Art, Death and the Afterlife

‘Art, Death and the Afterlife’ is at the Sainsbury Centre
March 18 – September 17 2023

Created in response to the global pandemic, ‘Art, Death and the Afterlife’ explores contemporary society’s relationship to death and ritual. Responding to rich variety of the archaic pots and grave goods in the Sainsbury Centre Collection, such as ancient Cycladic marble figures and anthropomorphic vessels from Ecuador, Nigeria and Japan, Stair’s new forms, which range from cinerary jars to monumental abstracted figurative pots, invite the viewer to meditate on the intimate relationship between the clay vessel and the human body. Furthermore, working closely with the charity Cruse Bereavement and Norwich Death Café, Stair has engaged members of the local community in open conversations around death and this has led to the donation of ashes of people who have recently died. Certain cinerary jars have been embodied with their ashes and stand as permanent memorials. The exhibition also includes twentieth-century drawings by Alberto Giacometti and contemporary works by artists Magdalene Odundo and Imran Qureshi. ‘Art, Death and the Afterlife’ reveals humanity’s reliance on art as a means to transcend death, loss and the unknown.