On Tuesday March 6th 2018 our class sat in and participated in an event called the Death Café. There were two speakers who held the event; Eliza Chandler and Esther Ignagni. I thoroughly enjoy how every time I have witnessed Eliza Chandler speak in my classes or at an event she always times time for a land acknowledgement for and about the indigenous people who used to inhabit this land. Eliza takes part and practices disability arts and researches how the “crip” community is enacted through a desire for disability. She also “sits on the board of Tangled Art + Disability and coordinates Project ReVision’s digital storytelling workshops for women and trans folks living with disability and embodied differences” (School of Disability Studies). Esther Ignagni is an assistant professor who has a vision impairment. For her bio in the School of disability Studies she states “A former community health worker, I was an organizer and advocate in the anti-violence and HIV/AIDS action movements during the late 1980s and 1990s” (School of Disability Studies). She explains that being a former health worker how it shaped and changed her understanding of difference and disability.
As the event started there was also an ASL translator that was creating access for the hard of hearing folk who were also participating in the event. This relates back to the reading Strange Beauty – Aesthetic Possibilities for Desiring Disability Into the Future with the following quote;
We are now living within the emergence of a disability arts culture in Toronto, part of a national grounds well interest in disability arts evidenced by amplified funding by arts, cultural and heritage funders, sudden interest by newspapers, art blogs and other publications in reviewing disability art, increased audience numbers at disability arts events (notably an increase in audience members from outside of disability communities), and a new commitment from other arts and cultural institutions to making their programming accessible” (Chandler & Ingnagni, 5).
Within relation to this quote the two speakers at the event wrote this paper and their showcased all these findings and beliefs at the event. I would also like to mention that I am taking classes to learn American Sign Language to open the door to new possibilities but to also open conversations and accessibility between myself and a deaf individual.
Chandler and Ignagni went on to explain what a Death Café is. They said that Death Cafés are salon-style conversations about death. They also explained that Underwood guidelines for the cafes state that they must be non-profit must be accessible respectful and confidential and hosts must serve tea and cake. The serving of tea and cake was visible at the event minus the tea. This serving of tea and cake at the events is meant to create a comfortable setting and showcase hospitality from the host. After they explained all things related to Death Cafés we broke off into small groups and were handed question prompts to answer and discus. We were also highly encouraged to take come cake for the creation of comfortability while sometimes these conversations can get heavy. I thoroughly enjoyed was and captivated by these conversations during the whole hour we were given to break off in these groups. It was very enlightening to hear and understand different people’s understandings and associations with death.
After the hour was up for our small group conversations we came back together in the event and Chandler and Ignagni opened the floor up for people to discuss their findings and how their experience was during the Death Café. For me personally it was a way for me to explain my ideas and experiences about death as a half indigenous half British individual and how residential schools and colonization has shaped my family and their cultural practices around death. Overall the event was very interesting and successful, it had my full attention at all times with Chandler and Ignagni providing us with details about disabilities in and around the community and how they are using their studies or talents and abilities to create a conversation around disabilities and creating disruptive media.
Works cited
Chandler, Eliza & Ignani, Esther, “Strange Beauty: Aesthetic Possibilities for Desiring Disability Into the Future” (unpublished)
“Faculty and Staff Bios.” School of Disability Studies, Ryerson University, www.ryerson.ca/disabilitystudies/for-faculty/index.html. Accessed 7 Mar. 2018.