Last night’s Death Café was hosted by Eliza Chandler, Esther Ignagni, and Kim Collins as part of the ARTivism Lab Speakers Series. Death Cafés raise political and cultural questions; providing spaces for people who want to talk about these questions is highly beneficial for our society. Outside of the internet of things, physical spaces and discussions create intimacy and empathic experiences that are otherwise limited online.
As Eliza Chandler’s mentions in her article, “it is easier to imagine the end of a life than to imagine a life with disability” (n.d.). Thus, disability art and discussions around disability are so crucial. Reducing the stigma surrounding disabilities within our ableist society will provide greater opportunities and accessibility for such minorities. Chandler explains, “we cannot be satiated by disability art without desiring disability. And in a culture that too often orients to disability with a desire to expunge it, the desiring for disability and all of its differences – a desire which disability art produces – is paradigm – shifting and political at its core”. The flourishing of disability culture would inevitably create greater acceptance and accurate representative depictions of marginalized people. This reminds me of a show I recently watched on Netflix entitled Atypical, about a boy living with autism. There was outrage over the show with claims that it promoted stereotypes surrounding autism and there were flaws in the way he was portrayed. Nonetheless, the representation of disabled characters within media is so important for generating discussions and reducing stigma. Although there must be genuine representations in the media, we have to start somewhere.
Since disabilities are often positioned as a form of ‘slow death’, discussing death is synonymous with discussing disability culture. As we discussed our interpretations of the questions surrounding death within our group, it was intriguing to notice the similarities of answers amongst individuals. Those who were exposed to death, whether through personal encounters or working in hospitals and end of life care, had a more open and free view on what death meant to them. Those individuals expressed their views as having a more integrated and open approach to discussing death. Inevitably, due to their exposure, they were no longer afraid of death but instead embraced it and were interested and willing in discussing it – since they came out to the Death Café. This observation demonstrates how important it is to discuss death and maintain these open conversations to lessen the taboos associated with it. I believe death is a beautiful process within the cycle of life that should be used as a motivator to live life to the fullest. In addition, the reminder of death and the fragility of life puts everything into perspective; cherishing others, loving and living to the fullest. Perhaps more discussion surrounding death and disability would stimulate such perspectives and change the way people live and view their lives.
