dissolution – a meditation on death & dying. Free 3-hour experiential workshop with John Bradley, engaging Buddhist philosophy and coming to terms with death as essential lo living life fully. Sun 29 Jun, 4:45-8pm AEST. Hosted by The MIECAT Institute Inc Fitzroy. Book HERE. Mandala, Dancing in the Bardo exhibition - VIMEO

TRACKS: Opa-Loka – Hawkwind / Begger’s Need – electric citizen

DEAD AIR #131

Revivification at the Art Gallery of WA is a strange and tender revival of experimental composer Alvin Lucier – ABC News

‘Not a single person shied away’: how a year chronicling end-of-life stories changed one photographer’– The Guardian Julian Kingma ‘The Power of Choice’ book, New South Books AND exhibition, SOL Gallery Fitzroy, opening Wed 21 May 2025, 6-8.30pm (until 1 June).

End of life doulas respond to being excluded from the federal government’s new End of Life Pathway – Lisa Herbert, The Bottom Drawer Book

Grief Garments Do you know someone bereaved by suicide and who might be interested to transforming an item from their persons wardrobe into a Grief Garment in Sydney in August? EOI open until 31 May, applicant form available HERE

PODCAST: Victoria Spence: Death doula and funeral business owner on a mission to bring deaths back to the personal – SBS SEEN with Yumi Stynes.

PODCAST: The Imperfects Podcast Life After Jock with Lauren Zonfillo

CDAS online conference 2025 ‘Death and Transitions’ 11 - 13 June 2025. (full $166 half $83). Full program HERE. FREE sessions: Where do we die? Our preferences for our space of death - Online, book HERE. Fri 13 June, 4-5am AEST! - Ain't got time to die screening followed by a Q&A with Martin Krafft. Book HERE. Also Fri 13 June, 4-5am AEST?

CALL FOR PAPERS: Death Literacy submission deadline: 20 Oct 2025. Guest Editor Dr. Kerrie Noonan, to be published in a Special Collection for Palliative Care & Social Practice, Sage Journals. Submission info HERE.

TRACKS: Two Suns – Ragana / The Surgery – Uboa & Solus Varak / Future Plans - Batpiss

DEAD AIR #130

‘My parents holding hands after their assisted deaths: Martin Roemers’ most personal photograph’ – The Guardian

BOOK: Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death - Booktopia

Article: What Do Animals Know About Death? - NYTimes

Pope Francis’ Funeral, a Visual Guide – BBC News & on ABC IView

TED MED Talk: A burial practice that nourishes the planet, Caitlin Doughty

Pre-VAD & Post-VAD Support Groups – Dying with Dignity

Design + Death Beyond the Grave, Open House Melbourne and Design Week Melbourne. Four events over 15-25 May.

Call for Abstracts: Young children’s perspectives on (multispecies) death and dying. Due 15 May, e: deathandchildren@gmail.com Submission info HERE

Call for papers: The Journal of Disappearance Studies, first issue. Info e: jds-editorial@bristol.ac.uk Info HERE

Research Degree Opportunity: Do-It-Yourself Commemoration of the Dead with DeathTech team at Uni of Melb. Full-funded PhD scholarship, e: nansenb@unimelb.edu.au EOIs due 31 May. Info HERE

Subscribe to CDAS newsletter - e: cdas@bath.ac.uk

REMINDERS: TONIGHT – NDAN Panel discussion on Limited Tenure Burial, Mon 28 April, 6pm AEST, online. Book HERE TOMORROW – Info session on hosting a Dying To Know Day event, Tues 29 April, 1-1:45pm AEST, online. Register HERE SATURDAY - Northern Arts Hotel Castlemaine, Sat 3 May, 11am-1pm. Details HERE

 TRACKS: Dying – XTC / Choc-A-Bloc – Anika / Can’t Say No – Beasts of Bourbon