Death Salon returns to Fabrica for an evening of creative conversation, reflection and shared listening. Inspired by the 18th-century salon tradition, this curated event brings together artists and writers whose work engages openly with mortality, grief and remembrance, sharing how creative practice can offer meaningful ways to explore loss, make sense of difficult experiences, and connect with others. Curated by Wendy Pye. Hosted by Jess May.
Exhibition of shrouds by Dagmara Rudkin and Soul Films by Wendy Pye, artists talks, shrouding demonstration at The Regency Town House in Brighton. Free admission
As part of an ACE-funded project, I had the honour and opportunity to work with St Catherine’s Hospice and one of their patients, Sarah, who asked me to create a shroud inspired by a mixed-media textile piece she had made over 30 years ago.
I chose to document this journey for several reasons: to acknowledge and honour Sarah’s courage and her desire to educate others about the choices available at the end of life; to share my commitment and skills as an artist and shroud maker; and to challenge the idea that we have no agency when planning our own, or our loved ones’, funeral or burial rituals. To see details of this project, including a conversation with the staff of the British museum, please check my posts here:
Sarah’s original work was made from calico-covered slate panels, each embellished with Egyptian deities and deconstructed hieroglyphs. This work inspired the soft outer cover of her two-part shroud. Her body will be wrapped in a simpler silk and cotton inner shroud, adorned with cyanotype prints of prayers and photographs of her family and important moments from her life.
I was incredibly fortunate not to be constrained by a short timescale for this commission. However, shrouds can be made with very little time and on a modest budget, for both natural burials and cremations, while still acknowledging and celebrating a life.
Through conversations with Sarah, her husband, and Selena King, Spiritual Support Lead at St Catherine’s Hospice, it was deeply moving to witness how this process supported both Sarah’s wellbeing and that of her partner.
I am profoundly grateful to Sarah and her family, to Selena, and to the team at the British Museum for sharing their knowledge of the imagery used in Sarah’s original work. This project was supported by Arts Council England as part of a Luna Arts grant to develop creative projects and workshops that help ease conversations around death and dying.
Made possible through the support of Arts Council England and Luna Arts, and offered at no cost to participants. For further details, check info below. If these opportunities resonate with you or someone you know please email me to arrange a chat: dagmararudkin@hotmail.com
In this nurturing workshop, you’ll craft a remembrancetalisman – a personal object that serves as both keepsake and emotional anchor. Blending the protective resonance of traditional talismans with the act of memorialising someone significant, your talisman will become an object of memory and remembrance.
This workshop is reflective, hands-on, and held in a safe, supportive space to talk about death, process grief, celebrate life, and keep stories alive.
Materials are provided. We also invite you to bring photographs or small objects (jewellry, trinkets etc), including fabrics, that resonate with the person you wish to remember. We will send further details once signed up
Part of Luna Art’s R&D project generously funded by Arts Council England.
I am honoured to receive a Winner Award from the Association of Green Funerals Directors (AGFD) for Best Coffin Supplier of the Year.
For me, this is not just personal- it is a validation of burial shrouds as meaningful, environmentally friendly ans spiritually rich alternatives to coffins. I came to to shroud making ans soft cloth covers combined with willow stretchers (so sort of coffins) after many years as a fine artists and lecturer, bringing with me a love of stroy-telling through reclaimed materials, ritual and beauty. I am blown away by the sense of purpose this practice has given me. This award feels like a step forward not only for me , but for all shroud makers, here in the UK and worldwide who are keeping this practice alive.
Together with my friend, colleague, and Luna Arts co-founder Wendy Pye, I’ll be running two creative workshops that open space to talk about death and dying.
Funded by Arts Council England, these sessions are part of our R&D project: Opening Conversations on Mortality Through Creativity.
We’re offering two different workshops — details and booking links are below. All profits will go directly to St Michael’s Hospice.
Workshop 1: Cloth and Memory Workshop: Reclaiming the Ritual of Shroud Making
I’m honoured and deeply moved that my shrouds have been named a finalist for the Good Funeral Awards.
This nomination brings hope that more people might be drawn to the quiet tenderness of a shroud, the softness of cloth, the natural cradle of a willow stretcher. A way of care that honours the body, soothes the grief of those left behind, and returns gently to the Earth.
I was deeply honoured to be invited by the Phoenix Art Space curatorial team, Laurence Hill and Lucy Day, to recreateFeministo Collated Sculpture—originally made by pioneering feminist artist Monica Ross. This commission, funded by the Monica Ross Archive, revisits a work that was sadly destroyed in the 1980s, as so many artists’ works are, due to lack of storage.
Monica Ross in her studio. Image taken from Monica Ross Archive. Photo by Bernard G Mills.
While I aimed to stay faithful to the original, it felt more important to honour Monica’s creative sensibility: working with found and salvaged materials, garments that speak of domesticity, patriarchy, and women’s lives. I created 16 panels, drilled 440 holes, and used 60 metres of nylon string to assemble them.
Huge thanks to the Phoenix team and to Monica’s family, Alice Ross and Bernard G. Mills, for their support. The exhibition Monica Ross: Unquiet Woman exploring Monica’s practice and legacy runs at Phoenix Art Space until the end of August 2025.
As part of Luna Arts’ residency at Fabrica and our ACE funded project Opening Conversations on Mortality Through Creativity, Wendy Pye produced the Death Salon. Inspired by eighteenth-century salons, it was a gathering of poets, writers and visual artists exploring how creativity helps us navigate grief.
For the event, Wendy commissioned me to create a soft shroud with quilted wings. Combined with willow stretchers made by Sophia Campbell-Shaw from Woven Farewell, it offered a poetic and gentle alternative to a traditional coffin. As speakers and performers took turns, moving landscapes were projected onto the symbolic body. At the end of the event, the guests were invited to place rosemary as a sign of remembrance. Projection design by Giles Thacker from Shared Space and Light. Images below show some of the artists and writers invited by Wendy, including Erica Buist, Corinna Edwards Colledge , Sybil Al-Mane, Naomi Foyle and Ruth Nation-Toda. The event was hosted by Jess May and Marion Deprez.
